Have Your Say: Shaping the Future of Help, Support and Child Protection

Have Your Say: Shaping the Future of Help, Support and Child Protection

The Department for Education has launched a significant national consultation on the future of safeguarding, early help and child protection in England. The consultation, Improving Help and Child Protection: Revised Framework, seeks views on proposed changes to key statutory guidance and arrangements that underpin how agencies work together to safeguard children and support families. The consultation opened on 22 June 2026 and closes on 4 September 2026.

The proposals will inform future updates to Working Together to Safeguard Children, the Children’s Social Care National Framework, and the development of Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT) arrangements.

What does the consultation cover?

The consultation explores a number of important areas that will shape how safeguarding partners, practitioners and services work together in the future, including:

• Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA)
• Independent scrutiny and partnership accountability
• Family Help and Families First reforms
• Family networks and Family Group Decision Making
• Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs)
• Extra-familial harm and exploitation
• Strengthening the voice of children, young people and families within safeguarding arrangements

These proposals form part of wider national reforms aimed at strengthening multi-agency working, improving accountability, and ensuring children and families receive the right help, support and protection at the right time.

Why does this matter?

Many of the themes within the consultation will be familiar to partners across North Yorkshire. Over the past year, the NYSCP and local partners have been actively preparing for and discussing the implementation of Working Together 2026, the Families First Partnership Programme, Family Help arrangements, partnership accountability, and how we ensure the voices of children and families are reflected in decision-making. These reforms are already influencing local thinking and planning around Family Help, family networks, multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and child protection practice.

The consultation presents an important opportunity for safeguarding partners, practitioners, education settings, health colleagues, police, voluntary sector organisations, and anyone with an interest in improving outcomes for children and families to help shape future national policy and statutory guidance.

Get involved

We encourage all partners to take the opportunity to review the proposals and consider submitting a response, either as an individual or on behalf of your organisation where appropriate.

Please also share the consultation with colleagues, networks and practitioners who may have an interest in the future direction of safeguarding, family support and child protection services.

Consultation events:

From July to August, you are invited to attend consultation webinars, offering an opportunity to explore and better understand the consultation, alongside giving your views. This includes: 

 
Two general overview webinars: Please note – both sessions will cover the same information, please only sign up to one of the general overview webinars 

• Click here to register for general overview webinar 1: Thursday 30 July, 11:00am – 12:30pm 
• Click here to register for general overview webinar 2: Thursday 27 August, 1:30 – 3:00pm 

 
Four sector-specific webinars:  
 

• Click here to register for local authority webinar: Wednesday 12 August, 2:00pm – 3:30pm  
• Click here to register for health webinar: Monday 3 August, 11:00am – 12:30pm 
• Click here to register for police webinar: Tuesday 21 July, 10:30am – 12:00pm 
• Click here to register for education webinar: Monday 13 July, 3:30pm – 5:00pm 

Five deep-dive webinars on key policy proposals:  

• Click here to register for ‘Voice of children and their families’ webinar: Tuesday 1 September, 10:30am – 12:00pm  
• Click here to register for ‘Multi-agency safeguarding arrangements’ webinar: Wednesday 19 August, 10:00am – 11:30am  
• Click here to register for ‘Help and support’ webinar: Thursday 6 August, 13.30 – 15.00  
• Click here to register for ‘Protection’ webinar: Tuesday 28 July, 10:00am – 11:30am 
• Click here to register for ‘Improving outcomes’ webinar: Thursday 23 July, 3:00pm – 4:30pm 

Find out more

You can access the consultation documents and submit your response via the Department for Education consultation portal:

Improving Help and Child Protection: Revised Framework

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 4 September 2026.

NYSCP encourages partners to engage with this consultation and help influence the future development of safeguarding arrangements, Family Help, child protection practice and support for children, young people and families across England.