Article published on 6 February 2026.

Devon Safeguarding Digest – February 2026

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Welcome to the Devon Safeguarding Digest. This regular update will help you stay up to speed with safeguarding news and local policy changes.

New NSPCC report on safeguarding children educated at home

While home education is not itself a safeguarding risk, the growth in the number of home‑educated children has posed a challenge for local authorities in meeting safeguarding duties.

The report makes several recommendations for central government in providing more support to local authorities

 

Domestic Abuse Commissioner responds to government Violence Against Women & Girls Strategy

Dame Nicole Jacobs has welcomed the government’s new strategy to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, but has warned that the ambition – and funding – does not go far enough.

 

National report published on multi-agency domestic abuse inspections

The report summarises the findings from six joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs) carried out between October 2024 and June 2025 by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation).

The report highlights various factors that impacted the quality of the multi-agency response to domestic abuse in the places inspected, such as:

  • Shared prioritisation of domestic abuse across agencies.
  • Services often prioritise adults’ needs and do not consistently recognise children as victims in their own right.
  • Trusted relationships with children and non‑abusing parents improve understanding and safety. However, over-reliance on non‑abusing parents means risks to children can be under‑recognised.
  • Good safeguarding practice by midwives, schools, and early years settings.
  • Children’s voices are not consistently heard or represented.
  • Poor information‑sharing between agencies impedes joint decision‑making.

 

Children’s Commissioner report on children living in illegal children’s homes

On 1 September 2025, there were 669 children in England placed in unregistered children’s homes (a slight decrease from 764 the year prior) at an extremely high average cost of £10,500 per week, a report from the Children’s Commissioner has found. 89 of these children had been in the placement for over a year. Over half of the 669 had an EHCP. 30% had gone missing from their placement at least once. 61% were placed outside of their local authority area. 36 of the children were in placements that cost over £1m a year. A third of the children were subject to a Deprivation of Liberty order.

 

Pressure on UK Government to introduce Australia-style under-16 social media ban

There is growing political support for the introduction of a ban on online social media for people under the age of 16, following the introduction of such a ban in Australia. The House of Lords voted in favour of an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would add a measure to introduce a ban. The government has so far said it will bring about a consultation on the matter, which has become a live debate with politicians, children’s charities, and others adding their views.

 

Policing white paper

The government has published a white paper laying out proposals for a wide-ranging reorganisation of police forces. Some of the proposals include:

  • Reducing the number of separate police forces and merging national policing bodies into a National Police Service.
  • Replacing Police & Crime Commissioners with elected mayors or boards of local council leaders.
  • Additional neighbourhood officers and use of AI to reduce admin.
  • Stronger police vetting and misconduct regulations.

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