Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, given the finding by Action for Children in its report, Above and Beyond: How teachers fill gaps in the system to keep children learning, that teachers are supporting 3.3 million children who face barriers to their education because of issues outside of school, what plans they have to make schools the fourth statutory safeguarding partner.

The government recognises that education needs to play a greater role in local safeguarding arrangements. This reflects the part schools, colleges, early years and other education settings play in the lives of children and families, and their safeguarding responsibilities.

In 2023, the department consulted on and strengthened its statutory guidance, titled ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’, which clarified the roles and responsibilities of education settings, both strategically and operationally, in local safeguarding arrangements.

As outlined in ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department is exploring how it can increase the role of education in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.