National news an guidance

Keeping children safe from sex offenders - A Home Office guide for the public answering concerns about sex offenders living in the community. The guide covers:

  •     Common misconceptions about sex offenders
  •     How child sex offenders are managed
  •     What information can and can't be accessed about sex offenders
  •     How to report concerns

In response to public anxiety about sex offenders a new section 'Sex Offenders' has been added to the 'General Advice' pages on the website

Guidance for safe working practices - the document provides excellent information for developing a code of conduct for use in any organisation which works with children.

Safer recruitment online training (Children's Workforce Development Council) - online training for all organisations in England that work with or provide services for children and families have a duty to protect their welfare. If you recruit people into the children and families workforce then you should take the safer recruitment training.

Working Together 2010  was published by the DfES in September 2010. The guidance is addressed to all practitioners and managers who have particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and to senior and operational managers in organisations that are responsible for commissioning or providing services to children, young people, parents and carers. Since the publication of the guidance, the Coalition Government has made a small number of ammendments primarily in relation to serious case reviews and the changes arising from the abolishon of Govenment Offices. The changes can be accessed here

Information sharing: a variety of guides and tools provided by the Department for Education intended for all practitioners who work with children or young people, employed or volunteers, working in the public, private or voluntary sectors.

What to do if you are worried a child is being abused - Full report (PDF 1778kb)
What to do if you are worried a child is being abused - Summary (PDF 439kb)
This document provides best practice guidance for those who work with children in order to safeguard their welfare. It also contains an appendix to help practitioners with the legal issues affecting the sharing of information.

The guidance also provides general information for anyone whose work brings them into contact with children and families, focusing particularly on those who work in social care, health, education and criminal justice services.

Munro review of child protection - Following the elecation of the Coalition Government in May 2010, the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, appointed Professor Eileen Munro of the London School of Economics to conduct an independent review of children's social work and frontline child protection practice. In October 2010, Professor Munro published the first of three reports with the final report due for publication in May 2011.

Serious Case Reviews (National): In June 2010, the Coalition Govenment decreed that from that date, all serious case reviews should be published in full (previously only executive summaries were published). However, it was decided that four reports which had already been completed would be published - Peter Connelly (Harringey), Shannon Matthews (Kirklees), the Edlington case (Doncaster), Khyra Ishaq (Birmingham). To date, two reviews have been published in full:

Peter Connelly - (also known as "Baby P", "Child A"[2] and "Baby Peter") was an English 17-month old boy who died in London after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by Haringey Children's services and NHS health professionals.

Khyra Ishaq - was mistreated by her mother and her partner at a house in Handsworth, Birmingham, and weighed 2st 9lb (16.5kg) at her death.The Serious Case Review into her death found there were a catalogue of missed opportunities by professional agencies