Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to release local authority children's services departments from their safeguarding children responsibilities.

There are no plans to release local authority children’s services departments from their safeguarding responsibilities. The Children and Social Work Bill proposes a power for local authorities to test different ways of working. This power is not about questioning the fundamentals of what local authorities need to do in relation to children’s safeguarding, but about exploring how things could be done better. We are seeking to create a controlled, time-limited space to test new ways of working before seeking to make any wider changes to the legislative framework. Accountability for safeguarding will remain the same even if exemptions are being tested.