Local safeguarding children board

The role of a local safeguarding children board is to make sure local services work together to protect children at risk of harm. It develops policies and procedures that local services must follow.

Every local authority was required by law to set up a local safeguarding children’s board. This requirement is set out in section 13 of the Children Act 2004. The Children and Social Work Act 2017 amended the law to make these arrangements more flexible.

The three key safeguarding partners are:

• Children’s services.
• The police.
• The NHS.

These services still have to work together to protect children at risk but are free to decide how best to organise this.

A local area that wants to keep its safeguarding board can do so if it thinks that’s the best way to make sure services work together to protect children locally. They may have board members from other agencies such as education, youth offending services and Cafcass.