If children’s services suspect a child is suffering significant harm or is likely to suffer significant harm, then they must investigate. This is called making child protection enquiries. When children’s services make child protection enquiries they aim to:
- Gather information about the child and their family
- Assess the family’s situation
- Decide whether they think the child is suffering ‘significant harm’
- Decide whether they think the child is likely to suffer ‘significant harm’
- Decide whether they should take any action to keep the child safe and promote their welfare.
See our Child protection page for more information and advice about the child protection process.