Newsletters
Our Regional Improvement Plan can be found here
Our Impact Report published in March 2023 can be found here
If you would like to apply to be a SESLIP consultant, please follow this link to Kent Business Portal – KentBusinessPortal and after registering on the portal, search for Ref – SC240046 – SESLIP – DPS
Updates
Families First Partnership programme
On 20 March the DfE published The Families First Partnership (FFP) programme guide
A joint ministerial foreword for this guide has been signed by the Department for Education, Department of Health Social Care and Home Office.
Headlines
Information to support safeguarding partners with the implementation of children’s social care reforms, including:
- delivery expectations
- areas for local flexibility
This guide clarifies the support that will be provided to safeguarding partners through the Families First Partnership programme.
It is for all statutory safeguarding partners and other relevant agencies, including education and childcare settings, who work with children, young people and their families. This includes:
- senior and strategic leaders
- senior and middle managers
- those in direct practice
Race, racism and safeguarding children
On 11 March the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published It’s Silent: Race, racism, and safeguarding children
Headlines
This report from the CSPRP is part of an ongoing series of publications to share information arising from work undertaken by the panel with:
- safeguarding partners
- those working in child protection
It explores what happened to 53 children from Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds who were the subject of child safeguarding reviews between January 2022 and March 2024.
The purpose of this briefing is to share learning from analyses of rapid reviews and local child safeguarding practice reviews (LCSPRs) to inform the work of safeguarding partners
Child Sexual Abuse
On 20 March the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse published Child sexual abuse in 2023/24: Trends in official data
The CSA centre has also published an introductory guide What you need to know about child sexual abuse
Headlines
New analysis shows that the number of people charged and convicted following child sexual abuse offences both increased, yet the number of children with a protection plan for sexual abuse in England fell to it’s lowest level in thirty years – making up just 3.5% of all new plans in 2023/24.
Local authority children’s services in England recorded the lowest number of child needs assessments concerning any form of sexual abuse in nine years. This decreased by 8% since the previous year, despite there being no drop in the total number of child assessments recording concerns that were carried out.
We estimate that 500,000 children will experience some form of sexual abuse every year in England and Wales, so the number of children being identified by local authorities is only just the tip of the iceberg, and the gap is getting wider.
DFJ Trailblazers – Reducing Time to Family Court Pilot Programme
On 26 March Mutual Ventures published a range of case studies and a good practice guide in relation to the DfJ Reducing Time to Family Court programme
Headlines
A conference was held on 26 March, and presentations are available here
One pilot is based in Guildford, Surrey. See their presentation here https://youtu.be/Z8NJcZuHkUA and one page summary here
Reminders From Previous Weeks
The educational journeys of children in secure settings
On 27 February the Children’s Commissioner published The educational journeys of children in secure settings
Headlines
Children living in secure settings are at the sharpest end of this definition. Their numbers are small, with around 400 at any one time located in just 14 settings of differing structures and quality in England and Wales, but their stories are almost universally ones of being failed by services at every stage of their lives so far.
Of the 390 children living in secure settings who responded to The Big Ambition in 2023, just 38% said they agreed that they enjoy school or college, compared to 51% of their peers.
Only 20% of these children who had sat an English GCSE passed, compared to 71% of their peers in schools; and similarly, 20% who sat a mathematics GCSE passed, substantially behind the 72% of pupils in schools who passed.
The impact of school absence on lifetime earnings
On 14 March DfE published The impact of school absence on lifetime earnings
Headlines
Being in receipt of benefits increases by 2.7 times for KS4 students who have been persistently absent and
Being in receipt of benefits increases by over 4 times for KS4 students who have been severely absent.
In terms of attainment, there is approximately 1 grade at GCSE decrease for every 13 days total absence across year 7 to 11
‘Disguised compliance’: NSPCC learning from case reviews
On 7 March NSPCC published ‘Disguised compliance’: learning from case reviews
Read the blog commentary here
Disguised compliance describes the behaviour of parents or carers who appear to co-operate with professionals in order to allay concerns and stop professional engagement.
Headlines
Case reviews highlight that the term ‘disguised compliance’ is used by professionals to describe a wide range of behaviours. Sometimes the term is used without reflection on what might be causing the behaviour or what can be done to address it.
Concerns around caregiver engagement and patterns of behaviour can divert professional attention away from potential concerns for a child’s wellbeing. This can lead to cases drifting and risks increasing or prolonging harm.
Learning from these case reviews highlights the importance of:
- maintaining professional curiosity and reflective thinking
- staying child-centred
- sharing information and working together.
Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care
On 6 March TASO published Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care
A summary is here (pdf 4 pages)
The full report is here (pdf 35 pages)
Headlines
This report provides basic statistical findings on the general research question: ‘How do these different groups of young people with experience of children’s social care tend to differ in their progression to and through higher education compared with each other and other young people?’
The report is supported by six appendices providing more detail on methods, coding of variables and the full set of statistical tables.
We make no presumption that higher education entry is a necessary goal for all young people or that other destinations including work, care, further education and other activities may not offer greater value and significance.
We hope this statistical information is helpful to those interested in improving higher education and further education access and experience, by providing a benchmark in terms of current rates and in evidencing insufficient realisation of the potential, capability and rights of many young people.
YP who are NEET increased to 13.4% over the year to December 2024
On 27 February ONS published Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: February 2025
Headlines
There was an increase in the number of young people aged 16 to 24 years not in education, employment or training (NEET) in October to December 2024; the total is currently estimated to be 987,000, up from 877,000 in October to December 2023.
Tools & Templates
We have produced a Regional Improvement Plan (June 2024)
On 26 March Mutual Ventures published a range of case studies and a good practice guide in relation to the DfJ Reducing Time to Family Court programme
On 20 March the DfE published The Families First Partnership (FFP) programme guide
On 11 March the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published It’s Silent: Race, racism, and safeguarding children
On 7 MarchNSPCC published ‘Disguised compliance’: learning from case reviews
On 6 March TASO published Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care
On 27 February ONS published Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: February 2025
On 27 February the Children’s Commissioner published The educational journeys of children in secure settings
On 27 February DfE published Children’s social work workforce data for 2024
On 25 February Oftsed published Good decisions: supporting children aged 16 and 17 who need help when they are homeless
On 20 February the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman published Fostering better services: Helping to improve council services for foster carers and their children
On 13 February DfE published A level and other 16 to 18 results for academic year 2023-2024
On 7 February Foundations (previously the What Works Centre for Families and Children) published Parenting through adversity, the second in a series of practice guides commissioned by the DfE to support the roll-out of the children’s social care national framework
On 4 February Pause and Listen published In a Mother’s Mind: Birth mothers’ experiences of domestic abuse
On 3 February IJPDS published Estimated cumulative incidence of intervention by children’s social care services to age 18: a whole-of-England administrative data cohort study using the child in need census
On 1 February Centrepoint published Hidden In Plain Sight: Understanding Youth Homelessness in the UK
On 1 February The Fostering Network published State of the Nations’ Foster Care – Full Report 2024
On 28 January the Children’s Commissioner published Children’s involvement in the 2024 riots
On 28 January the APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation published Child Mortality in Temporary Accommodation 2025
On 15 January ADCS published Safeguarding Pressures Phase 9. The full report (pdf 91 pages) is here. The summary briefing (pdf 2 pages) is here
On 14 January CAFCASS published “Sharing recommendations with you” which explains to children and young people what recommendations are and why it is important that they are understood clearly.
On 7 January LGA published a briefing on CWSBill
On 7 January Barnardo’s published a briefing
On 3 January the House of Commons Library published a Research Briefing on the bill
On 29 December Coram published The Door is Still Closed
On 19 December MoJ published Family Court Statistics Quarterly; July to September 2024
On 18 December DfE published Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Policy Summary Notes
On 17 December the government published the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill