Reporting a concern

If you are concerned about a child or young person, you should speak to someone.

If you have general concerns about a child's wellbeing, you should speak to the 'Named Person' - for a child who is not of school age this would be the Health Visitor or the Head Teacher of the child's school. If you are not sure who the 'Named Person' is, or you have more serious or urgent concern you should contact the following numbers:

South Ayrshire Councils Children and Families Social Work on 01292 288645 (option 1) or email the InitialResponseTeam@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
This service is available Monday to Thursday 8:45am to 4:45pm and Friday 8:45am to 4pm.

Out with these times contact Ayrshire Out of Hours Social Work if your concern is urgent on 0800 328 7758

If the child is in immediate danger contact the Police Scotland by telephone 999 in an emergency

If you do not share your information, people who know the child may be missing crucial information, which makes it harder for people to protect the child. By sharing your information, you may be helping others to understand what is happening for the child's life and help keep the child safe.

You do not need to give your name. If you do choose to give your name, this will be treated with discretion and any details received, including your name, will not be shared unless the child's safety requires it.

What to expect when you report your concern?

If you contact Social Work to raise a concern, you will be asked for details of the child such as:

Name
Age
Address

A Social Worker will talk to you to find out more about your concern, they will ask you some questions. Examples of these may be:

What are you worried about and why?
What is the impact on the child(ren)?
What has happened?
How do you know?
How long have you been worried about this child/young person?
Given what you know about this child(ren), what do you feel could be done to help?

What happens with the information that is shared?

Due to confidentiality, it is unlikely that you will be provided information about what action has been taken. All information shared is treated seriously and will be acted upon. This might include:

checking agency records and gathering information from other people who may know the child, such as their school or health visitor.
speaking to the child and family and assessing the situation
making sure the child is safe

What will happen to the child and family?

Once the initial inquirys have been undertaken, the following may happen:

concerns have been followed up on and no further action is required
advice and guidance is offered to the family
a referral is made to another service to offer supports to the child and their family
referral to the Children's Reporter
where Child Protection concerns are identified, an Inter-agency Referral Discussion (IRD) will be held to decide the best way to protect the child
immediate, emergency action may be necessary to protect the child