Councillor welcomes the fact that working with fathers remains a focus for the new body responsible

Coun Scott Dickinson said the priority around fathers was ‘really important’, adding: “A lot of my casework is with frustrated fathers who are trying to use the system.” 

The report, outlining the new partnership’s priorities for the current year, says: ‘In Northumberland, since 2009, there have been a number of cases where the role of the father or significant males has not been clearly understood.’ It adds: ‘It is important to note that most fathers want to have active input with parenting their children and most children want contact with their fathers.‘

The need to engage fathers more in the safeguarding process is one of the most pressing reasons for policy and practice to address and challenge the risk of gender inequalities and gendered biases among agencies.