New arrangements
In December 2015, the Government asked Sir Alan Wood to undertake a review into effectiveness of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs). His review (published in May 2016), concluded that LSCBs did not work effectively and should be abolished. The Wood Review proposed a new model of collective working that would ensure better multi-agency collaboration, placing responsibilities on three key agencies to take a strategic lead on safeguarding and the promotion of child welfare in each local authority area. The Wood Review recommendations formed a core part of the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
The revised legislation requires the three safeguarding partners (Local Authority, Police and Health) to make arrangements to work together with relevant agencies, as they consider appropriate, to safeguard and protect the welfare of children in the area.
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 sets out further structural requirements for the new multi-agency safeguarding partnership arrangements. It requires the three safeguarding partners to discharge a 'shared and equal duty' to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.