Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what systems and processes are in place to ensure that lessons learnt from Serious Case Reviews carried out locally in England are reflected in the future training and qualifications of (a) teachers, (b) social workers, (c) police officers and (d) other professionals working with children.

Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) are locally led enquiries. Therefore, most recommendations are for local safeguarding partnerships to implement. Local safeguarding partnerships comprise the police, children's social services, health services and others. Schools are also "relevant agencies" of the partnerships as defined in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018’ and further emphasised by ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021’. Many local recommendations will touch on development needs of local workforces and can, therefore, be used to inform the specific training offered for teachers, social workers, police offers and others in the local area.

The outcomes of Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) form part of the evidence used by those who deliver professional development programmes for social workers to inform and shape their content. They also inform the post-qualifying standards, and knowledge and skills statements for social workers published by the department.

The What Works Centre for Children's Social Care also draws on findings from SCRs. For example, it is currently building the evidence base on what works to equip school staff with the knowledge and tools to effectively support and respond to the needs of vulnerable children.