Devon Safeguarding Digest – July 2025

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

Children’s Charities Coalition responds to Spending Review

The Children’s Charities Coalition welcomed investment in early help for families but said that more investment in children’s social care is urgently needed. The government’s child poverty strategy is expected to be published in the autumn.

Raising the Nation Play Commission publishes report

There has been a marked decline of play in the lives of British children, who are growing up ‘sedentary, scrolling and alone’. The report makes a number of recommendations, including that local authorities make more efforts to support opportunities for children’s play.

Review provides insight into families’ experiences of Family Group Conferences

There are a number of barriers to families taking up the offer of an FGC, including negative previous experiences with statutory services. There are other factors which may help families to take up the offer, such as having control over the practical arrangements of the meeting. There are sometimes misunderstandings among social workers about what a FGC is.

New Ofsted Chair

The government has announced the appointment of Dame Christine Gilbert to become the new Chair of Ofsted on 1 September 2025. Dame Christine formerly served as head of Ofsted (Chief Inspector, not Chair) 2006-2011, during which time she oversaw the expansion of Ofsted to cover children’s social services.

New report on NHS response to domestic abuse

The ‘Never again. Again’ report by Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse looked at 47 Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews published in 2024 and found that 89% had recommendations for how the healthcare system could have played a better role.

The most common recommendation among the reviews was the need for domestic abuse training to support healthcare professionals to spot and respond to victims and survivors. Meanwhile, over a third of the reviews identified a need for better multi-agency collaboration in responding to domestic abuse.

Updated guidance published on the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel

The Government has updated the guidance on the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.