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The safety of children is paramount.  Where there is risk to the life of a child or grave risk of further abuse, then Children's Social Care or the police should act quickly to secure the immediate safety of the child. The need for action to safeguard other children in the same household, the household of an alleged abuser, or elsewhere, must also be considered.

Knowsley Children's Social Care in partnership with Merseyside Police are responsible for taking emergency action to protect a child found in Knowsley, even where the child may be Looked After by, or subject of a Child Protection Plan, in another local authority, unless that local authority agrees to take the emergency action.

Planned emergency action should take place normally following a Strategy Meeting (see Strategy Discussions/Meetings Procedure) between the managers of Children's Social Care and Police Vulnerable Persons Unit, and sharing information where available from other agencies, such as Health.  Where a single agency has to act immediately to protect a child, a Strategy Meeting should take place as soon as possible after the emergency action, to plan any subsequent action.

A child's immediate safety may be secured by:

• the non-abusing parent taking action to remove the alleged perpetrator
• the alleged perpetrator removing his or herself voluntarily
• the alleged perpetrator being arrested by the police and bailed to an alternative address
• the child's parents giving agreement that the child is removed to, or remains in, a safe place, such as a foster placement or hospital ward
• An Emergency Protection Order (EPO) or Police Protection (PP)

If it is not possible to ensure the immediate safety of the child by agreement with those with Parental Responsibility, Children's Social Care should take legal advice (see Appendix 9.1, Legal Considerations in Relation to Immediate Protective Action)

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