Working Together to Safeguard Children is the government’s statutory guidance. The guidance sets out how organisations must work together to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
Services working with children include education and childcare settings, health and social care service and the police. These organisations must share concerns and provide the right support and protection.
Safeguarding children is also part of the Care Certificate. This training supports many people working in adult social care. Even when staff mainly support adults, they may still encounter concerns about children or families.
A child-centred approach is central to safeguarding. Professionals must focus on the safety and wellbeing of children and young people and act quickly when concerns arise.
Working together to safeguard children 2023
The Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 guidance clarified how services should work together to safeguard children and families.
The update strengthened expectations around multi-agency working, early help and safeguarding leadership. It also emphasised the importance of sharing information and responding quickly when safeguarding concerns arise.
Safeguarding in each area operates through multi-agency safeguarding arrangements led by three safeguarding partners:
- the local authority
- the police
- Integrated Care Boards (ICBs)
These partners coordinate how organisations working with children safeguard children locally and provide the right support and protection.
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 explains the key structure of safeguarding partnerships and multi-agency working across children’s services. Importantly, the guidance emphasises early help, effective partnerships and a child-centred approach.
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 updates
The Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 updates build on the 2023 guidance and strengthen expectations around safeguarding leadership, multi-agency working and child protection practice.
The guidance now makes clearer that it applies to all children, including those living with birth family, extended family, in kinship care, and looked-after or adopted children.
It also states that practitioners should consider help, support and protection for unborn children where there are safeguarding concerns.
Chapter 1: a shared responsibility
Chapter 1 strengthens expectations around anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice.
It also gives more focus to risks such as coercive control, child sexual abuse (CSA), and teenage relationship abuse.
Chapter 2: multi-agency safeguarding arrangements (MASA)
Chapter 2 clarifies that multi-agency safeguarding arrangements also include looked-after children. Annual reports must evidence their impact on children and families.
It also strengthens expectations around accountability, data sharing, and identifying disproportionality and racism in safeguarding practice.
Chapter 3: providing help, support and protection
Chapter 3 explains that family help brings together targeted early help and section 17 support to give families a more joined-up service.
The update also strengthens guidance on section 47 enquiries, child sexual abuse, online harms, and group-based exploitation.
Chapter 4: organisational responsibilities
Chapter 4 highlights the vulnerability of looked-after children in some settings and reinforces the link between care planning and child protection planning.
It also adds stronger reference to risks in residential settings.
Chapter 5: learning from serious child safeguarding incidents
Chapter 5 gives clearer guidance on reporting serious incidents and learning from safeguarding cases.
It explains that notifications should still be made even if the names of child victims are not yet known, and that the wider context should be considered.
Appendix updates
The appendices include new definitions and resources covering topics including family group decision-making (FGDM), honour-based abuse, Operation Encompass, and interim guidance for independent child trafficking guardians (ICTGs).
Why multi-agency working is important?
Multi-agency working allows services to share concerns and identify safeguarding risks earlier.
Children and young people often interact with multiple services, including schools, healthcare and social care. Each professional may notice different signs that a child needs help.
When professionals share information, services can organise the right support and protection for children and families.
Effective multi-agency working helps ensure:
- safeguarding concerns are recognised early
- professionals share information when needed
- services coordinate support for families
- child protection responses remain consistent
The role of education settings
Schools, colleges and other education settings play an important role in safeguarding children and young people.
Education staff see children regularly. They may notice changes in behaviour, attendance or wellbeing. These signs may indicate that a child needs help or support.
Teachers or safeguarding leads may raise concerns with children’s social care or the local authority, and work with parents and carers.
Education providers must follow safeguarding duties set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). They must also appoint a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) who manages safeguarding practice and supports staff to report concerns.
The role of children’s social care and the local authority
The local authority has a legal duty to safeguard children.
Children’s social care services assess safeguarding referrals and decide what support a child or family needs. This may include early help, family support or child protection investigations.
Social workers work closely with professionals working with children, including teachers, health staff and community organisations.
The local authority also works with safeguarding partners to oversee local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
Child protection plan
A child protection plan is used when professionals believe a child may be at risk of significant harm.
Children’s social care usually leads this process after a child protection conference.
The plan explains the risks to the child and the actions needed to keep them safe. It also sets out what each professional must do.
Review meetings take place regularly to check progress and make sure the plan continues to protect the child.
Information sharing and safeguarding
Effective information sharing helps professionals understand safeguarding risks.
Teachers may notice changes in behaviour or attendance. Health professionals may identify concerns about development or wellbeing. Social care may understand the wider family situation.
When services share information in an appropriate way, they can respond sooner and provide the right support and protection.
This is particularly important in child protection cases where services must work together to safeguard children.
Learning from safeguarding incidents
Safeguarding systems improve by learning from serious child safeguarding incidents.
Reviews help professionals understand what went wrong and how services can improve. Safeguarding partners may also carry out child death reviews to identify lessons for practice.
Some organisations provide resources such as an illustrated guide for children. These resources help children understand safety and how to seek help.
A shared responsibility to safeguard children
Working Together to Safeguard Children makes it clear that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
Schools, social care, health services, the police and other organisations working with children must work together through strong multi agency working.
A child-centred approach and early action help services support and protect children.
At Flourish, we offer a range of safeguarding courses to help professionals understand safeguarding responsibilities and apply statutory guidance in practice:
- Advanced Safeguarding Children and Young People
- Safeguarding Children & Young People in Residential Childcare
- Safeguarding – An Introduction
- Safeguarding And Child Protection Skills
- Contextual Safeguarding
- Safeguarding Children (as part of the Care Certificate training)
- Basic Safeguarding for Care Support Staff
