Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2019 to Question 273801 on Children: Exploitation, what steps his Department has taken to communicate to local authorities the updates made in September 2018 to the Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance; and what funding has been provided from the public purse to train those delivering associated services to implement that guidance.

Further to the answer provided by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability on 15 July 2019, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ was published in July 2018. The working together to safeguard children guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2.

In September 2018, the Home Office published updated guidance 'Criminal Exploitation of children and vulnerable adults: County Lines guidance'. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-exploitation-of-children-and-vulnerable-adults-county-lines.

Both pieces of guidance were published on the GOV.UK website and to support this, were promoted to local authorities through a variety of channels including:

• English local authority communications team;
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) e-bulletin to local authority CEOs;
• The Society of Local Authorities’ Chief Executives bulletin;
• The Association of Directors of Children’s Services bulletin;
• The Association of Directors of Adults Social Services;
• The National Association of Head Teachers website;
• The Association of School and College Leaders website; and
• NHS England.

The updated county lines guidance was also shared with police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners to share with their local stakeholders. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children' was also shared with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and other key organisations including:

• The Local Government Association;
• The Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs;
• The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health,
• The Royal College of Nursing;
• Barnardo’s;
• The National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children; and
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary of Fire and Rescue Services.

Funding for children’s services sits with local authorities as part of their main un-ringfenced budgets, so they have the flexibility to decide how to spend it to best meet local needs, including on any training arrangements for professionals working to safeguard children and young people. This funding is allocated through MHCLG's annual Local Government Funding Settlement.