Devon Safeguarding Digest – December 2024

A simple graphic featuring the Devon SCP logo and the words Devon Safeguarding Digest December 2024

Welcome to the new Devon Safeguarding Digest. Going forwards, these monthly updates from the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership will combine a survey of safeguarding news and developments with changes to local policy and opportunities to feed into future local policy change.

The Digest will be published on the news page of our website in the first week of each month, and we will also distribute it to managers via email.

Read on for the Devon Safeguarding Digest for December 2024.

Updated Devon local safeguarding policies

Devon’s local safeguarding policies, procedures, and guidance are available on our Policies and Procedures page.

The following policies have recently been updated:

Future new or updated local safeguarding policies will be covered more extensively in these monthly digests. There will also be opportunities to feed into future local policy formulation.

Government promises ‘biggest overhaul in a generation to children’s social care’

The government announced a major reform to the children’s social care support system last month. This includes plans to curb excessive profits made by private providers of children’s homes. More details are set out in the Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive policy paper published on 18 November 2024.

The full Keeping children safe, helping families thrive policy paper can be read on the government website.

New national review published on child sexual abuse within the family

A national child safeguarding practice review has investigated the experiences of 193 children who were sexually abused by a family member.

Findings include that there has been a ‘worrying evaporation’ of skills within safeguarding agencies. The report calls for the government to put in place a national action plan and for Joint Targeted Area Inspections on this theme.

The full report from the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is available on the government website.

Safeguarding failures in the Church of England lead to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned in November following the publication of a report that found that Church inaction failed to address a prolific now-deceased abuser. Welby had failed to sufficiently report abuse when it was brought to his attention. Further controversy and fallout is likely to continue for some time.

New legislation requires employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment within their organisations

From 26 October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to protect their employees from sexual harassment. This includes anticipating where it may occur, taking reasonable steps to prevent it, and taking action to prevent recurrence.

Guidance on creating an organisational sexual harassment policy is available on the acas website.

DBS increased prices for Disclosure and Barring Checks

From 2 December 2024, fees for DBS checks will change to:

  • Update Service – £16 (per year)
  • Basic DBS check – £21.50
  • Standard DBS check – £21.50
  • Enhanced DBS check – £49.50
  • Enhanced DBS check with Barred List(s) – £49.50

Full details about the changes to DBS fees are available on the government website.

Social media ban for under-16s ‘on the table’ in UK

The idea of legally restricting social media for young people has come into the spotlight after Australia’s government said it would introduce legislation to ban children under 16 from social media.

The UK government may be waiting to see how the situation progresses in Australia before signalling any clear intention to mirror this in the UK.


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