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.

The government has updated and redeveloped its resources for schools around the Prevent Duty.

The Prevent duty: safeguarding learners vulnerable to radicalisation (DfE)

This updated guidance reflects learning since the implementation of the Prevent Duty in 2015 under section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015. The materials have been developed by frontline practitioners in local authorities, with support from the Department for Education. This guidance is for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs); and those who working in education settings who have safeguarding responsibilities for keeping children, young people and adult learners safe in schools, colleges and further education independent training providers.

The guidance is designed to explain the Prevent referral process and the statutory responsibilities to keep children, young people and adult learners safe from the risk of extremist ideology or radicalisation; and will prepare DSLs to respond effectively and get support for people who may be being exploited by radicalising influences. Sections in the guidance include:

• The Prevent duty: an introduction for those with safeguarding responsibilities
• Understanding and identifying radicalisation risk in your education setting
• Managing risk of radicalisation in your education setting
• Case studies

Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-prevent-duty-safeguarding-learners-vulnerable-to-radicalisation

Prevent duty self-assessment tool for schools (DfE)

This guidance applies to schools in England identified in Ofsted’s education inspection framework, including:

• local-authority-maintained schools
• academies
• non-association independent schools
• registered early years settings

This self-assessment tool has been designed to assist schools in England to review their Prevent related responsibilities in line with:

• Section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA)
• Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 2022

The tool helps schools to understand how well embedded their existing policies and practices are, and to encourage a cycle of continuous review and improvement.

Use of the tool is not mandatory but contains both requirements and recommended good practice activities to meet those requirements. The tool should be read in conjunction with the Prevent duty guidance and the Education Inspection Framework (EIF)

Find the self-assessment tool here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-self-assessment-tool-for-schools

Making a referral to Prevent (DfE)

Safeguarding children, young people and adult learners from extremism or radicalisation is no different to other types of safeguarding harms, many of which are interconnected.

A Prevent referral is not an accusation of criminality and will not affect a person’s education or career prospects. Instead, it allows for their circumstances to be assessed and any relevant safeguarding support to be provided.

DSLs should exercise their professional judgment about whether a referral is appropriate, as they do for all other safeguarding risks.

This guidance from the DfE also suggests whole school an individual interventions.

Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-referral-to-prevent

To safeguard children, young people and adult learners who are vulnerable to radicalisation, designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) will need to take a risk-based approach.

The DSL should understand the risk of radicalisation in their area and educational setting. This risk will vary greatly and can change quickly, but nowhere is risk free

Click here for further info

Find out how to report any concerns you have about a child, young person or adult learner who you think may be vulnerable to being drawn into extremism.

Click here for further info

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has published its concluding Report.
Read it here

This week the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published its final report, setting out its recommendations to ‘reset children’s social care’.

There is little doubt that the system needs something of a reset; too often there is insufficient support to help families resolve their problems before they reach the family court. Despite the best efforts of dedicated and hardworking professionals, it can be easier to initiate proceedings than secure the intensive support that parents need to resolve their long-standing difficulties, whether for their mental health, addiction, poverty, trauma or family violence. We have ended up with a children’s social care system with a strong gravitational pull into the family courts. Something has to change.

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The Institute of Public Care (IPC) at Oxford Brookes University has been commissioned by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory to undertake a study to explore the prevalence and experience of parents with learning disabilities or difficulties involved in care proceedings concerning their babies in England. It will work in partnership with an award-winning expert by experience organisation, My Life My Choice, and with five local authority sites to co-produce a mixed-method study involving case file sampling, interviews with parents, and interviews with professionals frequently involved in care proceedings, from social workers and support workers to lawyers and judges.

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New research suggests that the most vulnerable children in England and Wales are being sent tosecure children’s homes in Scotland, an average of 353 miles away from their homes, family and friends, when places can’t be found for them locally.

At any one time around 25 children or more from England and Wales are living in secure care in Scotland. The new study, published by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, suggests that they are the most vulnerable of an already vulnerable group of children, having experienced more serious difficulties – such as neglect, abuse, mental health problems, criminal and sexual exploitation – in childhood than children placed in secure homes in England.

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The Department for Education (DfE) has published an updated version of the statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) (DfE, 2022)¹. 

This guidance will replace KCSIE 2021 when it comes into force on 1 September 2022.   

The guidance sets out what schools and colleges in England must do to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18.

Our briefing sets out changes made to the guidance, including: 

• incorporating the DfE’s advice on Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges  
• setting out the safeguarding implications for schools of human rights and equality legislation 
• providing more information on managing low level concerns 
• reinforcing the importance of talking to parents about children’s access to online sites when away from school. 

KCSiE Briefing

Nurseries could be forced to close if funding does not keep up with costs, a childcare association has warned.

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said providers in nearly half of Scottish councils are still waiting to find out their funding, just days before the new school year.

At least 15 councils are yet to decide on the hourly rates they’ll pay childcare providers from next week.

Only two councils have plans to keep up with the current rate of inflation.

Jonathan Broadbery, NDNA director of policy, told BBC Scotland that funding was not keeping pace with the rising cost of living

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