East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership: Monthly Digest (February 2026)

East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership Monthly Digest – February 2026

 This latest roundup of ESSCP news includes highlights from recent publications, information about forthcoming events and training, and other snippets of useful information from the ESSCP and partner agencies. Go to News – ESSCP which is updated throughout the month with the latest information and learning.

SPOA to become Single Point of Access

 Children’s Services are making an important but straightforward change to the way they describe their front door service:

SPOA is currently known as the Single Point of Advice. From April, we are changing what SPOA stands for from Single Point of Advice to Single Point of Access. The acronym SPOA will remain the same, but the wording behind it will change. This change has been made because the introduction of the Consultation Advice Line has created understandable confusion for professionals and members of the public when searching for “advice” and trying to find the right route. Moving to Single Point of Access helps us to be clearer about purpose and pathways, while retaining a familiar and well-established acronym.

Team Around the Family (TAF) | Family hubs

Contacting the Single Point of Access (SPoA) | East Sussex County Council

NEW Family Help Team pilot in Eastbourne

 This month sees the launch of the new Family Help Team pilot in Eastbourne. The new approach has been designed to deliver a more seamless service to children and families as part of the Family First programme.

If a family you’re working with has already been allocated a worker based in Eastbourne, you should contact the Family Help Team. You, or the family, can get in touch by calling 01323 463401. The new Family Help Team includes both early help teams, who work with families with emerging and complex problems, as well as social work teams. In Eastbourne, Family Help teams have replaced Early Help, Duty and Assessment, Youth Support and Family Support. There’ll also be a new specialist Family Help Youth Support Team which will support young people who are at greater risk and have more complex needs. In all other parts of the county, teams will continue to operate as before. For an update on who you need to call and when follow this link: https://www.esscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Family-Help-Team-Briefing.pdf (Password is ESSCPAR123)

Pan Sussex Disruption Conference – 18 March

 East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership, together with BHSCP and WSSCP, will be hosting a Pan Sussex Disruption Conference with the Children’s Society on 18 March 2026, 9.30 – 16.30 at The Wing (The Brighton Centre)

This exploitation event will be delivered by the Children’s Society and will be available to multi-agency safeguarding children’s practitioners in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, and West Sussex.

Book Your Place Here

Pan Sussex Domestic Abuse Strategy (Nobody left behind)

 The Pan Sussex Domestic Abuse Strategy was published in December 2025. The strategy sets out agency’s commitment to creating a Sussex free from domestic abuse, where every individual is safe and supported.

The strategy, and a range of guidance for professionals, can be found on the Safe in East Sussex website here: Domestic abuse and sexual violence – guidance for professionals | Safe in East Sussex 

Baby Beech 30-Minute Extended Learning Summary and 9-Minute Briefing

 In late October 2025, Brighton & Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership convened a Rapid Review into the circumstances surrounding a 15-month-old infant attending A&E by ambulance due to abnormal behaviour and query hallucinating seizure.  Baby Beech was open to Social Work until late August 2025. Mother had periodically reported domestic abuse, Mother reported that she did not feel safe and has no support network or place to go as her family network are all in living outside the UK and she has no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

PLEASE NOTE: The Baby Beech Rapid Review – 9-Minute Briefing – Feb 2026 is designed to align with the Baby Beech Rapid Review Extended Learning Summary – Feb 2026

Addressing the rise in online terrorist content among young people

 Counter Terrorism Policing has seen a concerning increase in terrorist content being accessed and shared by boys aged 13–17. This has led to higher casework volumes and Prevent referrals, including cases where young people have been unwittingly drawn into Terrorism Act offending online, alongside those with more deliberate intent.

In response, Counter Terrorism Policing has developed a targeted youth education and deterrence campaign, led by CTPHQ Communications in close collaboration with operational colleagues and partner agencies. The campaign is informed by focus group research with young people, which highlighted that clear, real-world consequences are particularly effective in cutting through to this age group.

Launched in mid-February to align with the half-term period, the campaign will run until 15 March. It features two short, TikTok-style videos tailored specifically to boys aged 13–15 and 16–17. The content focuses on the legal and personal consequences of accessing and sharing terrorist material online, reinforcing the message that “what you share leaves a trace”.

The campaign is supported by a paid media rollout on TikTok and YouTube, alongside a media moment, internal and digital communications activity, partner support amplifying through their network and channels and a dedicated page on the ACT website. The page provides clear guidance on what constitutes terrorist content, the risks of sharing it, and how young people, parents and professionals can report concerns.

ESSCP training and learning opportunities

 From 1^st September 2025 all multi-agency training provided by the East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (ESSCP) is FREE to attend for all organisations across East Sussex.

Please see some of the current East Sussex Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (ESSCP) training opportunities for spring 2026: https://www.esscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Multi-Agency-Training-Opportunities-v2.pdf. Upcoming courses include ‘working with children who display harmful sexual behaviours’, ‘child protection in a multi-agency context’, ‘parental drug and alcohol use and the impact on children’ and ‘responding to exploitation and abuse outside the family home’.

eLearning courses covering mental health, child sexual abuse, domestic abuse, alcohol and drug misuse, and much more are available on our dedicated eLearning website: East Sussex County Council: Log in to the site (learningpool.com)

We are offering a two hour introductory session on Exploring the links between domestic abuse and suicide 26.03.26 Tickets. This introductory session will highlight the importance of professionals warning signs of both domestic abuse and suicidality and offer effective support that addresses co-occurring issues like poor mental health and substance use, both of which make staying safe challenging.

DA, SVA, and VAWG training opportunities are now published on the Safe in East Sussex website. This page is regularly reviewed and updated. Please let me know if your agency has any upcoming training.

CAPA First Response has been commissioned by ESCC to deliver accredited, one-day professional training focused on child to parent aggression (CPA) and harmful behaviours. The course, designed for front-line practitioners working with families, aims to explore underlying causes, including psychological, social, environmental and neurodiversity-related factors; identify risk factors and understand impact on family dynamics; and develop practical strategies to reduce aggressive and harmful behaviour in the home. Sessions are being planned for April/May and September/October 2026. Please contact info@capafirstresponse.org if you would like further details.

East Sussex Neurodiversity Celebration Week (16-20 March) is a schedule of events organised by the East Sussex Autism Partnership Board to highlight current developments in neuro-inclusion. Addressing themes of education, employment, health and wellbeing, there will be an exciting week of virtual talks and an in-person event at the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne. Book your free place All of the events underpin the work of the East Sussex All-Age Autism Action Plan, which is in its first year of delivery.

ESSAB has created a short questionnaire around the SAB training they currently offer. Please could you share as widely as possible with your teams for completion. – Multi-Agency Training Questionnaire  – Fill in form

Local briefings and newsletters

•  The Family First programme has published their February 2026: https://www.esscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Family-First-February-2026-briefing.pdf. The newsletter includes updates on Free Family First training offer – supporting work with children and families, SPOA becoming the Single Point of Access; and Family First – a brief reminder of why transforming services is so important. (Password is ESSCPAR123)
• The Safer Communities Partnership has published their Safe in East Sussex Winter Newsletter 2026. It includes details of training provided by Seaview offering lived experience training of drug and alcohol misuse, seeing harmful content online, and free boxing and fitness programme for young people in Eastbourne.
• The Sussex Child Death Overview Panel has published it’s Winter-CDRP-Newsletter which includes learning from the deaths by suicide and self-inflicted harm, preventing HSV in babies, and local and national training opportunities
• The Safeguarding Adult Board has published it’s SAB-Monthly-Digest-February-2026.  This latest roundup includes information on Active Sussex’s support for neurodiversity in sport, the East Sussex intergenerational activity toolkit, and the Practice Network for Trauma informed Approaches free online training.
• The Safeguarding & Children in Care Team in NHS Sussex produce a monthly newsletter which can be accessed here: Safeguarding and looked-after children newsletter – NHS Sussex. Updates include details on the change in details for MASH health inboxes, rapid review learning, and reaching out to those bereaved by suicide at Beachy Head.

National Updates

The NSPCC has published a briefing highlighting learning from a sample of national case reviews published between 2022 and 2025 where domestic abuse was a key factor: Domestic abuse: learning from case reviews. The learning from these reviews highlights that professionals should: speak to children alone where appropriate; gain an understanding on how different communities and cultures may perceive domestic abuse; be able to navigate denial or minimisation of abuse; and explore where any barriers to reporting may come from.

The Youth Endowment Fund has published practice guidance on how to reduce children and young people’s involvement in violence in England and Wales. The guidance sets out eight evidence-based recommendations for local funders and commissioners of youth work, including local authorities, violence reduction units, and housing associations. The recommendations include: targeting support where the risk of violence is highest; increasing access to youth clubs; raising the standard and reach of mentoring; and equipping youth workers to safeguard children and young people: Youth work and violence prevention

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a report on the needs, experiences and outcomes of young people aged 12-to-25-years-old growing up in adoptive and special guardianship families in England. Key findings include: families often felt uninformed about children’s backgrounds and the challenges faced by birth parents, which affected their understanding of future support needs;  support for adoptive and special guardianship families who were struggling was often difficult to access; parenting support and trauma-informed training was valued by many families; and despite high levels of need, access to mental health support was limited. The report also identifies risk and protective factors:  Family routes: exploring needs, experiences and outcomes among young people growing up in adoption and special guardianship 

The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on proposed changes to assessment and handling of allegations of abuse in foster care in England. The DfE is seeking views from professionals working in fostering and people with lived experience to inform improvements to the foster care system. The consultation is accompanied by a policy paper setting out the challenges in the fostering system and the government’s vision and action plan for the future of fostering. The DfE has also launched a call for evidence asking for innovative ideas and views on further possible reforms. The consultation and call for evidence close on 17 March 2026: Fostering reform: proposed changes to assessment and handling allegations of abuse 

 The UK government has launched a consultation on children’s use of social media to protect young people’s wellbeing and ensure safer online experiences. The consultation will seek views on various measures, including: the right minimum age for children to access social media, including a potential ban for children under a certain age; ways to improve the accuracy of age assurance for children; restrictions on addictive features of social media; and further interventions to support parents in helping their children stay safe online. Immediate action will include Ofsted checking school mobile phone policy on every inspection, with schools expected to become phone-free: Government to drive action to improve children’s relationship with mobile phones and social media

Ofsted, Care Quality Commission (CQC), His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) have published a joint report looking at the multi-agency response to children who are at risk from, or are victims of, domestic abuse. The report sets out key findings from six joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs) in England. The report highlights examples of good practice including support for unborn babies demonstrated by midwives and the involvement of schools and early years providers at a strategic level. However, it also finds that children’s experiences are inconsistent and they are not always recognised or supported as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. The inspectorates are calling for improved multi-agency working and information sharing: The multi-agency response to children who are victims of domestic abuse

Have you seen our NEW Pan Sussex procedures website: Sussex Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Procedures Resource

Do you know what the ESSCP does? Find out in this short 3 minute video