Source: Royal Collage of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) published on this website Wednesday 26 November 2025 by Jill Powell

Intoduction to the updated document Intercollegiate document (2025) Safeguarding children and young people & children and young people in care: Competencies for health care staff published November 2025

‘Health care staff in every service recognise the necessity to protect people with increased vulnerabilities and those in need of safeguarding. There is a moral, professional, and statutory duty of care. Being able to do this effectively is built upon a structure of personal knowledge, skills and competence, and access to health care staff with appropriate expertise and strategic leadership.

The safeguarding remit encompasses protection of a person’s health, wellbeing and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. Health care professionals need competencies to navigate a range of situations. From support and acknowledgement of need – including for adults, child protection for Children and young people, and responsibility for children and young people in the care of a local authority/council/health and social care trust. Children in care and young people are protected by separate legislation, processes, outcomes, workforce, and leadership.

This 2025 revision incorporates a review and update of two documents – the intercollegiate knowledge, skills and competencies for Safeguarding Children and Young People: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff (2019) and Looked after Children: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff (2020). The principles of equity, inclusion, listening to the voice of the child, and considering a four nations approach were used in the development of this competency framework.

Accepting the range of the safeguarding responsibility and circumstances, the safeguarding children and looked after children competence frameworks have been combined in this Inter-Collegiate Document (ICD). This is for ease of reference and to raise the expectation of capability when providing services for children in care. Each area of practice is recognised as important and complex. As such, different competencies, separate job roles and leadership are required.

When children in the care of a local authority/council/health and social care trust are discussed, different terminology is used, and this is echoed across the four nations. This reflects preferences described by representations from the children themselves and a determination to use ‘child-first’ language. The authors have agreed to use the term “children and young people in care”.  However, where specific quotes, references, legislation are included, or when referring to previous iterations of the competency guidance, the term ‘looked after children and young people’ is used.

When the term ‘children and young people’ is used, this refers to everyone up to their 18^th birthday, as this is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child definition of a child, and when safeguarding transfers from child to adult services. The definition also applies when an individual in need moves from being a child to adult, or when “children in care” become “care leavers”.  Services that meet the needs of children and young people need to match with adult care services seamlessly, so the transition is timely and supportive.

These competencies should be considered when ensuring all Health care staff have the continuing professional development that they need to keep children and young people safe and understand the specific needs of children and young people in care. The rights of a child or young person to have assessments and processes explained in a developmentally appropriate way, in a language of their choice or in the different way they access communication is fundamental. A trauma-informed approach/practice and understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences should be embedded within all training and subsequent delivery of care.

Each health care staff group and individual will need to adapt and review their own learning needs. Competencies can be achieved via training and experience, and an adult learning approach is needed to embed these topics in day-to-day delivery, continuing professional development, and appraisal. There are specific roles within services for children and young people in care and safeguarding children and young people which require clinical expertise and skills – child protection medical assessments, including CSA (child sexual abuse) and Initial and review health assessments which are a statutory duty for children and young people in care.

A few of the behaviours, knowledge, skills and competencies described may not be applicable to all staff roles, services or organisations. The guidance is not statutory, and health care providers have a responsibility to ensure that the duration and frequency of training (alongside the identified syllabus) is appropriate for the staff and the children and young people they support.

The competence levels are not limited to the suggested staff groups.  Therefore, organisations should ensure that training is allocated to staff based on level of contact and involvement with the individuals they support.

Everything health care staff do can have an impact on children and young people. Knowledge, skills, behaviours and competence allows staff to recognise and act to safeguard children and young people, and to ensure we work in a system that values and prioritises their needs.

Source: Church of England published on this website Monday 24 November 2025 by Jill Powell

The Bishop of Tewkesbury, Robert Springett, is to be the Church of England’s new Lead Safeguarding Bishop, taking over from Bishop Joanne Grenfell who leaves the role at the end of March 2026, when her three-year term ends.

Bishop Robert will work closely with the National Director of Safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, and other members of the National Safeguarding Team which provides specialist expertise on casework, policy development, training, evaluation and survivor participation. The Church of England is continuing to strengthen its safeguarding practices by committing to independent scrutiny and improving delivery. This includes implementing recommendations from the Makin review, the Charity Commission, and insights gained from independent safeguarding audits.

Bishop Robert is currently one of the Deputy Leads for Safeguarding and chairs the Theology and Safeguarding Group. He also chairs the Task and Finish Group, which scrutinises the work the Church is undertaking in response to the Makin review recommendations, and was also chair of the Task and Finish Group set up after the Scolding report.

In his new role, Bishop Robert will chair the National Safeguarding Steering Group, the delegated House of Bishops body responsible for making national safeguarding decisions. Bishop Joanne Grenfell, who is to be welcomed as Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in January, will move into the role of Deputy Safeguarding Bishop with responsibility for the ongoing work on Safeguarding Structures, which is a programme of work strengthening Church safeguarding. When she takes up her role as a member of the House of Lords, Bishop Joanne will also speak on safeguarding.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said, “I am grateful to Bishop Robert, who in his work as Deputy Safeguarding Bishop, has worked closely with victims and survivors on our responses to key recommendations. He is clearly committed to seeking change to our safeguarding culture and practice, and I am delighted that he will bring his long experience in ministry to help lead and promote good safeguarding across the Church.”

Bishop Robert said, “Safeguarding should not be seen as a burden, but embraced with joy for the opportunity it offers to serve others. I have found the role of Deputy Safeguarding Bishop deeply rewarding, and I accept this invitation with a profound sense of calling to contribute to the development of healthy cultures across all areas of Church life. Through my involvement in the Scolding and Makin reviews, I have learned a great deal from victims and survivors—wisdom that will continue to shape and inform all that I seek to do in this new role.”

Source: Ofcom published on this website Tuesday 25 November 2025 by Jill Powell

Online safety watchdog, Ofcom, today launches new industry guidance demanding that tech firms step up to deliver a safer online experience for millions of women and girls in the UK.

Women and girls face distinct and serious risks online, including misogynistic abuse, sexual violence, coordinated pile-ons, stalking, coercive control and intimate image abuse.

Ofcom’s guidance, published today, includes a wide range of practical safety measures that the regulator is urging tech firms to adopt to tackle these harms. These go above and beyond what is needed to comply with their legal duties under the Online Safety Act, setting a new and ambitious standard for women’s and girls’ online safety. 

The guidance was developed with insights from victims, survivors, safety experts, women’s advocacy groups and organisations working with men and boys. Its launch is also supported by Sport England as part of their wider This Girl Can campaign, and WSL Football to raise awareness of women’s safety when taking part in sport and exercise.

Ofcom has today written to sites and apps setting an expectation that they start to take immediate action in line with the guidance. We will also publish a future report to reveal how individual companies respond.

Being a woman online

Women from all walks of life and backgrounds face disproportionate levels of harm online, which have wide-reaching effects. They limit women and girls’ ability to safely take part in online spaces, freely express themselves online, or even to do their jobs. They also contribute to the spread and normalisation of harmful attitudes towards women and girls.

Ofcom’s practical guidance, supported by case-study examples, sets out where tech companies can and should do more, while taking account of important human rights including freedom of expression and privacy. Focusing on the following four main areas of harm, our guidance makes clear how we expect services to design and test their services with safety in mind, and improve their reporting tools and support systems to better protect women and girls:

Misogynistic abuse and sexual violence. This includes content that spreads hate or violence against women, or normalises sexual violence, including some types of pornography. It can be both illegal or harmful to children and is often pushed by algorithms towards young men and boys. Under our guidance, tech firms should consider:

• introducing ‘prompts’ asking users to reconsider before posting harmful content;
• imposing ‘timeouts’ for users who repeatedly attempt to abuse a platform or functionality to target victims;
• promoting diverse content and perspectives through their recommender ‘for you’ systems to help prevent toxic echo chambers; and
• de-monetising posts or videos which promote misogynistic abuse and sexual violence.

Pile-ons and coordinated harassment. This happens when groups gang up to target a specific woman or group of women with abuse, threats, or hate. Such content may be illegal or harmful to children and often affects women in public life. Under our guidance, tech firms should consider:

• setting volume limits on posts (“rate limiting”) to help prevent mass-posting of abuse in pile-ons;
• allowing users to quickly block or mute multiple accounts at once; and
• introducing more sophisticated tools for users to make multiple reports and track their progress.

Stalking and coercive control. This covers criminal offences where a perpetrator uses technology to stalk an individual or control a partner or family member. Under our guidance, tech firms should consider:

• ‘bundling’ safety features to make it easier to set accounts to private;
• introducing enhanced visibility restrictions to control who can see past and present content;
• ensuring stronger account security; and
• remove geolocationby default.

Image-based sexual abuse. This refers to criminal offences involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and cyberflashing. Under our guidance, tech firms should consider:

• using automated technology known as ‘hash-matching’ to detect and remove non-consensual intimate images;
• blurring nudity, giving adults the option to override;
• signposting users to supportive information including how to report a potential crime.

More broadly, we expect tech firms to subject new services or features to ‘abusability’ testing before they roll them out, to identify from the outset how they might be misused by perpetrators. Moderation teams should also receive specialised training on online gender-based harms.

Companies are expected to consult with experts to design policies and safety features that work effectively for women and girls, while continually listening and learning from survivors’ and victims’ real-life experiences - for example through user surveys.

What happens now?

Ofcom is setting out a five-point action plan to drive change and hold tech firms to account in creating a safer life online for women and girls. We will:

1. Enforce services’ legal requirements under the Online Safety Act
   We’ll continue to use the full extent of our powers to ensure platforms meet their duties in tackling illegal content, such as intimate image abuse or material which encourages unlawful hate and violence.
2. Strengthen our industry Codes
   As changes to the law are made, we will further strengthen our illegal harms industry Codes measures. We’re already consulting on measures requiring the use of hash-matching technology to detect intimate image abuse and our Codes will also be updated to reflect cyberflashing becoming a priority offence, next year.
3. Drive change through close supervision.
   We have today written an open letter to tech firms as the first step in a period of engagement to ensure they take practical action in response to our guidance. We plan to meet with companies in the coming months to underline our expectations and will convene an industry roundtable in 2026.
4. Publicly report on industry progress to reduce gender-based harms
   We’ll report in summer 2027 on progress made by individual providers, and the industry as a whole, in reducing online harms to women and girls. If their action falls short, we will consider making formal recommendations to Government on where the Online Safety Act may need to be strengthened.
5. Champion lived experience
   The voices of victims, survivors and the expert organisations which support them will remain at the heart of our work in this area. We will continue listen to their experiences and needs through our ongoing research and engagement programme.

Source: Ministry of Justice published on his website Friday 21 November 2025 by Jill Powell

Parents will be able to get Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks when hiring private tutors, carers and therapists, among others. This will give them greater peace of mind that the people they let through their front door will not have a history of abusing vulnerable people. Under the current system, only those working for an organisation, such as a school or hospital, could request this information.   

This change comes good on one of Professor Alexis Jay’s recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse - to make greater use of the Disclosure and Barring Service barred list to save children and vulnerable people from the horrors of abuse. It will come into effect from January 2026. 

Minister for Prisons, Probation, and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson, said: 

“Enhanced DBS checks provide clear, reliable information about individuals’ backgrounds, helping families and personal employers identify risks and keep those with harmful intentions far away from children and vulnerable adults. 

“Protecting the vulnerable, tackling abuse and standing up for victims is absolutely paramount to our Plan for Change.”

Before this change, self-employed or personal employees could only access Basic DBS checks which only show unspent convictions and cautions.  

This is the latest step the government has taken to deliver on Professor Jay’s recommendations to better protect vulnerable children. The government is also bringing in mandatory reporting of child sex abuse and looking at how therapeutic support can help victims rebuild their lives.

Under this government, convictions for child sex abusers are at their highest ever levels and the police are looking again at more than 1,200 closed cases, including more than 200 cases of rape.

Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said: 

“We must use every lever at our disposal to protect children and other vulnerable people in our society from harm. 

These measures, which respond directly to Professor Jay’s recommendation, will put more power in the hands of parents to vet anyone working closely with their children, even if they are freelance or self-employed.”

Further information 

• This measure amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and will come into effect in January 2026. 
• Enhanced DBS checks with a check of the barred list(s) are used for more sensitive roles working with children or vulnerable adults and are the highest-level DBS check available. They include spent and unspent convictions and cautions (subject to filtering rules), any police information considered relevant and proportionate to disclose by a chief officer, and whether the individual has been barred from working with children or adults.  
• Under the Crime and Policing Bill, relevant roles will be eligible for the highest level of DBS checks, whether they are supervised or not.