Nothing is more important than children’s welfare. Every child deserves to grow up in a
safe, stable, and loving home. Children who need help and protection deserve high quality and effective support. This requires individuals, agencies, and organisations to be clear about their own and each other’s roles and responsibilities, and how they work together.

In this guidance, a child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. ‘Children’ therefore means ‘children and young people’ throughout. The term practitioner is used in the guidance to refer to individuals who work with children and their families in
any capacity, including a range of professionals, such as qualified social workers and
those who work for the statutory safeguarding partners or in education settings. Whilst it is parents and carers who have primary care for their children, local authorities, working with partner organisations and agencies, have specific duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area. The Children Act 1989 1 sets out specific duties to provide services to children in their area if they are in need and to undertake enquiries if they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm. The
Director of Children’s Services and Lead Member for Children’s Services in local
authorities are the key points of professional and political accountability, with
responsibility for the effective delivery of these functions. The Children Act 20042 placed a duty on the local authority to promote co-operation with partners and other agencies in
order to improve the wellbeing of children in their area. It also placed duties on a range of organisations and individuals to ensure they too give sufficient regard to children in need of help and safeguarding.

Amendments made by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 to the Children Act 2004
strengthened this already important relationship by placing new duties on the police, integrated care boards (ICBs)3 and the local authority, as statutory safeguarding partners.
Safeguarding partners are under a duty to make arrangements to work together, and with
other partners locally including education providers and childcare settings, to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area.