Fostering is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department recognises the impact that lengthy allegations investigations can have on foster carers and the children they care for. Through the proposed new Fostering Quality Standards, currently out for consultation, we are seeking to improve the allegations process to make it more proportionate and timely, while maintaining robust safeguards for children. The consultation will inform next steps on improving the allegations process for all foster carers, including those approved by independent fostering agencies.

We have launched an ambitious fostering reform programme that aims to create 10,000 additional foster placements by 2029. As part of this programme, our enhanced regional hub model is improving regional coordination and visibility of fostering capacity across local authority and non-profit independent fostering agency provision. This will help local authorities make better use of all available fostering provision when identifying the most appropriate placement for a child, while increasing fostering capacity across the sector so children can be matched with homes that best meet their needs.

Sexual abuse in any form is abhorrent and protecting children from this is an absolute priority for this government.

Working Together to Safeguard Children is the statutory guidance which sets out the collaborative duties and responsibilities placed on agencies to safeguard and protect children. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2.

Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to, when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It includes clear and detailed guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual harassment and sexual violence, and on recording concerns, discussions and decisions made. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

Local authorities, schools and colleges are held to account for safeguarding children through a number of routes, for example statutory guidance, legislation, child safeguarding practice review panels and inspection.

Current powers and procedures including ‘Sarah’s Law’ allow both proactive and application-based disclosures of relevant information where this is necessary to protect a child, regardless of the recipient’s relationship to that child.

Any disclosure must be within the existing legal framework and have due regard to the established case law, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

To better inform where disclosure is necessary, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools’ Act’s Information Sharing Duty and the Crime and Policing Act’s Child Cruelty Register will improve the identification of risk and the visibility of individuals who may pose a risk to children, helping agencies determine when disclosure is necessary to safeguard a child.

The government recognises the importance of timely risk disclosure and has assessed that the benefits of a dedicated risk disclosure mechanism can be achieved through existing legislation that enables disclosure to protect children, particularly the Crime and Policing Act, which places Sarah's Law on statutory footing.

Current powers and procedures including ‘Sarah’s Law’ allow both proactive and application-based disclosures of relevant information where this is necessary to protect a child, regardless of the recipient’s relationship to that child.

Any disclosure must be within the existing legal framework and have due regard to the established case law, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

To better inform where disclosure is necessary, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools’ Act’s Information Sharing Duty and the Crime and Policing Act’s Child Cruelty Register will improve the identification of risk and the visibility of individuals who may pose a risk to children, helping agencies determine when disclosure is necessary to safeguard a child.

The government recognises the importance of timely risk disclosure and has assessed that the benefits of a dedicated risk disclosure mechanism can be achieved through existing legislation that enables disclosure to protect children, particularly the Crime and Policing Act, which places Sarah's Law on statutory footing.

All schools and colleges must have regard to statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which sets out the duties on schools and colleges to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This applies to all visitors, including those attending open days and events.

All schools and colleges must have regard to statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which sets out the duties on schools and colleges to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This applies to all visitors, including those attending open days and events.

The department is committed to safeguarding all children from harm, including those attending extracurricular activities. ​

Last year, we launched a Call for Evidence on Safeguarding in Out-of-School Settings to better understand current practice and invite views on approaches to strengthen safeguards further. To supplement analysis of the Call for Evidence, we have continued to engage with key stakeholders, including British Dancesport Association, to help inform next steps.

The government recognises the strength of feeling behind proposals for a Child Risk Disclosure Scheme and has considered the potential merits of such an approach. At its heart, the proposal seeks to ensure that relevant information about risk is shared quickly so that children can be protected from harm.

Some key elements of such a scheme are already possible through existing arrangements. Sarah’s Law enables both proactive and application‑based disclosures where there is a risk to a child, and we are strengthening this by placing it on a statutory footing.

We are also taking further action to improve visibility of risk and support safeguarding professionals, including through the introduction of a child cruelty register and a new information sharing duty. This duty will place a clear legal obligation on agencies to share information relevant to a child’s welfare at the earliest opportunity.

These reforms along with a strengthened role for education in local safeguarding arrangements, the creation of multi-agency child protection teams and a new Child Protection Authority will strengthen safeguarding in England, helping keep children safe from harm.

We will continue to engage closely with Maya Chappell’s family and other stakeholders to test whether ongoing reforms are addressing the risks they have identified.

All social workers in England must meet Social Work England’s professional standards, which set the minimum requirements for safe and effective practice, including promoting the rights, strengths and wellbeing of people, families and communities. Social workers complete initial education and training courses which are approved by the regulator against the education and training standards. In addition, in recognising the impact of trauma, the recently published child and family social worker early career standards and the forthcoming lead child practitioner standards, alongside the National Framework, will be used to underpin a new career-spanning development offer for social workers from autumn 2027 to support a confident and skilled workforce.

The implementation of multi-agency child protection teams and wider reforms to children’s social care is underpinned by ongoing evaluation. Further interim implementation and process findings are expected this summer, and an impact evaluation report will be released in April 2027, ahead of the multi-agency child protection team regulations coming into force. Findings will consider early impacts on children and families and test underlying assumptions behind our reforms.

Every local area in England is also subject to reporting requirements in line with Families First Partnership programme guidance and grant conditions. This includes data on the set up and delivery of multi-agency child protection teams.

The department safeguards students at academy schools by setting statutory requirements through the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 and the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance. Academy trusts must comply with these standards and have effective safeguarding policies and procedures in place.

The department also monitors compliance by seeking assurances from academy trusts and reviewing safeguarding arrangements but works closely with local authorities. Ofsted inspects safeguarding arrangements to keep children safe.

Whilst the department’s role is to assure itself that academy trusts are fulfilling their statutory responsibilities, local authorities are responsible for investigating individual complaints, reflecting their overarching duty for child protection within their area. It is essential that such investigations are conducted by individuals with the appropriate expertise and experience. Established procedures must be followed to ensure that all schools are treated fairly, consistently and proportionately.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring that higher education (HE) providers maintain high standards of student safety and wellbeing. The department’s position is that HE providers already owe a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, they are expected to act reasonably.

Such a duty of care may already arise in certain circumstances, depending on the facts of individual cases.

The department has considered a range of evidence on variation in student support, including official statistics, coroners’ reports, case reviews, and engagement with providers, students and experts, as well as the National Review of Higher Education Student Suicide Deaths.

This evidence, alongside stakeholder and legal input, has informed concerns about potential unintended consequences of a statutory duty, including increased legal uncertainty, more risk averse practice, and unclear responsibilities between HE providers and other services.

The department recognises that statutory duties of care operate in other sectors, such as health and schools, but differences in context, particularly that HE students are adults, and the unique settings of universities, limit direct comparability. The government continues to strengthen protections through the existing regulatory framework, including work by the Office for Students to develop a Statement of Expectations covering disability and mental health.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring that higher education (HE) providers maintain high standards of student safety and wellbeing. The department’s position is that HE providers already owe a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, they are expected to act reasonably.

Such a duty of care may already arise in certain circumstances, depending on the facts of individual cases.

The department has considered a range of evidence on variation in student support, including official statistics, coroners’ reports, case reviews, and engagement with providers, students and experts, as well as the National Review of Higher Education Student Suicide Deaths.

This evidence, alongside stakeholder and legal input, has informed concerns about potential unintended consequences of a statutory duty, including increased legal uncertainty, more risk averse practice, and unclear responsibilities between HE providers and other services.

The department recognises that statutory duties of care operate in other sectors, such as health and schools, but differences in context, particularly that HE students are adults, and the unique settings of universities, limit direct comparability. The government continues to strengthen protections through the existing regulatory framework, including work by the Office for Students to develop a Statement of Expectations covering disability and mental health.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring that higher education (HE) providers maintain high standards of student safety and wellbeing. The department’s position is that HE providers already owe a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, they are expected to act reasonably.

Such a duty of care may already arise in certain circumstances, depending on the facts of individual cases.

The department has considered a range of evidence on variation in student support, including official statistics, coroners’ reports, case reviews, and engagement with providers, students and experts, as well as the National Review of Higher Education Student Suicide Deaths.

This evidence, alongside stakeholder and legal input, has informed concerns about potential unintended consequences of a statutory duty, including increased legal uncertainty, more risk averse practice, and unclear responsibilities between HE providers and other services.

The department recognises that statutory duties of care operate in other sectors, such as health and schools, but differences in context, particularly that HE students are adults, and the unique settings of universities, limit direct comparability. The government continues to strengthen protections through the existing regulatory framework, including work by the Office for Students to develop a Statement of Expectations covering disability and mental health.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring that higher education (HE) providers maintain high standards of student safety and wellbeing. The department’s position is that HE providers already owe a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, they are expected to act reasonably.

Such a duty of care may already arise in certain circumstances, depending on the facts of individual cases.

The department has considered a range of evidence on variation in student support, including official statistics, coroners’ reports, case reviews, and engagement with providers, students and experts, as well as the National Review of Higher Education Student Suicide Deaths.

This evidence, alongside stakeholder and legal input, has informed concerns about potential unintended consequences of a statutory duty, including increased legal uncertainty, more risk averse practice, and unclear responsibilities between HE providers and other services.

The department recognises that statutory duties of care operate in other sectors, such as health and schools, but differences in context, particularly that HE students are adults, and the unique settings of universities, limit direct comparability. The government continues to strengthen protections through the existing regulatory framework, including work by the Office for Students to develop a Statement of Expectations covering disability and mental health.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The department recognises the valuable role that charities and voluntary organisations play in supporting children and young people to participate in cultural and educational activities, including brass banding.

The department is clear that a Body of Persons Approvalmay be applied for by any organisation responsible for putting on a performance involving children.

Safeguarding children and young people is a fundamental priority for this government. All organisations involved in brass banding are expected to comply with relevant safeguarding legislation and guidance. This includes effective safeguarding policies, appropriate vetting and training of adults, and clear processes for reporting and responding to concerns, to ensure safe and positive participation for all young people.

Moreover, many brass bands operate as Out‑of‑School Settings (providing activities for children, without their parents’ or carers’ supervision). The department has published guidance outlining the safeguarding standards we expect these settings to meet, and free accompanying e-learning.

Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are strengthening the role of education and childcare in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to better protect children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

All schools must also have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Part one of this guidance sets out what all staff need to know and do if they have any concerns about a child, including the process for making referrals to local authority children’s social care and for statutory assessments.