London Safeguarding Children Procedures and Practice Guidance

Updated: 25th April 2024

Welcome to the latest update to the 7th Edition of the London Safeguarding Children Procedures.

In 2023, the Editorial Board published a new threshold document, previously agreed by the London Safeguarding Children Partnership. All London partnerships / agencies have been asked to adopt this document to ensure consistency across London. Two additions have been made to this document, covering safer sleeping and discrimination; the latter is also reflected in the procedures.

As part of the negotiation of a protocol for children moving out of the London area, minor amendments have been made to CP6 (Children Moving Across Borough Boundaries) to take account of the statutory timescale for homelessness assessments.

Amendments have been made to CP2 (Referral and Assessment) and CP3 (Child Protection Enquiries) in relation to police notifications, the offences that police will investigate and children subject to police protection. Police forms 87A and 87B have been updated.

PG1 (Roles and Responsibilities) has been updated in relation to the prevention of serious violence. PG21 (Honour Based Abuse), PG14 (Female Genital Mutilation), PG16 (Forced Marriage of a Child) have all been replaced with new practice guidance. PG44 (Trafficked and Exploited Children) has been replaced with new practice guidance with a wider scope and is called Children from Abroad.

Three new Chapters of Practice Guidance have been added to the procedures:

Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse, Safeguarding Children with a Social Worker, Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children at School (essentially a summary of the key points contained within Keeping Children Safe in Education) together with Practice Guidance on Bruising. The numbering within the Practice Guidance Section of the procedures has been updated to reflect these changes so if you have bookmarked those Chapters, you will need to refresh the link.

For further details of the changes and updates to the procedures, please see the news section to the left of your screen.

Finally, the Editorial Board would like to thank Laura Eden for her assistance as joint chair of the Editorial Board and wish her every success in her new role.

Six Monthly Updates:

The London Safeguarding Children Procedures are normally updated on a 6-monthly basis. The most recent update took place on the 25th April 2024 and the changes can be viewed in the section Amendments & Archives. The next update will be at the end of September 2024.

Any comments or suggested changes for this update should be forwarded to Victoria Hilliard, Co-ordinator, London Safeguarding Children Partnership (Victoria.hilliard@londoncouncils.gov.uk) by 1st August 2024.

The Editorial Board is co-chaired by:

• Rashida Baig, Director of Childrens Safeguarding and Social Work London Borough of Camden;
• (To be confirmed).

The Editorial Board is supported by:
Steve Liddicott, consultant for the review of the Procedures.

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