Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 26 October (HL10658), whether they will undertake to publish the finalised annual version of Keeping Children Safe in Education in the school summer term in future, given that even minor changes can cause issues with planning.

The department currently has no plans to alter the established publication timings for ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’. The department publishes a near final version of the guidance in late spring or early summer.

Schools and colleges are familiar with the department’s approach which ensures that schools and colleges have sufficient time to digest revisions and to plan any necessary training, ahead of implementation in the next school year.

It is rare for material changes to be made between the ‘for information’ version and the final publication in September. Where this does occur, changes are strictly limited to reflect vital information in response to unexpected or emerging issues and are made to support schools and colleges to better safeguard children.