Scottish Government

2 Criteria and Definition of a Significant Incident

2.1 It is important to be clear about the criteria to be applied to trigger a significant incident review ( SIR). These have to be sufficiently prescriptive to ensure a degree of consistency in the assessment of whether an SIR is appropriate, yet flexible enough to allow professional knowledge and judgement and local context to be taken into account in each case.

2.2 Following an incident, the first requirement is an Initial Case Review ( ICR) of the incident to determine if:

• the criteria for a SIR may have been met; and
• there is any immediate local action which may be required.

2.3 It is important that issues are identified and dealt with at the appropriate level. Reviews should not be escalated beyond what could be considered to be proportionate taking account of the severity and complexity of the case.

Definition of a child

2.4 For the purpose of this document a child is a person under the age of 18 or, is a person under the age of 21 and who was looked after by the local authority when they ceased to be of school age.

Criteria

2.5 Any of the circumstances below require a Significant Incident Review, though the detail and level of review will be dependent on the individual case and circumstances:

When a child dies and:

• abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor in the child's death;
• the child is on, or has been on, the Child Protection Register ( CPR) or a sibling is on the CPR. This is regardless of whether or not abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor in the child's death unless it is absolutely clear that having been on the CPR has no bearing on the case;
• the death is by suicide;
• the death is by murder;
• the child was being 'looked after' by the local authority ⁵.

When any child has not died but:

• has sustained any of the following:
• physical injury;
• sexual abuse;
• emotional abuse; or
• physical neglect;

and, in addition to this, the incident gives rise to concerns about professional and / or service involvement.

2.6 It is expected also that the CPC would consider any formal request made to them for a review - even if the incident had been considered at the Initial Case Review to require no further action. It would be expected that any concerns raised by families and similar interested parties would be addressed through the normal complaints procedures for each agency involved.

2.7 The definitions of the categories of abuse and neglect in this criteria, as defined in Protecting Children - A Shared Responsibility: Guidance for Inter-Agency co-operation⁶, are attached at Annex 1.