We’ve summarised the main changes in Working Together to Safeguard Children (WTtSC) below, but you should also read the document to be sure you are confident and competent in your role.

If you are a Safeguarding Network member you will have access to a full detailed list of all the WTtSC changes to support you in updating your safeguarding and child protection policy.

Chapter 1: A shared responsibility 

Further emphasises that successful outcomes for children depend on strong multi-agency partnership working across the whole system of help, support and protection including effective work from all agencies with parents, carers, and families; and includes new expectations for multi-agency working and new principles for working with parents and carers that apply to all individuals, agencies and organisations working with children and their families, across a range of roles and activities. It also has updated information sharing references.

Chapter 2: Multi-agency safeguarding arrangements

Clarifies the roles and responsibilities of safeguarding partners and emphasises the role of education settings in safeguarding arrangements. It strengthens accountability by clarifying expectations for information-sharing, independent scrutiny, funding, and reporting.

Chapter 3: Providing help, support and protection

Section one, Early help, strengthens the role of education and childcare settings in supporting children and keeping them safe, including information on a child’s right to education and risk factors for practitioners to consider when identifying children and families who may benefit from early help. It also outlines the role of family networks and includes stronger guidance on the use of family group conferences.

Section two, Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, clarifies that a broader range of practitioners can be the lead practitioner for children and families receiving support and services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, (Children in Need); as well as the role of children’s social care in supporting disabled children and their families, children at risk of, or experiencing, harm outside the home, children in mother and baby units (in prisons) and children at risk from people in prison and people supervised by the probation service. It also references that young carers are now recorded in school censuses.

Section three, Child protection introduces new national multi-agency child protection standards to set out actions, considerations and behaviours for improved child protection practice and outcomes for children. It clarifies the multi-agency response to all forms of abuse and exploitation from outside the home, consideration of children at risk of experiencing extra-familial harm in all children’s social care assessments and includes resources to support practitioners’ understanding of the response to online harm. 

Chapter 4: Organisational responsibilities

Changes to the Prison and Probation sections highlights the mutual benefits of exchanging information with children’s social care which strengthen and clarify processes and responsibilities for child safeguarding. 

Chapter 5: Learning from serious child safeguarding incidents 

Clarifies the process for submitting serious incidents notifications and the importance of accuracy to support data, reporting and learning; Child Safeguarding Practice Review processes; and the expectation for keeping in touch with care leavers over the age of 21, and the non-mandatory reporting of care leaver deaths up to age 25 to improve learning and outcomes for this group of young people. 

Chapter 6: Child death reviews

Reflects new guidance of coroner’s duty to include post-mortem reports with relevant child death review and modifies language around the child death review process. 

Appendices

A - Glossary:

Reflects new definitions, legislation, and policies where appropriate.

B:

New links to resource packs on various topics. 

All staff whose role includes working with children’s families need to fully understand and implement the principles for working with parents and carers. How do you check and monitor that this is happening? Do your staff need additional training? Do your parents/carers know what to expect?