Working together to safeguard children
Statutory guidance on multi-agency working to help, support and protect children.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for:
- statutory safeguarding partners (health, local authorities, and police)
- directors of children’s services
- education and childcare settings
- social workers
- health professionals
- police (including British Transport Police)
- adult social care services
- housing and homelessness services
- Prison and Probation Services
- children’s homes
- secure establishments (secure training centres and young offender institutions)
- youth offending teams
- UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement, and Border Force
- Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass)
- the armed services
- Channel panels
- voluntary, charity, social enterprise (VCSE) and faith-based organisations, and private sectors
- sports clubs and organisations
It applies to:
- all organisations and agencies that have functions relating to children
- all education providers and childcare settings
Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there’s a good reason not to.
Working together to safeguard children 2023
The guidance was updated in 2023, with a focus on:
- strengthening multi-agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection for children and their families
- keeping a child-centred approach while bringing a whole-family focus
- embedding strong, effective and consistent multi-agency child protection practice
The update includes:
- principles for working with parents and carers that centre the importance of building positive, trusting and co-operative relationships to deliver tailored support to families
- expectations for multi-agency working that apply to all individuals, agencies and organisations working with children and their families across a range of roles and activities
- new national multi-agency child protection standards that set out actions, considerations and behaviours for improved child protection practice and better outcomes for children
Statutory framework
The updated statutory framework sets out the legislation relevant to safeguarding. It should be read alongside the statutory guidance.
Additional materials
Practitioners can also share and use with children, young people and their families:
- Working together to safeguard children: an illustrated guide for children, young people and their families
- the short accompanying animated video
- a toolkit of resources
All children should be helped, supported and protected when things are difficult. The illustrated guide, animated video and toolkit explain to children, young people and their families how individuals, organisations and agencies work together to help, support and protect them.
These materials were co-produced with children and young people, along with the Department for Education’s Social Care Advisory Board, facilitated by the National Children’s Bureau.
Practitioners who would like to use the toolkit can email workingtogether.statutoryguidance@education.gov.uk to request this.
Improving practice with children, young people and families
Improving practice with children, young people and families provides advice for local areas on embedding Working together to safeguard children and the Children’s social care national framework.
Updates to this page
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Added an illustrated guide, an animated video and details of a toolkit for children, young people and their families, and practitioners working with them.
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Pg 26, paragraph 48: amended the wording used to describe lead safeguarding partners. Pg 42: corrected the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel email address. Pg 161: updated the glossary definition of 'safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children' to match that on pg 7 to 8. Pg 167: linked to the latest version of 'Good practice guidance on working with parents with a learning disability'.
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Added 'Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance', 'Working together to safeguard children: summary of changes' and 'Working together to safeguard children: statutory framework'.
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Page updated to reflect recent changes in legislation in relation to 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018'.
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Updated 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018' with factual changes in relation to information sharing, homelessness duty and references to domestic abuse. Removed 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015' and 'Working Together: transitional guidance'.
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Updated 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018' to reflect how local authorities should notify the Child Safeguarding Panel.
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Corrected a small error in chapter 5, footnote 99.
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Added the Working Together 2018 version, transitional arrangements, statutory framework, and introductory letters from DfE and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.
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Minor amendment to the guidance to add the definition of child sexual exploitation.
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First published.