Children’s Commissioner calls for “national approach” to recording and sharing safeguarding information between DBS, Ofsted, LADOs and police

In a blog post published last week (24 September), the Children’s Commissioner warned she had become increasingly aware of “troubling cases” which highlighted the lack of protection for vulnerable children in institutional settings, particularly regarding concerns about the misuse of restraint and seclusion, or where allegations against professionals are made. 

She said: “These cases, coupled with the failures of safeguarding in high-profile cases […], deepens my concerns that the child protection system does not adequately safeguard those most at risk.”

Looking specifically at the role of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) – which manages and oversees allegations of child abuse or concerns about the suitability of individuals working with children – De Souza observed “challenges with the way the role operates” and suggested it should be “truly independent” from the local authority.

In September, the Children’s Commissioner published ‘The Children’s Plan – The Children’s Commissioner’s Schools Census’, outlining responses to the largest-ever survey of schools and colleges in England. 

In the survey, the Children’s Commissioner included a question on the number of referrals each institution made to the LADO in the 2023/24 academic year.

De Souza said: “As would be anticipated, most schools did not make any referrals in this time period (overall median 0.0). However, there were variations in the mean number of referrals by institution type, for example special schools, schools with lower Ofsted ratings and schools in more deprived areas made slightly more referrals than others on average.

“This supports the observation that children with existing vulnerabilities may be more likely to experience abuse in school. However, even if referrals are made to the LADO for these vulnerable children, as my team’s discussion with professionals shows, often little action is taken.” 

After convening a Local Authority Designated Officer roundtable, the following conclusions were drawn:

• The link between the LADO and the DBS is essential. It ensures that people who pose a risk to children cannot move from one job to another without scrutiny. However, with no national standard for how referrals to the DBS are handled in practice, the process can vary depending on local authority procedures and policies, leaving safeguarding responses open to confusion, employers unaware of crucial information and children exposed to risk. 
• Information is often lost in silos. Agencies such as Ofsted, the DBS, LADOs, the police and local authorities all hold important safeguarding data, but this is frequently stored in separate systems with limited coordination. There is also confusion about who is responsible for making referrals and when. Some professionals refer to the DBS but not to Ofsted, or vice versa, which can result in incomplete safeguarding records. 
• The lack of clear and accessible data makes it even harder to understand the full picture. The DBS, for example, publishes only headline figures and does not routinely provide feedback to those who make referrals. This makes it difficult for professionals to know whether action has been taken, or whether others have raised similar concerns.
• One key weakness in the current system is the difficulty of prosecuting cases where institutional abuse is alleged or found. In part that is because of the difficulty in proving that harm was caused ‘wilfully’, as required under Section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. In settings like schools or children’s homes, where harm may result from neglect or poor systems rather than deliberate intent, this legal threshold is often too high to meet.  
• Children with disabilities are often unheard. In one investigation, non-verbal children were found to have experienced serious abuse, but no one was held accountable.

In light of the findings, the Children’s Commissioner called for “urgent and ambitious reform” - including that the LADO role must be “truly independent” from the local authority, ensuring there is strong accountability for children. 

Dame Rachel De Souza said: “We need a national approach to recording and sharing safeguarding information between DBS, Ofsted, LADOs and the police. And we need clear, consistent thresholds for referrals. Ultimately, we need these expectations to be outlined in statutory guidance for the LADO role.”

Meanwhile, De Souza called for children with disabilities to be “included meaningfully” in all safeguarding reforms, and “not as an afterthought but as a priority”.

Finally, the Children’s Commissioner called for “urgent improvements” in the quality of children’s homes, and the availability of foster carers, noting: “No child should be growing up in a home where the adults who should be loving and caring for them are instead exploiting and harming them.”

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson