{"id":246134,"date":"2026-05-07T23:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=246134"},"modified":"2026-05-07T23:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:07:45","slug":"schools-will-not-be-added-as-safeguarding-fourth-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/schools-will-not-be-added-as-safeguarding-fourth-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools will not be added as safeguarding ‘fourth partner’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ministers have rejected calls to make schools the fourth statutory safeguarding partner, claiming it would create \u201csignificant accountability and funding complexities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rachel de Souza, the children\u2019s commissioner, said she was \u201cdisappointed by the decision\u201d and that there were \u201cmissed opportunities\u201d to put schools\u2019 responsibilities on an equal footing with social care, health and police.<\/p>\n

Currently, local integrated care boards, police and council social care services are equal partners responsible for identifying, supporting and protecting children at risk of harm in their area.<\/p>\n

They can name local schools they deem appropriate as relevant agencies, but the Department of Education has said this was implemented inconsistently.<\/p>\n

About a quarter of children said they would talk to a teacher for support with family life, according to a survey of 15,000 children.<\/p>\n

\"Dame
Rachel de Souza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The DfE said it would explore<\/a> legislative changes to include schools as a fourth partner in 2023.<\/p>\n

It was recommended by a landmark review into children\u2019s social care by Josh MacAlister, now children and families minister.<\/p>\n

But the children\u2019s wellbeing and schools act, which gained royal assent last month, has instead called on partners to automatically include schools in safeguarding arrangements, but not as a statutory partner.<\/p>\n

Policy notes released by the DfE<\/a> in January said the measure would \u201censure that [school] views are sufficiently included and represented at strategic and operational levels\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Opportunities will not be missed\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It said the government would not make schools a fourth safeguarding partner as it would \u201ccreate significant accountability and funding complexities, requiring new statutory duties\u201d.<\/p>\n

Placing duties on the existing partners to \u201cfully include and represent education at all levels of their arrangements will ensure that opportunities to keep children safe are not missed\u201d, the department said.<\/p>\n

De Souza had recommended the policy be strengthened.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchools are often the place where safeguarding concerns are first identified, where children build trusted relationships with adults and where early help can be most effectively coordinated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am disappointed by the decision to instead name education settings as \u2018relevant partners\u2019 in the legislation, which does not put them on equal footing with social care, health, and police. This misses a key opportunity for better joined-up working to protect children from harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the school leaders\u2019 union NAHT has welcomed the approach, which it said \u201coffers the flexibility\u201d to call upon schools when appropriate.<\/p>\n

Paul Whiteman, the union\u2019s general secretary, said: \u201cWe were concerned that the law didn\u2019t clarify how nurseries, schools and colleges should be involved in system-led decision-making, running the risk that opportunities to protect children could be missed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Whiteman said the new approach \u201cimportantly offers the flexibility to call upon the most appropriate education representative based on the specific issues being looked at and the information needed, rather than expecting a single individual to effectively represent such a diverse sector\u201d.<\/p>\n

The DfE said it would produce guidance and share good practice with schools alongside the changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The decision is a ‘missed opportunity’, says children\u2019s commissioner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315335,"featured_media":246019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[263],"post-theme":[2417],"class_list":["post-246134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-inclusion","post-theme-safeguarding"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t