ISSUE
01
APRIL
2015
East Lothian and Midlothian
Public Protection Newsletter
This issue
Public Protection in East Lothian & Midlothian P.1
Violence Against Women & Girls P.2
Public Protection
Launch
Child Protection P.3
Adult Support & Protection P.4
Upcoming events / contact details P.4
During the week of
20th—24th April we are
formally launching our
integrated approach to
Public Protection and
hope to see many of
you at one of the
events.
There are still some
spaces available at two
events on Tuesday 21st
April 2015 and
Wednesday 22nd April
2015. Further
information is available
on the back page.
If you are unable to
make either of these
dates we are having an
“open house” at the
Public Protection Office
on Thursday 23rd and
Friday 24th April, when
you are welcome to pop
in for a coffee and meet
the team. We are keen
to hear your views and
suggestions about
where we go from here.
Public Protection in East Lothian and Midlothian
Public Protection includes some of the most critical areas of work for our
organisations. In East Lothian and Midlothian, we recognise that while structures in
Public Protection have evolved separately, the reality for most service users is that
their needs often span more than one category, for example many children or adults
at risk of harm live in households where domestic violence is an issue.
The Public Protection Team supports operational staff across partner agencies, by
providing a level of expert advice and promoting consistency of practice. The team
includes Adult Support and Protection, Child Protection and Violence Against Women
and Girls staff and maintains strong links with partners in Offender Management and
Midlothian and East Lothian Drug and Alcohol Partnership (MELDAP). With a number
of staff from the Police Public Protection Unit due to join us this month we are moving
towards an operational “hub” with a staff presence from social work, police and
health. This will take forward our vision of an integrated approach to all aspects of
Public Protection “across the lifespan” and will promote the understanding of the
impact of trauma at all ages and stages of life.
The East and Midlothian Public Protection Committee (EMPPC) was established in July
2014 and replaced the Adult Protection Committee, Child Protection Committee,
Offender Management Committee and Violence Against Women Partnership and
ensures robust links with the Midlothian and East Lothian Drug and Alcohol
Partnership (MELDAP). The Committee has now met five times and there are
improvement plans in place and available on our website for each of the key areas.
The Committee is chaired by Anne Neilson (Assistant Director - Public Protection, NHS
Lothian) and membership is comprised of senior representatives from across the core
services. A full membership list is available on our website: http://emppc.org.uk/file/
Public_Protection_front_page/EMPPC_-_membership_list_-_7-04-15.pdf
This approach is strongly endorsed by the East and Midlothian Critical Services
Oversight Group (CSOG) comprising chief officers of all our partner agencies, who have
led its evolution and will continue to provide governance and scrutiny of this critical
area of work across both local authority areas.
East Lothian and Midlothian Public Protection Newsletter Issue 01
Violence Against
Women and Girls
East and Midlothian Violence
Against Women Delivery Group
has a strategic Improvement
Plan which can be accessed on
our website. This is based on
Equally
Safe,
Scotland’s
strategy for preventing and
eradicating
violence
against
women and girls. We are
always keen to hear from
practitioners
who
have
a
specific interest in this field and
there are opportunities to be
involved in our delivery of the
plan
in
different
ways,
particularly in the delivery of
training. Please contact Lindsey
The Domestic Abuse Service
The Public Protection Office now has a Domestic Abuse Service including two Domestic
Abuse Advisors, a MARAC Co-ordinator and the Service is managed by the Strategy Coordinator for Violence Against Women.
Byrne if you would like to
discuss this further.
Reminder of the
Common Core
The Common Core was
published in June 2012. It
describes the skills, knowledge,
understanding and values that
everyone should have if they
work with children, young
people and their families,
whether they are paid or
unpaid. The essential
characteristics are explicitly
cross-referenced to the guiding
principles of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC). The values set
out in the Common Core, stem
from the Getting it Right for
Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery we were able to create the Support to Maintain
Independent Living Effectively (S.M.I.L.E) Project and domestic abuse support in the area has
expanded considerably. Available support now includes:
 A weekend response service where victims of domestic incidents which involved the
Police are contacted within 48 hours and offered a risk assessment and safety planning
 One central hub for all referrals for domestic abuse support [email protected]
 A single screening service to ensure the victim is allocated to the most suitable service
 Two full time Domestic Abuse Advisors who now work with victims at high risk as well as
very high risk
 Women’s Aid East and Midlothian who have a support service for women and for children
as well as refuge accommodation in both areas
 Two additional specialist workers at Women’s Aid East and Midlothian - one for women
with co-occurring domestic abuse and substance misuse and one focusing on supporting
women to become independent
 A four weekly Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) for victims at very high
risk of harm or homicide
 A Court Service (Edinburgh Domestic Abuse Court Service) which links directly to the
Procurator Fiscal to ensure the victim’s views are heard in court
 Access to equipment to increase safety in the home including alarms and mobile phones
Every Child approach.
The Scottish Government
would encourage all
organisations to continue to
refer to this guidance in
planning for the deployment
All partner agencies are working together to:
 Promote a smoother pathway of support for victims of domestic abuse
 Reduce the number of agencies making contact with victims of domestic abuse
 Provide prompt support tailored to the individual’s needs
 Support victims to feel safer in their own homes
and development of staff:
www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2012/06/5565
Please feel free to contact our team at the Public Protection Office if you require any further
information.
East Lothian and Midlothian Public Protection Newsletter Issue 01
With Scotland
The With Scotland 2014
Annual Report is now
available to download. It
will be of particular
interest to those working
in Child Protection and
Adult Support and
Protection in Scotland. It
contains an overview of
key activity throughout
2014 and provides
E-safety
In response to increasing concerns in relation to the use of social technology to target
and in turn abuse vulnerable people, a small multi-agency working group has established
an action plan to begin to recognise and in turn address the areas of raising awareness ,
training, curriculum for excellence and participation. This in turn has led to the
establishment of an East Lothian and Midlothian E-safety Forum. This forum is
represented by key agency individuals who will be responsible for linking in with staff
within their agency to ensure that a consistent approach and response across both East
Lothian and Midlothian is reached when tackling the issue of E-safety. The forum plans to
meet three times per year and is chaired by Shirley Lawson (Education Support Officer for
ICT, East Lothian Council).
Child Sexual Exploitation
East Lothian and Midlothian are very aware of the impact of the Rotherham Report and
have in consultation with the Public Protection Office and colleagues from key agencies
set up a short life working group to look at the recommendations and to ensure that we
are addressing the findings across both areas. We have developed a procedure for
responding to the sexual exploitation of children and adults. This document is currently
in draft however once signed off will be distributed with briefings and implemented
across all agencies. An action plan has also been developed focusing on the four key areas
of prevention and identification, intervention, disruption and recovery. We will be
offering targeted training to all relevant staff in particular foster carers and residential
staff to make them aware of child sexual exploitation.
accessible links to
briefings and toolkits we
published last year, such
as the Child Protection
and Disability Toolkit.
Child Death
Review Steering
Groups
A Child Death Review
Working Group was set
up to consider whether
Scotland should have a
national child death
review system. In its
report, it recommended
that Scotland should
introduce a national child
death review system and
that a Steering Group be
established to develop
the process and to
identify costs and
funding
(www.scotland.gov.uk/
East Lothian and Midlothian Disability Forum
Publications/2014/04/55
99). A Child Death
The Scottish Government recently established a National Disability Network. The Public
Protection Committee has a representative that attends this network and we are really
keen to ensure that the work of the network and any other work that is happening
nationally is shared and where appropriate rolled out across our local areas. In order to
do this we have agreed to establish a local East Lothian and Midlothian Disability Forum.
The first meeting of the forum will take place in May 2015.
East Lothian and Midlothian Public Protection Newsletter Issue 01
Review Steering Group
has now been set up and
intends to report to
Ministers at the end of
July.
Financial Harm
Financial Harm is the most reported type of harm across East Lothian and Midlothian in
relation to Adult Support and Protection. Paul Comley (National Co-ordinator for Adult Support
and Protection across Scotland) also co-ordinates the National Group tackling Financial Harm,
consisting of public and private sector agencies.
The Information Commissioner for Scotland has made it clear to banks and building societies
that Data Protection is an enabler and not a disabler to the prevention and investigation of
financial harm and given the clear message that they are expected to share information.
East and Midlothian Public Protection Committee has reviewed our Financial Harm training
which covers all aspects of Financial Harm including scam mail and the Adult Support and
Protection Lead Officer would highly recommend this training for all frontline staff.
Upcoming
Upcoming Events
Events
 East and Midlothian Public Protection Launch event on Tuesday 21st April 2015 (1pm-4pm).
A multi-agency event which will be of interest to practitioners in any of the key areas.
Contact: [email protected]
 SMILE (Support to Maintain Independent Living Effectively) launch on Wednesday 22nd
April 2015 (9:30am-12pm). This will be your opportunity to hear about the local picture of
domestic abuse and what is available for those wishing to seek support. Contact:
[email protected]
For a full list of Public Protection training events please visit our website: http://emppc.org.uk
Adult Support and
Protection Briefings
As you are aware a
number of briefings
have taken place across
East
Lothian
and
Midlothian Councils to
assist
with
the
implementation of the
joint Adult Support and
Protection Policy and
Procedures on 1st April
2015.
Public Protection Office contact details
 Anne Thompson (Public Protection Team Manager) 0131 653 5151 /






A final date of 13th May
2015
has
been
scheduled for those staff
that have been unable
to attend.



[email protected]
Denice Lilley (Adult Support and Protection Lead Officer)
0131 653 5158 / [email protected]
Lesley Watson (Child Protection Lead Officer)
0131 653 5157 / [email protected]
Lindsey Byrne (Violence Against Women Strategy Co-ordinator / Domestic Abuse Service
Manager) 0131 653 5155 / [email protected]
Alison Porter (Domestic Abuse Advisor) 0131 653 5153 / [email protected]
Caroline Hall (Domestic Abuse Advisor) 0131 653 5159 / [email protected]
Michelle Williams (MARAC Co-ordinator)
0131 653 5156 / [email protected]
Helen Skinner (Training and Development Officer - Adult Protection)
0131 653 5154 / [email protected]
Andrew Main (Senior Business Support Administrator)
01875 824 093 / [email protected]
Bernadette Stein (Admin Assistant) 0131 653 5152 / [email protected]
East Lothian and Midlothian Public Protection Newsletter Issue 01
East Lothian & Midlothian Public Protection Office
F28-29
Brunton Hall
Ladywell Way
Musselburgh
EH21 6AF
http://emppc.org.uk