Professor Andy Bilson explains how his research demonstrates how existing protocols on pre-mobile bruising mislead staff and risk exposing parents to damaging and unnecessary child protection action.

In a recent report, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (“the panel”) asked safeguarding partners to review their policies on bruising in non-mobile infants “to check for consistency with the evidence base and national guidelines.”

The panel acknowledges that there are a small number of children who are seriously harmed or die, where bruises have been seen by staff with a responsibility to protect children before more serious injuries have taken place. So why does the panel require these policies to change and what should they say?

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Education secretary announces review of designated officer service after inquiry finds function was among checks and balances that failed to act on concerns at special schools where abuse was uncovered

The government will review the local authority designated officer (LADO) role after an inquiry into the abuse of disabled children identified “major failings” in relation to the function.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan announced the review in a statement to Parliament after the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published the report of phase 1 of its inquiry into serious abuse and neglect of disabled children in three residential special schools in Doncaster.

Keegan said that the Department for Education (DfE) would work with other departments and local authorities on the review, and would “consult on developing a LADO handbook that includes improving handling whistleblowing concerns and complaints in circumstances such as these”.

The panel has also asked directors of children’s services to review LADO referrals regarding residential special schools also registered as children’s homes over the past three years to identify any concerns.

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The number of child protection enquiries reached record levels in 2021-22, as referrals to children’s social care surged in the wake of the removal of Covid restrictions.Social workers carried out 10% more enquiries (217,800) under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 than in 2020-21, the first rise after three years of falling numbers and the highest total ever recorded.

The Department for Education’s annual children in need statistics also showed year-on-year increases in the number of children in need at the end of the year (up 4.1%) and assessments during 2021-22 (up 3.1%), on the back of a surge in referrals, which rose by 8.8% on 2020-21, to 650,270.Referrals had fallen by 7% from 2019-20 to 2020-21 on the back of a drop of a third in concerns submitted by schools, in apparent consequence of coronavirus-linked closures. However, notifications from schools rose by 59%, from 81,180 to 129,090, in 2021-22, in the wake of the removal of restrictions.