Expert panel calls for stronger child protection measures
A new report by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel reveals almost 400 children were seriously abused or neglected in England in 2021.
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has today (15 December 2022) published its third annual report. The independent panel of experts reviews serious child safeguarding incidents - when a child dies or suffers serious harm, and abuse or neglect is known or suspected. The new report shows the panel received 379 serious incident notifications in 2021, which includes over 150 children who tragically died.
Although the new figures demonstrate that there has been a 21% reduction in notifications compared to 2020, today’s publication is the third annual report from the panel, in addition to 5 national reviews, all highlighting the need to protect vulnerable children.
Therefore, the panel is calling for the government to urgently release its plans to reform children’s social care and to strengthen the child protection system.
Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, Annie Hudson said:
Our annual report shows that while many professionals work hard to protect children, there are fault lines in the system that inhibit good information-sharing, risk assessment and critical analysis and challenge.
Sadly, these issues are not new. Since the panel was set up in 2018, we have seen again and again how similar issues and problems recur in both local and national reviews. Many of these issues were highlighted in the national review into the tragic deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson.
It is now time to make changes in how agencies work together to protect and safeguard children, building on what is working and creating the right conditions to support the very best multi-agency practice. Children cannot afford to wait.
Professionals working to protect children have to deal with the most complex challenges and some perpetrators of abuse will evade even the most robust safeguards. However, the analysis of the statistics demonstrated that in too many instances, practitioners are relying on parents reporting a situation rather than engaging directly with children.
To support practitioners, the panel has highlighted 6 cross-cutting practice themes to make a difference in reducing serious harm and preventing child deaths caused by abuse or neglect:
- supporting critical thinking and professional challenge through effective leadership and culture
- the importance of a whole family approach to risk assessment and support
- giving central consideration to racial, ethnic and cultural identity, and impact on the lived experience of children and families
- recognising and responding to the vulnerability of babies
- domestic abuse and harm to children - working across services
- keeping a focus on risks outside the family
Contact
General enquiries
Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
Please use this address for all enquiries, including media enquiries.
Notes to editors
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is an independent body that was set up in July 2018 to identify, commission and oversee reviews of serious child safeguarding cases. It brings together experts from social care, policing, education, health and the third sector to provide a multi-agency view on cases which they believe raise issues that are complex, or of national importance.
The panel received 379 serious incident notifications between 1 January and 31 December 2021, relating to 398 children. Of those 379 notifications, 156 were in relation to child deaths and 242 related to serious harm.
Also published today are supplementary reports, which underpin the data and analysis highlighted in the panel’s Annual Report 2021. These include:
- an analysis of safeguarding partnerships’ yearly reports, published on the What Works for Children’s Social Care website
- a commissioned analysis of rapid reviews and local child safeguarding practice reviews completed by the University of East Anglia and University of Birmingham