Using this Manual

1. Introduction

In this Manual, you will find all the guidance and information necessary to support you in your day to day social work practice. It consists of different sections, which you can access from the menu bar:

• Policies & Procedures – 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;
• Dudley's Practice Guidance & Process Maps – this contains practice guidance, process-maps, service templates, resources, and tools that support and compliment the policies and procedures;
• Dudley Safeguarding People Partnership – in this section you can access the Dudley Safeguarding People Partnership and the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements, including safeguarding training, procedures, and protocols, Child Sexual Exploitation resources, and the Child Neglect Strategy;
• Regional Child Protection Procedures for West Midlands – in this section you can access the multi-agency Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP) procedures that we have signed up to with other local authority partners. This ensures that we can work in a consistent way across the region in key areas of our work.

Note: Within Dudley MBC the children and young people we care for are known as Children in Care. However, you will find the term Looked After Children used throughout this manual as this is the term used in the legislation and statutory guidance.

These procedures use the word 'must' where the provision is a legal requirement. The word 'should' is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

For further details, please contact CPP@dudley.gov.uk.

2. Amendments

This manual is updated on a regular basis and a summary of the changes can be accessed via the 'Amendments' button on the Home page. The next planned will take place in April 2025.

If you would like to suggest a change to the procedures manual discuss your suggestion with your line manager in the first instance.

Click here to view details of updates made to this manual.

3. Dudley's Practice Guidance and Process Maps

This contains practice guidance, process-maps, service templates, resources, and tools that support and compliment the policies and procedures.

It can be accessed via the navigation bar.

This section is maintained locally. If there is a resource that you think should be added talk in the first instance to your manager.

4. Glossary and National Contacts

The manual is accessed by readers who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a glossary of definitions is available under the resource tab.

5. Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or omissions, please alert your manager.

These procedures use the word ‘must’ where the provision is a legal requirement. The word ‘should’ is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

6. Register for Updates

We recommend that you register with us to automatically receive notification when this manual is updated, and to receive a monthly newsletter containing articles which may be of interest. Click on the 'Register for Updates' button on the home screen, to complete and send your details to us.

We will manage your data respectfully and in accordance with your preferences and we will never share your data with other organisations for marketing or other purposes.

7. Copyright

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. Content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of tri.x and Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.

8. Accessibility

This website aims to achieve Double-A conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in accordance with government guidelines. In order to change font size or manual colour use the highlighted 'Accessibility' button at the top right hand corner of any page.

9. Printing and Retaining Copies

The Manual is intended to be viewed on line to ensure only the most up-to-date version of procedures are being used. It will be updated regularly so, in the unlikely event there is a requirement for hard copies they should be destroyed after 72 hours.

10. Browser Recommendations

It is recommended that this manual is viewed with the latest browsers, with Java Script and cookies enabled for maximum compatibility and functionality.

Recommended browsers are:

• Internet Explorer 11 (Windows 7, 8 and 8.1);
• Microsoft Edge (Windows 10);
• Google Chrome;
• Mozilla Firefox;
• Apple Safari.

11. Mobile/Tablet Compatibility

This manual has been tested on a variety of mobile devices to ensure that it displays correctly. If you are using an older mobile device it is possible that the manual will not display correctly.

If you would like the text to be larger, resize the text under the accessibility options, alternatively if you would also like the buttons and the rest of the layout to be enlarged you can use the zoom function within your browser.