Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to issue guidance under sections 10(8), 10(10) and 12B(4) of the Children Act 2004.

The department has no plans to issue guidance under sections 10(8), 10(10) and 12B(4) of the Children Act 2004.

Safeguarding partners (police, health, local authorities) are under a duty to make arrangements to work together and with other partners locally, including education providers and childcare settings, to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area. These responsibilities are set out in the 2023 statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’. The department will review this guidance regularly to ensure that it continues to reflect evidence, learns from children’s social care reform and aligns with legislative changes.

In November, the department published its ambitious, wide-ranging plans for children’s social care reform in ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’, setting the wheels in motion to break the cycle of crisis intervention and rebalance the system back towards earlier help for families. In December, the department introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This is a landmark piece of legislation, introducing a series of measures with a focus on delivering a joined-up system to stop vulnerable children falling through cracks in services.