Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce standard tests for safeguarding for organisations in order to provide evidence of nationally recognised levels of attainment.

Safeguarding relates to a wide range of activity in a variety of settings, and covers a number of potentially vulnerable groups. It is right that organisational safeguarding policies are able to reflect specific sector needs, within clear regulatory frameworks.

A number of government departments lead on setting safeguarding standards, guidance and training across the sectors for which they have policy responsibility. For example, the Home Office oversees safeguarding from a policing perspective, the Department for Education leads on safeguarding within education settings, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are responsible for safeguarding within civil society organisations, and the Department of Health and Social Care assure that the NHS is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities.

Government departments work closely together to share learning and feedback on safeguarding policy and standards across different settings. For example, there is close collaboration between the Home Office, DHSC and DfE on the implementation of local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements for children, ensuring robust join-up across local authorities, health and policing.