Ensuring the protection of children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation requires collaboration and cooperation among multiple agencies at all levels.
The Children and Social Work Act 2017 and the revised statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2023, places a shared and equal duty on the statutory safeguarding partners (the Local Authority, NHS Integrated Care Board and Local Police Force), to make arrangements to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in a local area.
The collaborative efforts of these agencies are referred to as multi-agency safeguarding arrangements (MASAs).
Practitioners should familiarise themselves with these Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements have been in place since December 2024 and supersede any previous arrangements.