East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership Monthly Digest (November 2025)

It’s been a busy ‘Safeguarding Month’ as the Partnership, along with Brighton & Hove SCP and West Sussex SCP, coordinated a programme of events designed to strengthen our collective responsibility to keep children safe. I hope you were able to make one of our learning events or attend the Pan Sussex Online Conference.

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.

Family D LCSPR learning briefing sessions

 The East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (ESSCP) and East Sussex Community Safety Partnership (ESCSP) undertook a joint safeguarding practice review and DHR in 2023. ‘Clare’ was 47 when she was killed by her son ‘Adam’, aged 17. The Review is known locally as ‘Family D’.

The partnerships are holding two review learning briefing sessions in December. The review is not yet published, however to ensure that learning is shared to enable practice change, these briefing sessions will set out the headline themes and learning from the review. More details can be found here: Clare & Adam (Family D) LCSPR and DHR learning sessions – ESSCP or to book directly on the sessions go to Buy tickets – East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership

NEW Consultation Advice Line from East Sussex County Council Children’s Services

 Family First, the new approach to delivering help earlier to families across East Sussex, is introducing a Consultation Advice Line for any professional working with East Sussex children to get general advice and guidance to support families, reflect on the challenges the family face, or get access to more specialist support.

You can call the Consultation Advice Line on 01323 464655 between 8.30am – 5pm Monday to Thursday and between 8.30am – 4.30pm on Fridays. More information can be found here: NEW Consultation Advice Line from East Sussex County Council Children’s Services – ESSCP 

Sharing intelligence with Sussex Police

 Sussex Police rely on information from professionals to understand local and wider issues. Crucial information may fill gaps and link other pieces of information together. Alongside reporting a crime partner agencies and organisations, plus other police forces, can share non-urgent information. It is a safe and direct way to provide information which may help with investigations and inform actions.

This includes information that relates to, but is not limited to: anti-social behaviour, child abuse, sexual or criminal exploitation, community tension, drugs and county lines, gang activity, modern slavery, exploited or trafficked, and sexual offending.

To find out more and/or to share community partnership intelligence go to: Share community partnership intelligence | Sussex Police

Children We Care For

 You may be aware of the national movement to move away from the term Looked After Children and the acronym LAC. Following consultation involving staff, carers, and—most importantly—children and young people themselves, East Sussex County Council has renamed previous ‘looked after children’ services as the ‘Children We Care For Service’.

This change is more than just a name—it reflects a shift in language that better represents the care, respect, and support we strive to provide. It is a positive step forward in ensuring services are shaped by the experiences and perspectives of those who use them. East Sussex County Council appreciates your continued partnership and support as they make this meaningful change.

Mental health advice young people

Professionals across Sussex have been working together, with partners, young people and their parents, to ensure there is clearer and more consistent signposting to information on mental health and wellbeing. In East Sussex, the approach is to adopt the ‘Thrive’ framework on guidance and support as follows: thriving, getting advice, getting help, getting more help, getting risk support. In addition to this approach providing the right help at the right time, it helps services to manage resources more efficiently.

• Work on refreshing ESCC web information with a particular emphasis on the language young people will relate to, what to do if there is an immediate risk to themselves or someone else, and which weblinks to include.
• The page also links to East Sussex 1Space directory which shows all the services that provide support to young people and parents/carers. You can search by location and type of need: for example, anxiety.

Pan Sussex Exploitation Scrutiny Survey

The three Sussex Children’s Safeguarding Partnerships want to hear from any professional working with children, young people, or families across Sussex – whether you work in social care, health, education, police, youth offending, housing, the voluntary sector, or other services.

Please see the Pan-Sussex Exploitation Scrutiny Survey Leaflet for full details. The survey closes on Friday 12 December 2025.  The survey is anonymous, takes around 10 minutes, and your insight is invaluable in shaping recommendations for future improvement.

Early threat Identification notice for Safeguarding professionals – “Com Groups”

The National Crime Agency, National Police Chiefs Council and Counter Terrorism Policing has shared a notice with safeguarding professionals about harmful online groups, referred to as ‘Com Groups’: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publicationfiles/765-com-groups-early-threat-identification-notice/file

The notice aims to develop understanding and raise awareness of the threat as well as ensuring safeguarding professionals are prepared to respond effectively should they identify any indicators of a young person’s involvement, interest or victimisation. Sadly, in Sussex we are already investigating two separate reports involving these groups. Please be aware the briefing contains sensitive and distressing information. which is strictly shared for your awareness and safeguarding purposes as safeguarding professionals.

DBS – Legal Duty to Refer

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has launched a national campaign to raise awareness of legal duty to refer– the process organisations must follow by law when there are safeguarding concerns about individuals in regulated activity. The first phase of the campaign is being rolled out across the South-East of England, with a particular focus on engaging faith-based organisations. In the past seven years, referrals from the faith sector have accounted for just 0.51% of all submissions, highlighting significant gaps in safeguarding reporting.  This campaign aims to close that gap by increasing understanding of when referrals must be made, how the process works, and why it matters.

“I’m Lucy” campaign from Kent Safeguarding Children Partnership

In response to practice learning which indicated that potential risks to children may be obscured by professionals viewing children as protective factors for their parent or carer’s mental health, the Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership has developed the ‘I’m Lucy’ campaign.

The resources are designed to highlight that children are not responsible for protecting or improving the mental wellbeing of their parent or carer and prompt professionals to consider their own practice, and whether potential risk of harm to children is identified, understood and responded to. The resources include a video and reflection tool for use in team meetings, supervision and individual reflection. More information can be found on our website here: “I’m Lucy” video and resources – parental mental health (Kent SCP) – ESSCP

Parent and carer cannabis use

Kent and Wiltshire Safeguarding partnerships have recently shared two resources to help practitioners explore cannabis use among parents and carers. While cannabis may be perceived by some as low-risk, its use in caregiving environments can compromise parental capacity and increase vulnerabilities for children. This theme was particularly prevalent in the Panel’s national review about non-accidental injury in under 1s.

Resources include the ‘Clear Minds Safer Homes’ campaign by Kent Children Multi-agency Safeguarding Partnership and a multi-agency tool for practitioners to explore cannabis use with parents from Wiltshire Vulnerable People Partnership. More information can be found on our website here: Parent and carer cannabis use – ESSCP

SPOA Presentation Dates

 The SPOA team has published their SPOA presentation dates for the rest of 2025 and 2026! These 1-hour sessions are super helpful for anyone who wishes to learn about the role of SPOA, what makes a good referral, and there’s the opportunity to ask questions. All of the future dates can be found on our website here:  SPOA presentations for 2025 and 2026 – ESSCP

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 winter 2025: https://www.esscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Multi-Agency-Training-Opportunities-v2.pdf. Upcoming courses include ‘contextual safeguarding’, ‘understanding self-harm in children and young people’, ‘child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation’, and ‘suicide awareness’.

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)

The MAPPA Team (Surrey and Sussex) are pleased to offer a range of training opportunities over the next few months. These include an introduction to MAPPA, attending MAPPA meetings, and a lead agency MAPPA briefing. Further details can be found on our website here: Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Training for 2025 – ESSCP

A research collaboration between East Sussex County Council, University of Brighton and partners has produced new understanding and guidance about using drama-based programmes as part of whole-school health and wellbeing approaches. You are invited to join a webinar based on research in East Sussex secondary schools into the use of Theatre in Education for drug prevention, taking place on Thursday 11 December 2025. To learn more about the webinar go to our website here:  Spotlight on Theatre in Education: launch of a practical guide to support PSHE education – ESSCP

Local briefings and newsletters 

• The Family First programme has published their December 2025 Newsletter: Family First Partners Newsletter – December 2025. The newsletter includes information on the Family First helpline, introduces the Team Around the Family coordinators, and includes highlights from the recent workshop with the VCSE.
• The Safeguarding Adult Board has published it’s [Safeguarding%20Adult%20Board%20December%20Newsletter]Safeguarding Adult Board December Newsletter.  This latest roundup includes information on the launch of Sussex Police’s survey on violence against women and girls, 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, and details of local training opportunities.
• 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.
• The Safer Communities Partnership has published their Safe in East Sussex Autumn 2025 Newsletter. The newsletter includes information about 16 Days of Activism, White Ribbon Day 2025, and keeping communities safe.

National Updates

The most common severe injury in babies is abusive head trauma, often caused when a baby is hit or shaken. It affects 20–24 out of every 100,000 babies in the UK. The consequences can be devastating: 1 in 5 of these babies die and up to 4 in 5 are left with permanent brain damage. A new study has found that the ICON programme, an infant abusive head trauma prevention initiative in the NHS, plays a crucial role in helping new parents cope with infant crying. The evaluation of ICON was led by ARC West researchers, and the results are published here: Supporting parents, safeguarding infants: A qualitative evaluation of parental experiences with the ICON program to reduce abusive head injury in England – ScienceDirect

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched its five-year strategy for tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in England and Wales. The strategy is centred around CPS priorities, setting out plans to increase casework quality when handling VAWG cases and increase trust in the CPS handling of VAWG cases. The CPS’s VAWG strategy includes crimes of child sexual abuse and exploitation; ‘honour’-based abuse, forced marriage, and child marriage; and female genital mutilation (FGM) and other harmful practices. Work will include: developing and rolling out new VAWG training modules for staff; reviewing and updating guidance on ‘honour’-based abuse and VAWG prosecution guidance; and piloting an improved service to all victims of crime who have their case charged by the CPS: VAWG Strategy 2025-2030 | The Crown Prosecution Service

The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has published a new report exploring children’s experiences of violence in England and Wales as part of its annual Children, violence and vulnerability research. The YEF surveyed nearly 11,000 13- to 17-year-olds about their experiences. Findings include: physical assault was the most common type of violence experienced; while half of the teenagers in the survey said they had witnessed violence in person, even more said they had encountered it online with 70% seeing real-world violence shared on social media in the past year; and 82% reported seeing social media posts about harming specific groups such as migrants or people of certain ethnicities or sexualities. The report includes calls for social skills training, mentoring and sports programmes to help reduce violence in the real world and help children navigate content online:  The scale of violence affecting children | Youth Endowment Fund

Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT UK) and Missing People have published a new report on unaccompanied and trafficked children going missing from care in the UK. The report looks at the scale of the issue and draws data from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests issued to local authority children’s services. Findings show that trafficked children continue to be one of the groups who are most at risk of going missing with nearly 2 in 5 going missing from care in 2024. Unaccompanied children also remain at greater risk of going missing with a rate of 13% compared to 10% of the looked after child population in England. These children remain at high risk of going missing from care, a persistent finding over the last decade which the report highlights as a continuing and significant failure in safeguarding. Recommendations include calls for local authorities and police forces to ensure new arrivals to the UK are supported and focus on preventing children from going missing: Until Harm Ends: An update report on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK | ECPAT UK

The NSPCC has published a summary of key issues and learning for improved practice for the health sector, arising from a sample of case reviews between 2020 and 2024 where learning for health professionals was included: Healthcare: learning from case reviews | NSPCC Learning. The learning from these reviews highlights that health professionals should: be able to consider potential safeguarding concerns when addressing children’s medical concerns; follow organisational safeguarding procedures to make sure that concerns are acted on and children in their care are protected; and work effectively with other health and non-health professionals to seek out and share important information about a child’s condition and care needs.

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales has published new research examining the family justice system and domestic abuse. The research found evidence of abuse within 73% of hearings it observed and in 87% of the case files it reviewed. Despite this prevalence, domestic abuse was frequently not taken seriously with regards to the type of contact children would go on to have with the abusive parent. This publication comes on the heels of the Government’s response to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report on child victims of domestic abuse. This sets out the Government’s plans for reforms that it believes will have a significant impact on tackling domestic abuse for children at different stages of their interaction with services and professionals.