4 proposed safeguarding changes that could impact schools

The Department for Education’s latest consultation on Working Together to Safeguard Children provides a clear indication of the government’s long-term direction of travel for safeguarding in England - and there are plenty of positive changes proposed.

Of course, as this is a consultation, not every proposal will survive unchanged. However, consultations are the best opportunity for practitioners to shape future statutory guidance, and so school leaders, designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) and governors would do well to read the sections most relevant to them and consider submitting a response before the consultation closes on 4 September.

That deadline brings with it a rather frustrating observation. Once again, the government has chosen to run a significant consultation almost entirely during the school summer holidays.

For a consultation aimed at safeguarding professionals who very often work in or with schools, this inevitably limits the ability of many practitioners to digest the proposals properly, discuss them with colleagues and formulate considered responses. It is becoming an increasingly familiar pattern.

However, within the consultation there are four particularly important themes that schools should be aware of.

1. Safeguarding is becoming more structured and more accountable

If there is one thread running throughout the consultation, it is a desire for greater consistency.

The government clearly feels that too much safeguarding practice still depends on local interpretation.

Whether discussing independent scrutiny, local authority designated officers (LADOs), annual safeguarding reports or multi-agency working, the consultation repeatedly proposes clearer expectations, standardisation and greater transparency. So, for instance, greater clarity on thresholds for LADO involvement.

For schools, this will hopefully lead to fewer local variations over time. This is welcome because often schools have children attending from different boroughs, which can often have very different safeguarding guidelines.

Training and keeping informed about changes will be very important as schools will need to avoid relying on often-less-formal local custom when making safeguarding decisions.

2. Multi-agency safeguarding is hopefully becoming a reality

Schools have heard for years about the importance of multi-agency working. What is different here is that the government appears determined to make it happen in a far more practical way.

The proposed Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs) would bring together specialist professionals from social care, police, health and education to lead complex child protection decision-making.

Rather than simply encouraging agencies to collaborate, these teams are intended to become the operational centre of child protection work.

For DSLs, this could be significant, giving clearer routes into specialist decision-making, faster strategy discussions and more consistent thresholds.

Equally, schools should begin thinking now about how they would interact with these teams, what information they would be expected to provide and how their own safeguarding procedures may need to adapt.

3. Earlier intervention is becoming the dominant philosophy

Perhaps the biggest strategic shift is the very welcome emphasis on helping families earlier, bringing together early help and Child in Need work into a single Family Help model under Section 17 of the Children Act, alongside much greater use of family networks and Family Group Decision Making.

This would ensure that safeguarding would become less about responding once problems have escalated and more about supporting families before they reach crisis.

Schools have always been central to early identification of concerns, and this proposal seems certain to help school leaders as they look to put in place support for children in their families ahead of crisis points arising.

The consultation suggests that schools will be expected to work closely with Family Help services and wider family networks much earlier in the life of a concern, which is likely to be a very welcome change.

4. Children’s voices to move from rhetoric to evidence

Almost every safeguarding document speaks about listening to children.

This consultation goes further. It suggests that safeguarding partnerships should be expected not merely to say they value children’s voices but to demonstrate how those voices have genuinely influenced decision making, scrutiny and service improvement.

Schools may increasingly find themselves being asked not simply whether they seek pupil voice, but how that voice changes policy, practice and outcomes.

Student surveys, safeguarding forums, focus groups and pupil participation are therefore likely to become even more valuable evidence during inspection and partnership reviews.

There seems a lot that is positive in the proposals within this consultation, especially including the school in wider safeguarding discussions earlier, and it would be good to have school leader and safeguarding lead engagement with the consultation even though it is during the summer break.

The statutory guidance that emerges will shape safeguarding practice for years to come, and those working on the frontline have a genuine opportunity to influence it before that happens.

Luke Ramsden is head elect at St John’s College Cardiff