Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to include (a) schools and (b) educational agencies in local arrangements for safeguarding.

The involvement of education and childcare agencies is fundamental at all levels of safeguarding arrangements. The department knows that teachers and educators are often the first to spot warning signs of abuse and neglect and are the largest referrer of cases into children’s social care after the police.

That is why the department is introducing measures through the landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to strengthen the role of education in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. We will make it a legal obligation for safeguarding partners to automatically include all education and childcare agencies at both operational and strategic levels of their safeguarding arrangements.

These measures include all education settings, covering early years and childcare settings through to schools, colleges and alternative provision, so that opportunities to keep children safe are not missed.