Welcome to the South Gloucestershire Children's Services Procedures Manual

Welcome to the new South Gloucestershire Children's Services Manual.

In South Gloucestershire, 'Looked After Children' are referred to as 'Child(ren) In Care'. However, where there is reference to Statute or Regulation then the term 'Looked After Children' has been retained. Within this context, every care has been taken to ensure appropriate use of this phrase, should there be any errors please report them to your manager to ensure they are noted for future updates.

In this manual you will find the information necessary to support you in your day to day practice. It consists of different sections which you can access from the menu bar or, for Signs of Safety and RIP, the contents page.

• Main Policies - this contains our key policies and ensures that we comply with the law and statutory guidance when safeguarding the needs of the children and families we work with. This guides our social work practice;
• Practice Guidance - there is a link here which takes you to all: South Gloucestershire's local policies and practice guidance sharepoint site;
• South Gloucestershire Children's Partnership - this website will enable you to access South Gloucestershire's local multi-agency safeguarding procedures and guidance which will assist you to work effectively with other safeguarding partners across the authority;
• South West Child Protection Procedures - this website contains a nationally agreed set of multi-agency child protection procedures, agreed across the South West;  
• Research in Practice is an organisation that brings together academic research, practice expertise and the experiences of people accessing services. They provide a range of online resources, learning opportunities and training. We have a membership with Research in Practice.  All South Gloucestershire staff who work in children's services have full access to their website material once you have registered with your council email address;
• There is a Signs of Safety SharePoint site which provides support and guidance with all aspects of Signs of Safety practice;
• South Gloucestershire Foster Carers Handbook - this will assist you when working with foster carers in the authority. 

The manual is designed to be an up to date, accessible and helpful guide to all aspects of work with children and families. It will be revised at six monthly intervals with the next update being due in June 2025 and updates published in September 2025. 

Note to all staff: If you are sharing documents from this database please share the link and not download the whole document as this will ensure that the most recent version is being circulated.