Resources for Professionals

Practice Legislation

Guidance for safeguarding professionals

Effective safeguarding relies on professionals understanding their responsibilities, working collaboratively and responding appropriately to children’s needs. The resources below should be used to support consistent multi-agency practice:

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026: the statutory framework for safeguarding and multi-agency working.
Download the guidance (PDF, 2MB)
London Safeguarding Children Procedures: practical procedures and guidance for safeguarding professionals across London.
Visit the London Safeguarding Children Procedures website
Threshold of Need Guidance: a framework to help practitioners understand levels of need and determine the most appropriate response.
Download the Threshold of Need Guidance (PDF, 303KB)

LSCP Escalation Policy

To help staff resolve professional differences, the Hammersmith & Fulham LSCP has developed a simple multi agency Escalation Policy

Escalation Of Concerns

Differences of opinion, concerns and issues can arise for practitioners at work and it is important they are resolved as effectively and swiftly as possible.

On occasion, where concerns need to be raised with another agency, workers should ensure this occurs as soon as possible following the disagreement and all information clearly recorded. Having different professional perspectives within safeguarding practice is a sign of a healthy and well-functioning partnership. These differences of opinion are usually resolved by discussion and negotiation between the practitioners concerned.

When any professional considers a child is at immediate risk of Significant Harm, then the individual must ensure their concerns are escalated on the same working day using established safeguarding procedures. At no time must professional disagreement detract from ensuring a child is safeguarded. The child’s welfare and safety must remain paramount throughout.

Differences could arise in a number of areas of multi-agency working as well as within single agency working.

Differences are most likely to arise in relation to:

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and front-line staff need confidence in talking with each other about decisions that have been made, discussing any concerns regarding those decisions and where there isn’t agreement; escalating those concerns as appropriate.

Remember, equally important is the culture of how we work; and it is vital that front-line staff are encouraged to remain professionally curious and to raise issues where they feel that their concerns for children and young people aren’t being addressed. Escalation is….an effective mechanism for resolving professional disagreement. Escalation is not….a negative action or criticism.

NB: This Policy does not replace any single agency escalation or complaint policies and should be used in conjunction with internal policies and procedures.

The purpose of the LSCP Escalation Policy is to ensure that all partner agencies working within Hammersmith and Fulham have a quick and straightforward means of resolving differences in professional perspectives in order to safeguard the welfare of children and young people.

Responding to Neglect

Understanding and responding to child neglect

Safeguarding reviews consistently show that neglect is common, complex and sometimes difficult to recognise. It can affect babies, children and adolescents, and its impact may build gradually over time.

Understanding the recurring themes identified through reviews can help practitioners recognise neglect earlier and provide more effective support:

Neglect can be difficult to identify, particularly when concerns are linked to poverty, parental challenges or lower-level issues that persist and accumulate over time.
Unclear definitions and inconsistent thresholds can delay action, especially when practitioners are required to determine whether concerns are persistent or causing serious impairment.
Responses can be episodic or fragmented, meaning opportunities to recognise patterns and understand cumulative harm may be missed.
Children’s voices and lived experiences are not always fully captured, and their home conditions may not be seen or explored in sufficient depth.
Early help and coordinated support can be affected by consent barriers, capacity pressures and inconsistent multi-agency working.
Practice should be proactive, child-centred and trauma-informed, with neglect clearly identified and addressed at the earliest opportunity.
Effective practice relies on shared chronologies, structured assessment tools and timely information sharing, alongside a clear focus on the child’s daily life, safety and wellbeing.

Local tools and resources

In January 2024, Hammersmith & Fulham Local Safeguarding Children Partnership held a Multi-Agency Neglect Conference and launched a range of resources to support practitioners:

These resources can support practitioners to explore children’s experiences, identify patterns of concern and strengthen assessment and decision-making.

National learning and resources

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has also published resources to help practitioners and safeguarding partners understand the different forms of neglect, hear and respond to the child’s voice, and recognise cumulative harm:

We encourage all partners and practitioners working with children and families to use these materials to support professional reflection, strengthen multi-agency practice and improve the identification of, and response to, neglect.

Responding to Child Sexual Abuse

Safeguarding reviews identify recurring issues in how child sexual abuse is recognised and responded to, particularly when it occurs within families.

Child sexual abuse is often hidden
Children may not disclose verbally. Practitioners need to recognise subtle, indirect or behavioural signs.
Much abuse takes place within families
Almost half of child sexual abuse offences reported to the police in England and Wales in 2021/22 occurred within the family environment, including abuse by parents, siblings, grandparents, step‑parents or others considered “one of the family”.
Abuse includes non‑contact forms
Online grooming, sexualised conversations, exposure to sexual content and image production are all forms of child sexual abuse.
Multi‑agency working is essential
Professionals need to share information proactively and keep the child’s safety central to all decision‑making.
Children need safe, trusted opportunities to share concerns
Trust, consistency and supportive professional relationships are critical to enabling disclosure.

National review

The analysis covered 193 children who had been sexually abused and 167 perpetrators of abuse. Over 75% of the children sexually abused by a family member were under the age of 12 and a third of incidents featured a family member with a known history of sexual offending or who was known to present some risk of sexual harm.

The key findings include:

Children face challenges in verbally reporting their abuse so people who work with children need to spot the signs and notice when something is wrong.
Whenever information indicates that someone in a family has a previous allegation or conviction for any type of sexual offending, this should lead to a multi-agency discussion and an up-to-date risk assessment for the children.
When there are concerns about child sexual abuse within families, the response shouldn’t be left to the criminal justice system. Police, social workers, teachers and others need to work better together, keeping children’s best interests at the heart of all enquiries and investigations.

National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment

National child safeguarding practice review investigating the experiences of children who were sexually abused by a family member.

Safeguarding children from sexual abuse within families presentation

Adolescent Safeguarding

Preventing Youth Suicide

The Stay Alive app can be used by those with suicidal thoughts or in crisis. It also has advice for anyone who is concerned about a loved one. The app comes in 22 languages and is safe for young people to use. Download the app or view the web version here.

Allkind runs a vital suicide bereavement support service for residents of North-West London. It offers emotional support and practical help to adults and young people who have been bereaved or affected by suicide. Young people’s support can be found here and support for adults is here

Safeguarding Adolescents in London (SAIL) Guidance

The Safeguarding Adolescents in London (SAIL) resource, which has been produced with the support from the London Safeguarding Children Partnership, has recently been published. SAIL has been designed to be a digital one-stop shop for adolescent safeguarding resources across London.

SAIL brings together principles, evidence-informed approaches, and practical tools with the goal to ensure young people across London receive a consistent response under-pinned by a shared set of principles, evidence-informed practice, and a genuine understanding of adolescents, their contexts, and their lived experience.

Safeguarding Adolescents in London (SAIL) Guidance

Please share this resource within your organisation and reference within internal training and newsletters.

Additionally, please encourage your staff to attend the Community of Practice sessions, which is a collaborative network where professionals from different organisations and sectors can come together to share knowledge, learn from each other, and improve practice around common areas of priority and challenge. For event details, please contact helloSAIL@liia.london – further details can be found here: NOTICE BOARD: Safeguarding Adolescents in London (SAIL) – LIIA

Vulnerable Babies

Safeguarding unborn babies and infants under 1

Safeguarding reviews consistently highlight the particular vulnerability of unborn babies and infants under 1. Understanding the recurring themes from these reviews can help professionals identify concerns earlier, assess risk effectively and coordinate a timely safeguarding response.

Key messages from safeguarding reviews

Babies under 1 face the greatest risk of serious harm.
Children under 1 account for 36% of serious incident notifications and have the highest fatality rate of any age group.
Unsafe co-sleeping and non-accidental injury are recurring causes of harm.
Reviews frequently identify sudden unexpected infant death associated with unsafe sleeping arrangements, as well as serious physical harm, including shaking.
Safeguarding must begin before birth.
More than 5,000 unborn babies and infants under 1 were made subject to child protection plans in the period reviewed. This highlights the importance of identifying and responding to risk during pregnancy.
Families experiencing difficulties need coordinated support.
Early, persistent and trauma-informed intervention can help reduce risk and improve outcomes for babies and their families.

Learning for professionals

Supporting parents and carers

A parent’s reluctance to engage with services may be connected to trauma, grief, fear or previous experiences of children being removed from their care. Professionals should:

remain professionally curious and avoid interpreting non-engagement simply as a refusal of support;
work persistently and sensitively to establish trust;
explore and respond to the reasons behind non-engagement;
share relevant information across agencies to build a complete picture of the family’s circumstances; and
consider wider and longer-term risks, including risks associated with future pregnancies.

Concealed or denied pregnancy

Women have the right not to disclose a pregnancy. However, this may limit opportunities for professionals to assess risk and put support in place before the baby is born.

Where there are safeguarding concerns, particularly a history of children being removed from a parent’s care, professionals should:

seek opportunities for early and sensitive engagement;
maintain oversight throughout the pregnancy;
share information appropriately with partner agencies; and
ensure that pre-birth assessments and planning are completed promptly.

Working with offender management services

Parents or carers who have committed serious offences may present complex risks to children. Effective safeguarding requires close communication between children’s services, health professionals, police, probation and other relevant agencies.

Non-engagement by an offender should be considered as part of the risk assessment. It may indicate the need for wider multi-agency involvement rather than a reduction in professional oversight.

Responding to frequent family moves

Repeated moves, particularly during pregnancy or while a family is involved in child protection processes, can make it more difficult for agencies to maintain oversight. In some circumstances, frequent relocation may indicate an attempt to avoid professional involvement.

Professionals should:

consider each move as a potential safeguarding concern, not simply a change of address;
promptly notify relevant agencies in the new area;
maintain clear, concise and up-to-date case summaries;
record the work completed, outstanding actions and identified risks; and
ensure that safeguarding plans and professional oversight continue without delay.

Resources and further learning

Safer sleep and support for families

Safeguarding review learning

Information Sharing Duty

The Information Sharing Duty supports practitioners to make timely and informed decisions about sharing information in the interests of children.

Where the duty applies, organisations must share information if it may help another relevant organisation to:

assess a child’s needs or risks;
make a safeguarding decision;
provide appropriate help or support;
take action to safeguard and promote a child’s welfare; or
respond where a child may pose a risk to others

The duty covers information that may appear partial, historical or contextual but could contribute to a fuller understanding of a child’s circumstances. Practitioners must continue to share information appropriately and in accordance with data protection law, professional standards and local safeguarding arrangements.

Download the Information Sharing Duty statutory guidance (PDF)

Effective multi-agency safeguarding places the child at the centre of decision-making.
Partners work collaboratively, listen to children and families, share relevant information and provide respectful, effective challenge to ensure that risks are addressed and timely action is taken.
By making use of safeguarding guidance, learning resources, training and findings from reviews and audits, professionals can reflect on their work, strengthen multi-agency practice and continually improve outcomes for children and families.