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Have Your Say: Shaping the Future of Help, Support and Child Protection

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The Department for Education has launched a significant national consultation on the future of safeguarding, early help and child protection in England. The consultation, Improving Help and Child Protection: Revised Framework, seeks views on proposed changes to key statutory guidance and arrangements that underpin how agencies work together to safeguard children and support families. The consultation opened on 22 June 2026 and closes on 4 September 2026.

The proposals will inform future updates to Working Together to Safeguard Children, the Children’s Social Care National Framework, and the development of Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT) arrangements.

The consultation is now live on GOV.UK

What does the consultation cover?

The consultation explores a number of important areas that will shape how safeguarding partners, practitioners and services work together in the future, including:

  • Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA)
  • Independent scrutiny and partnership accountability
  • Family Help and Families First reforms
  • Family networks and Family Group Decision Making
  • Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs)
  • Extra-familial harm and exploitation
  • Strengthening the voice of children, young people and families within safeguarding arrangements

These proposals form part of wider national reforms aimed at strengthening multi-agency working, improving accountability, and ensuring children and families receive the right help, support and protection at the right time.

Why does this matter?

Many of the themes within the consultation will be familiar to partners across Newcastle. Over the past year, the NSCP and local partners have been actively preparing for and discussing the implementation of Working Together 2026, the Families First Partnership Programme, Family Help arrangements, partnership accountability, and how we ensure the voices of children and families are reflected in decision-making. These reforms are already influencing local thinking and planning around Family Help, family networks, multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and child protection practice.

The consultation presents an important opportunity for safeguarding partners, practitioners, education settings, health colleagues, police, voluntary sector organisations, and anyone with an interest in improving outcomes for children and families to help shape future national policy and statutory guidance.

Get involved

We encourage all partners to take the opportunity to review the proposals and consider submitting a response, either as an individual or on behalf of your organisation where appropriate.

Please also share the consultation with colleagues, networks and practitioners who may have an interest in the future direction of safeguarding, family support and child protection services.

Consultation events:

You are invited to attend consultation webinars, offering an opportunity to explore and better understand the consultation, alongside giving your views. This includes:

General overview webinars: Please note – both sessions will cover the same information, please only sign up to one of the general overview webinars

 Sector-specific webinars:

Deep-dive webinars on key policy proposals:

Find out more

You can access the consultation documents and submit your response via the Department for Education consultation portal:

Improving Help and Child Protection: Revised Framework

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 4 September 2026.

There is a version of the consultation for Children and Young People – Improving help and child protection : revised framework (Children and young person’s version) – Department for Education – Citizen Space.

NSCP encourages partners to engage with this consultation and help influence the future development of safeguarding arrangements, Family Help, child protection practice and support for children, young people and families across England.