The coming year 2025 - 26

Priorities for 2025-26 

The LSCP Executive have considered the progress and ongoing work in relation to the priorities of 2024-25, with consideration given to the current financial situation and organisational changes. They have agreed that for 2025-26 the current prioritises will continue until the ongoing work is complete, with an additional priority in relation to the pending national reforms.  

The priorities for 2025-2026 will be:

• Implementation of National Reforms
• Domestic Abuse- children as victims.
• Safeguarding Teenagers- serious youth violence and exploitation
• Safeguarding through Family Help

Equality, diversity and disproportionality will be a golden thread throughout the priority areas. 

Planned work for 2025-2026

As well as the work under the priorities of the LSCP for the coming year, to support continuous improvement in safeguarding practice and ensure momentum is maintained, the partnership have already committed to some additional areas of identified work for 2025-26: 

• Consideration of how to maintain high standards of safeguarding at practice and strategic levels in light of significant reductions in NHS funding for the ICB as part of Government changes in NHS organisation
• Conclusion of work to consider how and whether research can inform further our approach to work in the field of domestic abuse and safeguarding adolescents, including work with Professor Firmin around child exploitation services and responses.
• Improving the visibility of the LSCP with frontline practitioners and managers
• Development of better understanding of needs arising from National Panel reports in child sexual abuse and race and racism in safeguarding so that there are clear actions agreed where needed to improve safeguarding further in Leeds
• Undertaking of a multi-agency audit and review programme
• Implementation of or planning for new legislative requirements around safeguarding children who are electively home educated and who have safeguarding needs
• Implementation of or planning for the legislative requirement of mandatory reporting by named and designated safeguarding leads of child sexual abuse concerns following on from the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
• Undertake a further partnership self-assessment event
• Full implementation of the local response to the national panel publications
• A cross-partnership event in relation to children as victims of domestic abuse
• A partnership event in relation to the development of the Family Help model
• A Leeds safeguarding partnership event with LSAB and Safer Leeds
• Further work with Professor Carlin Firmin in relation to the city’s response to exploitation
• Exploration of how the use of AI can support practice
• Activities to raise the profile and visibility of partnership members

National reforms

The UK government is undergoing significant reforms to children's social care, aiming for a whole-system, child-centred approach. These reforms, initially outlined in the "Stable Homes, Built on Love" strategy, focus on early intervention, family support, and improving the experiences of children in care. The reforms emphasise a shift towards family help, a decisive child protection system, and a valued, skilled workforce. 

The national reforms are not only concerned with large scale change both in the structure of services but the way in which they are delivered:

1. Initiation of integrated Family Help services
2. Initiation of Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPT)
3. Large scale utilisation of family led decision making in the shape of family network meetings or FGC
4. Championing of Kinship care as the default care option 

This task is significant for any local authority and demands substantial systemic, organisational and operational change and a sophisticated and thoroughly inclusive implementation approach to ensure true multiagency collaboration and coproduction.   Additionally, in Leeds the Partnership must grapple with high levels of deprivation, a very large and diverse population, varied demographic needs in localities, numerous services within and beyond the council, and the city’s own specific financial challenges. Positively, the recommendations from central government align well with existing approaches in Leeds but the Partnership aims to go much further in terms of truly integrated, co-produced, connected, family centred work.  It will be necessary to take an incremental implementation approach to ensure effective and sustainable progress and change.