Legislation & national guidance

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023

There have been some recent updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children previously published in 2018 with a factual update taking place in 2020. 

The main changes pertain to:

• multi-agency expectations for all practitioners
• working with parents and families
• clarifying the roles and responsibilities of safeguarding partners
• the role of education and childcare providers
• multi-agency practice standards
• support for disabled children
• tackling harm that occurs outside the home.

Who does the guidance apply to?

All organisations and agencies who have functions relating to children. Specifically, all local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, police and all other organisations and agencies as set out in Chapter 2.

It applies, in its entirety, to all schools.

It applies to all children up to the age of 18 years whether living with their families, in state care, or living independently. 

Working Together 2023 covers

• the legislative requirements placed on individual services
• a framework for the three local safeguarding partners (the local authority; a clinical commissioning group for an area; and the chief officer of police for a police area,) to make arrangements to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of local children including identifying and responding to their needs
• the framework for the two child death review partners (the local authority and any clinical commissioning group for an area to make arrangements to review all deaths of children normally resident in the local area, and if they consider it appropriate, for those not normally resident in the area.

Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023)

Keeping Children Safe in Education (2021) +

Legislation +