Website of the Department of Health

Safeguarding Children: a summary of the joint Chief Inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children

The safety and welfare of children has become an issue of increasing public concern over the past 50 years. Numerous inquiries into the circumstances of the tragic deaths or abuse of children at the hands of their parents, carers and professionals, have identified failings in arrangements to protect children and promote their welfare. Safeguarding the welfare of our children and young people is crucial to the future wellbeing of our society. We know that abuse and neglect in childhood can cause long lasting damage with consequences into adulthood.