Safeguarding

Barnsley Safeguarding Children Partnership is the organisation responsible for agreeing how services and agencies work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in the borough and ensuring that they do so effectively.  The Children and Social Work Act 2017 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 places the responsibility on the three ‘safeguarding partners’, the police, the local authority and health, to formulate the local arrangements for partnership arrangements for safeguarding children in their respective geographical areas.

The partnership replaced the Barnsley Safeguarding Children Board on 1 April 2019 and has had an independent scrutineer since November 2021. The partnership brings together senior representatives from the key statutory, voluntary, and community sectors with a responsibility for delivering services to children and young people.

The chair of the partnership is accountable to the three safeguarding partners, the police, health and the local authority (through the Chief Executive and Director of Children's Services). Each agency representative involved in the work of the partnership is accountable to the governing body of their own agency.

Our annual report

Our safeguarding children annual report is a document that we have a duty to produce. It gives an annual update on what we've delivered from our strategic plan.

Find out about our annual reports.

For children and young people

Get support and advice if you feel unsafe or worried about something.

For parents and carers

Information and advice about parenting, family problems and how to keep your child safe.

For professionals

Guidance, training and other resources suitable for professionals and volunteers who work with vulnerable children.

For schools

Information and guidance about safeguarding children in school, whatever your role.

Policies and procedures

The partnership procedures are available here. These define and guide the safeguarding role of all agencies working with children and young people.

Thresholds for intervention

Read the Barnsley thresholds for intervention guide for early help and beyond.

Children and Young People's Plan

The Barnsley Children, Young People and Families Trust has published their Children and Young People's Plan for 2023 to 2026.

This is a joint three year plan setting out what partners of the Children, Young People and Families Trust intend to do to improve outcomes for children and young people in Barnsley. It reflects our strong ambition and the strategy and steps being taken to support children, young people and families to achieve their potential.