Last year I took on part of Katy Donnelly's role (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People) while she was on maternity leave.

One of the things I got involved in was a joint project by the I&DeA and the NSPCC which was aimed at improving councillors (and council's) understanding of safeguarding children*. 

I'm pleased to say the resource has now been published and I hope the concerns I had about the format have been overcome.  I certainly felt that over the meetings I attended the people working on the project were listening.

Having had a (very short) go at the CD-Rom it does look like the process may well work quite well.

* For those of you outside the world of children's service you may not have come across Every Child Matters, the government's strategy for services for children and young people.  At the core of the strategy are five outcomes that service providers should help children and young people achieve.  These are:

• Being healthy
  
• Staying safe
  
• Enjoying and achieveing
  
• Making a positive contribution
  
• Achieving economic well-being

Safeguarding children is a significant part of how services are expected to help children and young people achieve these aims.