2.2 Agency Roles and Responsibilities

An awareness and appreciation of the role of others is essential for effective collaboration between organisations and their practitioners.

This chapter outlines the main responsibilities in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children of all statutory organisations, voluntary agencies and professionals who work with children.

It should be read in conjunction with the details set out in Chapter 4 Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

All organisations that work with children share a commitment to safeguard and promote their welfare. For many organisations, this is underpinned by statutory duties.

Section 11 of the Children's Act 2004 places duties on a range of organisations, agencies and individuals to ensure their functions, and any services that they contract out to others, are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

•  Local Authorities and district councils that provide children’s and other types of services, including children’s and adult social care services, public health, housing, sport, culture and leisure services, licensing authorities and youth services 
• NHS organisations and agencies and the independent sector, including NHS England and Integrated Care Boards,, NHS Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and General Practitioners
• the police, including police and crime commissioners and the chief officer of each police force in England and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London
• the British Transport Police
• the National Probation Service & East and West Sussex Probation Delivery Units (PDUs).  
• Governors/Directors of Prisons and Young Offender Institutions (YOIs)
• Directors of Secure Training Centres (STCs)
• Principals of Secure Colleges
• Youth Offending Teams/Services (YOTs)

Under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 those listed in 12.2.6 must evidence:

• a clear line of accountability for the commissioning and/or provision of services designed to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
•  a senior board/Director or equivalent level lead with the required knowledge, skills and expertise or sufficiently qualified and experienced to take leadership responsibility for the organisation’s/agency’s safeguarding arrangements

• a culture of listening to children and taking account of their wishes and feelings, both in individual decisions and the development of services
• clear whistleblowing procedures, which reflect the principles in Sir Robert Francis’ Freedom to Speak Up Review and are suitably referenced in staff training and codes of conduct, and a culture that enables issues about safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children to be addressed
• clear escalation policies for staff to follow when their child safeguarding concerns are not being addressed within their organisation or by other agencies
• arrangements which set out clearly the processes for sharing information, with other practitioners and with safeguarding partners
• a designated practitioner (or, for health commissioning and health provider organisations/agencies, designated and named practitioners) for child safeguarding. Their role is to support other practitioners in their organisations and agencies to recognise the needs of children, including protection from possible abuse or neglect. Designated practitioner roles should always be explicitly defined in job descriptions. Practitioners should be given sufficient time, funding, supervision and support to fulfil their child welfare and safeguarding responsibilities effectively
• safe recruitment practices and ongoing safe working practices for individuals whom the organisation or agency permit to work regularly with children, including policies on when to obtain a criminal record check
• appropriate supervision and support for staff, including undertaking safeguarding training
• creating a culture of safety, equality and protection within the services they provide

In addition:

• employers are responsible for ensuring that their staff are competent to carry out their responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and creating an environment where staff feel able to raise concerns and feel supported in their safeguarding role
• Staff should be given a mandatory induction, which includes familiarisation with child protection responsibilities and the procedures to be followed if anyone has any concerns about a child’s safety or welfare
• all practitioners should have regular reviews of their own practice to ensure they have knowledge, skills and expertise that improve over time.
• Voluntary, charity, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, along with sports clubs, often provide children with education and activities, positioning their staff and volunteers as crucial figures in safeguarding. These trusted adults can be the first to hear reports of abuse, making their role vital in identifying concerns and supporting children. Local Safeguarding Partnerships (LSPs) should consider including VCSEs in their safeguarding frameworks, even if not mandated by the 2018 Regulations. When LSPs designate these groups as relevant agencies, they should involve them in developing safeguarding plans and inform them of their cooperation duties. Additionally, non-statutory guidance, "Keeping Children Safe in Out-of-School Settings," outlines the safeguarding protocols these providers should follow, including managing concerns and understanding local referral processes.

Chapter 4 of Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk) sets out the specific roles, duties and responsibilities for:

• Children’s social care services -including Local Authorities and district councils that provide children’s and other types of services
• People in positions of trust
• Schools, colleges and other educational providers
• Early years and childcare
• Health
• Police
• Adult social care services
• Housing services
• British Transport Police
• The Prison Service
• The Probation Service
• Multi-agency public protection arrangements
• Children’s homes / secure estates for children
• Youth offending teams
• UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and the Border Force
• Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
• The armed services
• Channel panels
• Voluntary, charity, social enterprise, faith-based organisations, and private sectors
• Sports clubs/organisations