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The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee is responsible for:
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee (CPC) is accountable to the Executive Group for Public Protection, which includes senior leaders from Aberdeenshire Council, NHS Grampian and Police Scotland.
The CPC is chaired by an independent Chair, appointed by the Executive Group for Public Protection to provide objective leadership, challenge and scrutiny.
The CPC produces an annual report, which is presented to the Executive Group for Public Protection and published publicly, demonstrating transparency, accountability and assurance in relation to child protection across Aberdeenshire.
The CPC brings together senior representatives from agencies with statutory and significant responsibilities for child protection in Aberdeenshire. Membership includes:
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee is led by an independent Chair, appointed through an open recruitment process by the Executive Group for Public Protection. The Chair is not employed by any partner agency and provides independent leadership, professional challenge and a strong focus on improving outcomes for children and young people.
The Chair’s responsibilities include:
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee is committed to continuous improvement in child protection practice across Aberdeenshire. This is achieved through a coordinated programme of learning, assurance and scrutiny, including:
Learning from all improvement activity directly informs the CPC Improvement Plan and multi‑agency workforce development, supporting safer and more effective practice for children and families.
The CPC produces and maintains the Aberdeenshire Child Protection Improvement Plan, which sets out the strategic priorities and key actions for child protection across Aberdeenshire.
The Improvement Plan is:
The current Improvement Plan is available to download in the Plans & Reports section of this page.
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee has a responsibility to promote public awareness of child protection and support communities to understand how to recognise, respond to and report concerns about children and young people.
This includes:
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee coordinates multi‑agency child protection learning and development in line with the Aberdeenshire Integrated Multi‑Agency Learning and Development Strategy 2023–2026. This supports a confident, skilled workforce and strengthens consistent, trauma‑informed practice across services working with children, young people and families.
Learning and development activity includes:
Learning priorities are informed by the CPC Improvement Plan, national guidance, workforce needs analysis and evaluation feedback, ensuring learning translates into improved practice.
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee is committed to ensuring that the voices of children, young people and families inform and shape our work. Meaningful participation is a core principle of The Promise, the UNCRC, and our approach to child protection in Aberdeenshire.
We work to:
If you are a child, young person or family member with experience of child protection and would like to share your views, please contact us.
The CPC publishes an Annual Report each year, providing an overview of child protection activity, performance data, key achievements, and areas for improvement across Aberdeenshire. The Annual Report is presented to the Chief Officers’ Group and published here for public transparency.
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Improvement Plan sets out our strategic priorities and actions for improving child protection across Aberdeenshire. It is developed with partner agencies, informed by national guidance and local evidence, and reviewed regularly to track progress.
(Coming Soon)
Learning Reviews replace Significant Case Reviews as the approach used to support learning and improvement in child protection systems and practice. They are undertaken when a child or young person has died, been significantly harmed, was at risk of serious harm, or where effective practice has prevented harm.
Learning Reviews provide a proportionate, flexible and timely approach, focused on understanding why events occurred, identifying additional learning, and strengthening how learning is actioned and embedded in practice. The model moves beyond identifying shortcomings and supports more systematic learning aligned to current practice contexts.
The approach places greater emphasis on family involvement, practitioner engagement throughout the review, and a standardised process for cases involving criminal proceedings.
The National Guidance for Child Protection Committees Undertaking Learning Reviews supports decision making on when a Learning Review is required and how it should be conducted. The Aberdeenshire Learning Review Process Map sets out the local process from referral through to review.
Any CPC member, agency or practitioner can request that a case is considered for a Learning Review. Where possible, this should be discussed with partner agencies prior to referral. For advice or discussion, contact the Aberdeenshire CPC Lead Officer. Referrals are made using the Learning Review referral form.
The Data and Self‑Evaluation subgroup collates and analyses multi‑agency child protection data, audit and evaluation activity to provide assurance and support informed scrutiny of practice across Aberdeenshire. It enables learning and improvement by identifying strengths, risks and priorities, and ensures findings directly inform the CPC Improvement Plan and strategic decision‑making.
The Learning and Development subgroup leads the planning, delivery and evaluation of multi‑agency child protection learning in line with the Aberdeenshire Integrated Multi‑Agency Learning and Development Strategy 2023–2026. It ensures learning from practice, reviews and national guidance is embedded across the workforce to strengthen confident, consistent and trauma‑informed child protection practice.
The Operations and Practice subgroup provides a multi‑agency forum to consider how child protection policy, guidance and procedures are applied in day‑to‑day practice across Aberdeenshire. It supports consistent, effective joint working by identifying operational issues, sharing learning, and recommending practice improvements to the Child Protection Committee.
The Learning Review subgroup oversees the consideration, commissioning and governance of Learning Reviews when a child or young person has died, been seriously harmed, or where there is significant learning to improve practice. It ensures reviews are conducted in line with national guidance, involve families and practitioners appropriately, and that learning is translated into clear actions to strengthen child protection systems and outcomes.
The Neglect subgroup leads and coordinates multi‑agency work to improve the identification, assessment and response to child neglect across Aberdeenshire. It uses data, audit and learning from practice to strengthen understanding of neglect, promote early intervention, and drive improvements in policy, guidance and workforce development.
This is a joint subgroup between the Child Protection Committee and the Girfec Strategic Group. The Prevention and Early Intervention subgroup leads multi‑agency work to reduce the need for statutory child protection intervention by strengthening early support for children, young people and families, including those at risk of exploitation and children in conflict with the law. It promotes proportionate, preventative responses that identify emerging risks early, build resilience, and support safer outcomes across communities.
The Aberdeenshire Children’s Rights and Participation Strategic Group is a joint group between the Child Protection Committee and Girfec Strategic Group. The Aberdeenshire Children’s Rights and Participation Strategic Group provides strategic leadership to ensure children’s rights are upheld and embedded across policy, practice and service delivery, in line with the UNCRC Incorporation (Scotland) Act. It works across the Child Protection Committee and GIRFEC arrangements to strengthen participation, ensuring the voices and lived experiences of children and young people inform decision making and improvement activity across Aberdeenshire.
Protecting Children and Young People: Child Protection Committee and Chief Officer Responsibilities sets out the shared leadership and accountability for safeguarding children across Aberdeenshire.
The Aberdeenshire Child Protection Committee (CPC) is a multi‑agency strategic body responsible for leading, coordinating and quality assuring child protection policy and practice. It operates as part of Aberdeenshire Council’s wider Public Protection arrangements and in line with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland (2021, updated 2023).
The CPC brings together Chief Officers and senior leaders from social work, health, education, police, the third sector and other public services. Through collective leadership, they ensure effective multi‑agency arrangements are in place to protect children and young people from abuse and neglect, promote consistent practice, and drive continuous improvement in safeguarding outcomes.