Source: Child Safeguarding Review Panel published on the 12 December 2024 by Jill Powell
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is calling on the government to ensure that children at risk of being harmed, both inside and outside their families, are at the heart of its strategies to break down barriers to opportunity. This comes as the Panel’s latest annual report reveals that 485 children were affected by serious child safeguarding incidents between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. This is when a child dies or is seriously harmed, and abuse or neglect is known or suspected.
The recently announced reforms in the government’s paper ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ are an important step in the right direction, with plans to implement the Panel’s recommendation for multi-agency child protection teams in every local authority. As the proposal for local multi-agency child protection teams shows, safeguarding children involves many different agencies from across policing, healthcare, education and others. Therefore, it is imperative that the mission-led approach now being promoted across government is carefully connected so different departments work together at a national level.
The Annual Report 2023 to 2024 highlighted 3 specific themes, which reinforce the importance of join-up between different government departments.
Safeguarding children with mental health needs
Over a fifth of children were recorded as having a mental health condition, either diagnosed or undiagnosed. The overwhelming majority of these children were aged 11 to 17, with the youngest being just 6. Distressingly, 92% of all children who died by suicide were recorded as having a mental health condition.
As part of the government’s ‘opportunities’ mission, it is vital that the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England and other relevant bodies, including local commissioners, work with the Department for Education to ensure there is sufficient and appropriate mental health support available for vulnerable children.
Safeguarding pre-school children with parents with mental health needs
Over half of incidents involving the death or serious harm of a child aged one to 5 involved a parent or relevant adult with a mental health condition. Reviews highlighted that parental mental health was often overlooked as a potential risk factor when considering parents’ capacity to care for their children.
As the new Mental Health Bill progresses through Parliament, the Panel is calling for greater measures for supporting effective partnership working between adult mental health services and children’s services.
Safeguarding children from risks outside the family home
Almost a quarter of serious incidents featured harm perpetrated by adults and peers who were not members of the child’s own family. This includes gang violence, child sexual abuse and child criminal exploitation.
As part of the government’s ‘safer streets’ mission and its commitment to reduce violence against women and girls, there must be joint working between the Home Office and other relevant departments to ensure vulnerable children are not forgotten.
