Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) reduce the risk of violence to children in rural areas.

Keeping children safe is a top priority for this government. Statutory guidance, 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' (2023), is clear that children at risk of or experiencing harm from outside their home should receive a multi-agency safeguarding response to keep them safe. It is important to recognise threats may arise from school, peer groups, online or the wider community.

From April 2025, £500 million is being made available to local authorities to roll out reforms to family help and multi-agency child protection, including where harm is outside the home. Furthermore, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will strengthen multi-agency safeguarding arrangements so that opportunities to keep children safe are not missed.

The government’s Young Futures programme will establish prevention partnerships which will identify those most at risk of violence and enable access to support. In the community, a new network of Young Futures Hubs is aimed at increasing access to opportunities for children and young people, improving mental health, and reducing vulnerability to violence and crime. Cross-government work to develop the programme is taking place with a large variety of stakeholders, including those who understand best practice in rural and urban areas.

The department monitors a range of data related to children’s risk of violence, including education, social care and police national computer data. Our published dashboard allows local areas to understand factors in their area which result in vulnerability to crime and compare to their nearest statistical neighbours. This dashboard is available here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/childrens-social-care-and-offending/.