Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the threshold for intervention from children's services to protect children.

Keeping children safe from multiple forms of abuse and harm is the foundation of giving every child the best start in life, ensuring they can achieve and thrive as they grow up. In our Plan for Change, this government set out its ambition to ensure every child is kept safe, regardless of their background or where they live across the country.

The Children Act 1989 is the legislative framework for local authorities in terms of investigating child protection concerns (under section 47 of the Act) and providing support and services for children in need (under section 17 of the Act). The statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children' (2023) is clear that local authorities and their partners should publish a threshold document for support and services under section 17.

As a child-centred government, keeping children safe is a priority. The department has made £500 million available this year to support the national rollout of the Families First Partnership Programme. We envision a transformed system, where practitioners from social work, police, health, education and beyond work together to promote the wellbeing of children and keep them safe from harm. Through this end-to-end system reform, families will receive the help and support they need, at the earliest opportunity and more children will be protected at the right time.