By Sheila Mckenzie-
The government has unveiled one of the most significant reviews of England’s child safeguarding system in recent years, launching a wide-ranging consultation that could reshape how vulnerable children and families receive support, protection and intervention across the country. The proposals signal a decisive shift towards earlier intervention, stronger multi-agency collaboration and greater accountability, while introducing new statutory structures designed to improve decision-making in the most serious child protection cases.
The consultation seeks views on revisions to two of the most influential pieces of statutory guidance governing children’s social care—Working Together to Safeguard Children and the Children’s Social Care National Framework—alongside the regulations that will underpin the introduction of Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs). Together, the reforms represent the next stage in the government’s programme to modernise children’s services following a series of legislative changes and years of scrutiny into safeguarding failures.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
At the heart of the consultation is the recognition that safeguarding children is not solely the responsibility of social workers or local authorities. Instead, it depends upon coordinated action between education, health services, police, youth justice, voluntary organisations and wider public services. The proposed reforms seek to strengthen that collaborative approach while ensuring that families receive help earlier, before concerns escalate into crises requiring statutory intervention. The government’s flagship safeguarding guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, has long served as the blueprint for professionals involved in protecting children. Underpinned principally by the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004, the guidance establishes how agencies should cooperate to safeguard and promote children’s welfare. It has evolved steadily over the past decade, with major reforms following the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which placed new duties on safeguarding partners to work together locally.
The guidance underwent a substantial revision in 2023, followed by an illustrated version aimed at children and young people in 2025 and a targeted update earlier this year. The latest consultation now proposes further revisions to ensure the guidance reflects new statutory responsibilities introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and remains aligned with wider reforms across children’s social care.
Alongside this, the government intends to revise the Children’s Social Care National Framework, which sets out the core principles, expected outcomes and standards of practice for children’s social care services. The framework outlines the responsibilities of practitioners, supervisors and senior leaders, defining what good practice should look like across England. Updated earlier this year to make it shorter, clearer and more practical for frontline professionals, ministers now want to ensure it fully reflects the proposed changes to safeguarding arrangements and provides greater consistency across agencies. One of the consultation’s most ambitious proposals is the creation of statutory Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams. These new teams are intended to bring together professionals from different organisations to improve decision-making where children are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, significant harm.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
The initiative stems directly from powers introduced under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which places a legal duty on local safeguarding partners to establish Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams within their local areas. Rather than relying on agencies working alongside one another through existing structures, the reforms envisage dedicated teams capable of drawing on specialist expertise from across public services to undertake child protection investigations more effectively.
The proposed regulations would give the Secretary of State powers to prescribe the support available to local authorities undertaking investigations under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989, which governs enquiries where there is reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. Ministers would also be able to determine the required qualifications and skills of nominated members serving within the teams and specify which agencies may be required to enter cooperation agreements to support the new arrangements.
Although legislation establishing the framework has already been passed, the detailed regulations remain subject to parliamentary approval through the affirmative procedure. Subject to the outcome of the consultation and parliamentary scrutiny, the government expects the regulations to come into force during 2027.
The consultation, however, extends well beyond structural reform. Across forty-one questions divided into five thematic sections, respondents are invited to comment on a broad package of changes affecting almost every stage of children’s social care. Central to the proposals is a renewed emphasis on Family Help services, reflecting a growing consensus that earlier intervention can prevent many family difficulties from escalating into child protection concerns. The government is seeking views on how support can be delivered in a more coordinated way across agencies, ensuring families receive practical assistance at the earliest opportunity rather than only once statutory thresholds have been met.
Particular attention is also given to children returning home from care, recognising that successful reunification requires carefully coordinated planning and sustained support if placements are to remain stable. By strengthening early help services, ministers hope to reduce repeated cycles of intervention while improving long-term outcomes for children and parents alike.
Another significant strand of the consultation concerns Family Group Decision Making (FGDM), an approach that places extended family members at the centre of planning for children where safeguarding concerns arise. Originating in New Zealand and increasingly adopted internationally, Family Group Decision Making seeks to empower wider family networks to develop solutions that keep children safe while maintaining important family relationships wherever possible. The government believes expanding the use of family-led decision-making could help reduce unnecessary escalation into care proceedings, strengthen kinship arrangements and provide more sustainable support for children within their wider families. Respondents are therefore being asked how the approach can be embedded more consistently across local authorities.
The consultation also addresses safeguarding arrangements themselves, including questions around leadership, accountability and the independent scrutiny of local safeguarding partnerships. Ministers are seeking views on how governance arrangements can become more effective and transparent, ensuring agencies remain accountable for safeguarding performance while improving strategic oversight.
Among the specific roles under consideration is that of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), who oversees allegations made against adults working with children. The government wants feedback on how the role should evolve within the wider safeguarding framework to ensure concerns are managed consistently and effectively.
Recognising the changing nature of safeguarding risks, the consultation also proposes strengthening responses to extra-familial harm, including child sexual exploitation. Increasingly, children face significant risks beyond the family home through criminal exploitation, online abuse, peer violence and organised exploitation. These complex safeguarding challenges frequently require coordinated responses involving multiple agencies, reinforcing the rationale behind the proposed Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams.
Additional proposals examine how protections can be improved for children in care and those living in kinship arrangements, reflecting growing recognition of the important role played by relatives and close family friends who assume caring responsibilities when parents are unable to do so.
The government’s consultation reflects wider changes in children’s social care policy over recent years. A succession of independent reviews, serious case reviews and high-profile safeguarding failures have repeatedly highlighted the need for stronger partnership working between agencies, improved information sharing and more consistent professional practice. Many of those inquiries found that opportunities to protect vulnerable children were missed because organisations worked in isolation, failed to communicate effectively or intervened too late.
Successive governments have therefore sought to move away from siloed services towards integrated safeguarding systems where professionals share responsibility for identifying risks, coordinating interventions and supporting families. The latest consultation builds upon that direction of travel by attempting to place collaboration, prevention and shared accountability at the centre of children’s services.
Importantly, ministers emphasise that the consultation is not seeking views on every proposed amendment to statutory guidance. A series of technical corrections and factual updates have already been identified separately and will be introduced without consultation. Instead, the exercise focuses on substantive policy changes that could significantly affect frontline practice across England.
Stakeholders are not required to answer every question within the consultation. The government has encouraged organisations and individuals to respond only to those areas relevant to their expertise or experience, while still completing basic information to ensure submissions can be considered during the analysis process.
Once the consultation closes, officials will review responses before finalising revisions to Working Together to Safeguard Children and the Children’s Social Care National Framework. The evidence gathered will also inform the drafting of regulations governing Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams ahead of parliamentary scrutiny.
If approved, the reforms are expected to come into effect during 2027, marking another major milestone in the continuing evolution of England’s child protection system. For professionals working across social care, education, health, policing and the voluntary sector, the consultation offers an opportunity to shape a safeguarding framework that aims to respond more effectively to modern risks while ensuring children and families receive the right help at the right The government’s proposals represent an attempt to strike a delicate balance between protecting children from harm and supporting families before problems become crises. Whether the reforms deliver the intended improvements will depend not only on the legislation itself, but on how effectively agencies collaborate, share responsibility and translate statutory guidance into consistent, high-quality practice on the ground.
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar