Handbook on local authority designated officer role was pledged by last Conservative government in light of highly critical report into safeguarding of disabled children, however, minister says it is still being worked upon.
Guidance on the local authority designated officer (LADO) role promised by the last government in November 2022 remains a work in progress, the children’s minister has confirmed.
Josh MacAlister said the Department for Education (DfE) was working with the National LADO Network, which represents those performing the role, on drawing up the guidance, in response to a recent parliamentary question.
He said that the document would seek to “draw together current good practice to support a more consistent approach nationally”, but did not indicate when it would finalised or issued for consultation.
LADO handbook promised following abuse scandal report
His comments come three-and-a-half years after the then Conservative government pledged to carry out a review of the role with a view to producing a handbook on how it should be carried out.
This was in response to a damning Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel report into the abuse of disabled children in three residential special schools in Doncaster from 2018-21, which found “major failings” in relation to the LADO function. The schools, run by the Hesley Group, closed after the abuse was uncovered.
What is the LADO role?
Under Working Together to Safeguard Children, councils should appoint an officer or team to manage and oversee allegations against people who work with children. Arrangements should be put in place to ensure all such cases are referred to the service without delay, and that any necessary actions to address children’s welfare are taken by the LADO or team immediately. Such staff should be sufficiently qualified and experienced to carry out the LADO role and, since 2015, all new appointees should have been qualified social workers.
Issues included the LADO function not effectively collating information from different sources to analyse patterns of concerns about staff, meaning children were not adequately safeguarded, and a lack of communication about staff conduct with authorities placing children in the schools. Doncaster Council said it subsequently made improvements to the LADO role following an internal review.
In a subsequent report, in April 2023, the national panel called for host local authorities and NHS integrated care boards to have responsibility, oversight and accountability for ensuring high quality care and health provision for children placed in their areas. It suggested this should involve host LADOs monitoring and analysing allegations and sharing information with placing authorities.
Repeated delays to LADO guidance
In its response to the panel’s second report, published in December 2023, the Conservative government implied little progress had been made on the LADO review, 13 months on from its promise to carry it out.
In December 2024, after Labour took power, education secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote to the panel to say that the LADO review was now underway.
She indicated that the handbook had been drafted already, with the help of the National LADO Network, Ofsted, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and the police, and promised to consult on it in 2025.
However, this did not happen.
Safeguarding panel urges ‘clear timetable’ for publication
In response to the situation, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel called for a clear timetable for publication.
“Stronger guidance, clearer thresholds and improved oversight are essential in ensuring appropriate actions are taken across agencies and concerns are confidently addressed to keep all children safe and protected,” said a spokesperson.
“We know that improvement work is underway and continue to engage with government to support development of the new LADO handbook. We will continue to press for swift progress and a clear timetable for the publication of the guidance so that commitments made translate into meaningful action to support the safety and wellbeing of children.”
Guidance ‘must be robust enough to help protect children’ – ADCS
For the ADCS, families, communities, and young people policy chair Helen Lincoln said new guidance on the LADO role, offering “a clearer framework and more consistency” in the discharge of the role, was “both needed and welcomed”.
She added: “We want it to be fit for purpose and to speak to all the different institutions, organisations and individuals in purview of the duty. It also needs to reflect the challenges seen in Hesley and other distressing cases in piecing together trends and patterns of behaviour in larger operators and providers.
“Speed is important but it must be robust enough to make a real difference in keeping children safe from harm.”
Source: Community Care, Mithran Samuel
