National review webinar series - Workshop 3

“Safeguarding partners should audit the quality of local multi‑agency decision making when responding to concerns about child sexual abuse. This may include adoption of a pathway approach, use of guidance about signs and indicators of sexual abuse and reviewing threshold documents about assessment of need and risk.”

National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment (2024)

About the workshop

This workshop is part three of six online sessions to support safeguarding partners to reflect, plan and lead the implementation the recommendations for safeguarding partners in England set out in the 2024 National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment.

The workshop is focused on Recommendation three, for safeguarding partners to audit the quality of local multi-agency decision making when responding to concerns about child sexual abuse.

This recommendation proposed several measures for partners, including:

• The adoption of a pathway approach, use of guidance about signs and indicators of sexual abuse and reviewing threshold documents about assessment of need and risk.

• Ensuring that Working Together guidance is followed and that, at the conclusion of section 47 enquiries and police investigations, there is a multi-agency discussion to consider risk to the children and how they will be protected and supported.

• Stopping the use of the term ‘no further action’ in cases of intra-familial child sexual abuse as it is too often understood to mean the abuse did not happen. The term ‘no further police action at this time’ is more appropriate.

• Maintaining very clear records of why a criminal investigation has been closed and that this information has been shared with other relevant agencies.

• Where the harm has been perpetrated by a sibling, plans must be made for all the children in the family, addressing the needs of the child who has harmed as well as the child who has been harmed, and any other siblings.

During the session

This workshop will discuss the findings from the report that led to this recommendation specifically the importance of understanding local data, good multiagency decision making and how to audit and assurance of child sexual abuse practice can support this. It will provide information about training and resources from the CSA Centre which can support you in understating what good and excellent practice look like including the signs and indicators of sexual abuse, the child sexual abuse response Pathway and multiagency decision making. The session will also support you in delivering multiagency audit or quality assurance and what systemic change including language needs to take place. We will hear from practice their approach and reflections on beginning this journey.

About the speakers

Paul Burnside is a retired Public Protection Detective Inspector with Lancashire Police and was an Inspector on the HMIC Child Protection inspections. Paul’s current role at the CSA Centre involves working with police forces across England and Wales to better understand their effectiveness in tackling and preventing child sexual abuse and influencing good practice.

Nick Connaughton has over 25 years of experience in policing, having recently concluded his career with Lancashire Constabulary as Detective Chief Superintendent, Head of Vulnerability. In this role, his responsibilities encompassed workforce development, with a particular emphasis on improving the policing contribution to multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and strengthening local relationships. He has substantial expertise in collaborating across agencies to safeguard children at both operational and executive levels. Nick spent many years in front-line Child Protection and Exploitation roles, working closely with partners to safeguard children and families. He is deeply committed to uniting professionals to enhance the safeguarding of children and families and is currently focused on applying this collaborative approach to his role as Multi-Agency Workforce Development within the North-West Multi-Agency Safeguarding Learning and Support Hub.

What is the National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment?

In 2024, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published their National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment, conducted by the CSA Centre. It studied the experience of 193 individual children and uncovered significant and longstanding systemic issues in the identification of and response to child sexual abuse in family settings. Sadly, the review found that children who are sexually abused are frequently not being identified by practitioners, nor are they receiving the response needed for their ongoing safety and recovery.

The final report, "I wanted them all to notice": Protecting children and responding to child sexual abuse within the family environment, made 10 recommendations for national government and a further six recommendations for local safeguarding partnerships which they can implement immediately without waiting for changes at a national level.

About the workshop series

This is part three in our Strengthening multi-agency leadership in responding to intra-familial child sexual abuse series of workshops. Each free session takes a closer look at the recommendations of the National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment. Throughout the year we are holding five more workshops covering topics from improving professional knowledge, skills and practice, to how to talk to children about sexual abuse.