Working Together to Safeguard Children
England's rulebook for how agencies protect children together
What it is
About Working Together to Safeguard Children
Working Together to Safeguard Children is statutory guidance issued by the UK Department for Education under the Children Act 2004, setting out the framework for multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, thresholds for intervention and the roles of Local Safeguarding Partners. Social workers, designated safeguarding leads and multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH) use it as the reference document to decide when and how to act on child welfare concerns. It's periodically revised to reflect case reviews and legislative change, with recent substantial updates in 2018 and 2023.
What you can do with it
Capabilities
Determine safeguarding thresholds and when to make a referral
Understand the statutory roles of local authorities, police and health partners
Reference multi-agency escalation and information-sharing protocols
Support case reviews and Section 47 enquiries with the correct legal framework
Train new staff on safeguarding responsibilities and duties
How to learn it
Learning Resources
Read the full guidance document on gov.uk (Department for Education)
Complete a Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) or NSPCC Learning safeguarding course
Attend local authority-run multi-agency safeguarding training sessions
Take NSPCC Learning's online safeguarding and child protection courses
Pro Tip
Don't just read it once — thresholds and definitions get revised every few years, so always check you're working from the current edition, not an outdated PDF someone saved locally.
Skills that use this tool
Roles that use this tool