Meeting Date: 8th April 2026

Agencies Represented

• Croydon Council Children, Young People and Education

• Croydon Health Services

• South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB)

• Metropolitan Police

• Croydon Housing

• South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM)

• Independent Scrutineer

• CSCP Business Team

Chair: Stuart Collins, Corporate Director, Children, Young People and Education

Headline

Partners Strengthen Prevention and Family Support Plans to Improve Outcomes for Croydon Children

Overview

The Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) Executive Group met in April to review safeguarding performance, oversee major reform programmes, and discuss how partner agencies can work together to improve outcomes for children, young people, and families.

A significant focus of the meeting was preparing for upcoming national reforms set out in Working Together 2026 and the Family First Partnership Programme. Partners discussed how prevention, early help, and family support services can be strengthened through a more joined-up approach across education, health, social care, housing, policing, and the voluntary sector.

The meeting also considered safeguarding risks, service pressures, and emerging challenges across agencies while recognising positive progress in partnership working and the commitment of organisations to maintaining effective safeguarding arrangements during a period of significant change.

Positive Work Highlighted

Partners agreed on proposals to establish a new strategic Prevention and Family First Partnership steering group to oversee reforms and strengthen early intervention for children and families. The group will support joint decision-making and help ensure agencies work together to address challenges before problems escalate.

The Executive Group noted positive progress within Croydon's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Recent external inspection activity highlighted improvements in how agencies work together to assess and respond to safeguarding concerns. Partners agreed that redesign work provides opportunities to further improve efficiency and outcomes.

The partnership also reviewed its readiness to meet the expectations of Working Together 2026. Members agreed that Croydon is well placed, with a range of safeguarding activity already underway. This includes planned audits exploring issues relating to racism, discrimination, and equality, alongside work to improve how agencies record and understand children's ethnicity and experiences.

Additional investment to support statutory health assessments for children in care was welcomed, helping to reduce identified risks and strengthen health provision for vulnerable children.

Challenges Discussed

Partners recognised that all agencies are operating within a challenging environment of financial pressures, organisational change, and increasing demand for services.

Demand within safeguarding systems remains high, including significant volumes of referrals into the MASH. Discussions highlighted the need to ensure that resources are focused on the children and families who most need multi-agency intervention while strengthening universal and early-help responses.

The meeting also considered workforce and capacity pressures affecting some safeguarding services, alongside wider transformation activity taking place across health, policing, and local government. Partners agreed that maintaining effective safeguarding oversight during periods of organisational change will remain a key priority.

The impact of children and young people placed in Croydon by other local authorities was also discussed, including pressures on health and housing services.

Key Discussion Items

• Development of a new Prevention and Family First Partnership steering group to oversee children's social care reforms and strengthen prevention activity.

• Planning for implementation of Working Together 2026 and ensuring partnership arrangements continue to meet national expectations.

• Progress and future development of the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

• Oversight of safeguarding risks reported by partner agencies and consideration of mitigation arrangements.

• Funding arrangements for key safeguarding functions and services.

• Emerging learning from reviews and quality assurance activity.

• Violence against women and girls, including the importance of effective partnership oversight and learning.

• The impact of organisational and structural changes across partner agencies.

• Awareness of emerging safeguarding issues affecting children and young people, including online risks and new technologies.

  
  

Actions Agreed

• Develop terms of reference for a new Prevention and Family First Partnership steering group.

• Continue partnership discussions to identify a sustainable solution for key safeguarding coordination arrangements.

• Receive further updates on safeguarding workforce capacity within health services.

• Update local rapid review processes to reflect changes within national safeguarding guidance.

• Arrange a multi-agency development session to review Croydon's safeguarding arrangements against Working Together 2026.

• Complete further partnership analysis to identify strengths and any gaps in meeting the requirements of the new guidance.

• Ensure safeguarding expectations for housing, community safety, and adult services continue to be reflected within partnership governance.

• Strengthen oversight of emerging safeguarding themes and cross-partnership learning opportunities, including the impact of artificial intelligence.

Closing statement

The Executive Group reaffirmed its commitment to strong multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and continuous improvement. While recognising the challenges facing many services, partners agreed that effective collaboration, learning and accountability remain central to protecting children and young people and improving outcomes for families across Croydon.