Published today: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023

Date: Friday, 15th Dec 2023 | Category: Guidance

Updated statutory guidance on multi-agency working to help, protect and promote the welfare of children has been published today.

Working together to safeguard children 2023, replaces the previous 2018 guidance and includes the following updates:

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.

The guidance applies to all organisations, agencies and individuals in England who have functions relating to children, including:

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