Last amended by Children and Social Work Act 2017 in 2017. Replaced Local Safeguarding Children Boards with new local safeguarding partners arrangements; introduced Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Summary
The Children Act 2004 was enacted following the Victoria Climbié inquiry and the 'Every Child Matters' Green Paper. It created a framework for inter-agency cooperation to improve the well-being of children, established the Children's Commissioner for England, introduced Local Safeguarding Children Boards, and imposed duties on agencies to share information and cooperate to safeguard and promote children's welfare.
Key Points
- Duty on local authorities and partner agencies to cooperate to improve children's well-being (s.10)
- Duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (s.11)
- Children's Commissioner for England (ss.1–9)
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards (now replaced by safeguarding partners) (s.13)
- Duty to make arrangements to ensure functions are discharged with regard to safeguarding (s.11)
- Information sharing between agencies (s.12)
- Children's Commissioner for England (Part 1)
- Duty to co-operate to improve wellbeing (s.10)
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards (s.13, now replaced by multi-agency arrangements)
- Duty to make arrangements to safeguard and promote welfare (s.11)
- Information sharing between agencies (s.12A)
- Section 11 duty — key agencies must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards (now replaced by safeguarding partnerships)
- Children's Commissioner for England established
- Information sharing framework between agencies
- Duty to cooperate to improve well-being of children in each local authority area
- Every Child Matters outcomes framework
Parts & Sections
Amendments History
2017 — Children and Social Work Act 2017
Replaced Local Safeguarding Children Boards with new local safeguarding partners arrangements; introduced Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
2017 — Children and Social Work Act 2017
Replaced LSCBs with flexible multi-agency safeguarding arrangements led by the local authority, police, and CCG/ICB.
2017 — Children and Social Work Act 2017
Replaced LSCBs with multi-agency safeguarding partnerships.
Frequently asked questions
- Why was the Children Act 2004 created?
- The Children Act 2004 was enacted following the Victoria Climbié inquiry and the 'Every Child Matters' Green Paper. It created a framework for inter-agency cooperation to improve the well-being of children, established the Children's Commissioner for England, and introduced Local Safeguarding Children Boards. It also imposed duties on agencies to share information and cooperate to safeguard and promote children's welfare.
- What is the duty under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004?
- Section 11 requires specified bodies, including the police, NHS, and probation services, to make arrangements to ensure their functions are discharged with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This duty applies to key agencies to ensure they consider children's welfare in their operations.
- What happened to Local Safeguarding Children Boards?
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards were originally established under Section 13 of the Children Act 2004. However, these have been replaced by new local safeguarding partners arrangements under the Children and Social Work Act 2017. The new system involves flexible multi-agency safeguarding partnerships led by the local authority, police, and CCG/ICB.
- What must local authorities do to improve children's well-being?
- The Act requires each children's services authority to make arrangements to promote cooperation between the authority and its relevant partners. The goal of these arrangements is to improve the well-being of children in the authority's area. This duty is set out in Section 10 of the legislation.
- Does the Act require agencies to share information about children?
- The legislation includes provisions for information sharing between agencies, specifically referenced in Section 12 and Section 12A. This framework is designed to help agencies cooperate effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children by ensuring relevant information is shared appropriately between partner bodies.