Devon Safeguarding Digest: August 2026
Welcome to the Devon Safeguarding Digest. This regular update will help you stay up to speed with safeguarding news and local policy changes.
DfE guidance for schools to ban phones becomes legally binding
The Department for Education published revised guidance on mobile phones in schools in January 2026. This guidance became statutory on 29 June 2026.
All schools should be mobile phone-free environments by default; anything other than this should be by exception only.
Schools should begin following it from 1 September 2026.
DfE publishes English school exclusion statistics for 2024/25
Persistent disruptive behaviour continued to be the most common reason for suspension, accounting for 52% of all reasons given for suspension and for 40% of reasons for permanent exclusions. Other particularly common reasons were physical assaults and threats or verbal abuse.
The Coram Children’s Legal Centre responded noting that informal exclusions increasingly hide the true picture of children being excluded from school.
Domestic Abuse Commissioner sets out 3-year national plan
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s strategy for 2026-29 aims to improve outcomes for people who have experienced domestic abuse, focusing on four priorities:
- Specialist services: improving access to independent support and securing sustainable funding
- Health: strengthening mental health support and recognising domestic abuse as a public health issue
- Policing: improving consistency and ensuring victim-centred responses
- Probation: enhancing partnership working, perpetrator management, and victim safety
Government to introduce social media curfew for 16–17-year-olds
Further to the planned social media ban for children under the age of 16, the government plans further measures for children aged 16 and 17, including a midnight social media curfew and disabling the most addictive features.
Unseen annual report published
The UK anti-slavery charity Unseen has published its annual report for 2025. In that year they identified nearly 3,000 exploitation cases and almost 7,000 victims of modern slavery. This is a significant rise on the previous year, which may reflect growing prevalence or may reflect growing awareness and reporting; in any case, modern slavery remains a major issue, necessitating strong multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
Ofsted wins first successful prosecution of illegal children’s home provider
Catalyst Care Ltd (and its two directors) has become the first unregistered children’s home provider to be successfully prosecuted, for operating three unregistered children’s homes in Kent.
Carrying on or managing a children’s home without registration with Ofsted is a criminal offence. Ofsted is expanding its efforts to investigate and pursue unregistered children’s home providers.