Warrington’s Child Sexual Abuse Strategy

Warrington’s Child Sexual Abuse Strategy 2026 -2028

This two‑year Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Strategic Plan sets out Warrington’s partnership approach to preventing, identifying, responding to and supporting recovery from child sexual abuse between 2026 and 2028. The Plan is informed directly by local multi‑agency benchmarking and gap analysis, alongside identified areas of good practice that Warrington is committed to maintaining, strengthening and applying consistently.

The Strategy is explicitly aligned to Working Together to Safeguard Children, the Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) evidence‑informed framework, Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) expectations, and national learning including the review ‘I Wanted Them All to Notice’

At its core, the Strategy is grounded in a clear and uncompromising principle: safeguarding does not depend on disclosure. Warrington recognises that many children do not, cannot, or are not ready to verbally disclose sexual abuse. As such, the partnership is committed to acting on indicators, patterns, professional curiosity and the balance of probabilities, ensuring that protection and support begin when concern begins — not when certainty is achieved.

Benchmarking identified strong multi‑agency commitment, effective specialist practice in police, children’s social care, education and health safeguarding teams, emerging good practice in learning forums, supervision and family engagement, and positive momentum around NFA review pathways and harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) frameworks. However, it also highlighted inconsistency in workforce confidence, variability in identification and safety planning, fragmented pathways, and inequities in access to support.

Delivery of the Strategy will be overseen through established safeguarding partnership governance, supported by a Strategic Delivery Group, robust quality assurance arrangements, and meaningful engagement with children, young people and families.

Progress will be reviewed quarterly, with an annual partnership self‑assessment against Centre for Expertise and JTAI criteria to ensure sustained improvement and impact.

You can read the strategy in the link below:

Warrington’s Child Sexual Abuse Strategy 2026 -2028