When working together to safeguard children, at times there will be differences of opinion and/or concerns about professional practice in relation to a child or family. The safety and wellbeing of the child is always the primary concern, and professional disagreements must not obstruct this. Professionals have a responsibility to respectfully challenge and raise concerns where they feel that another agency is not acting in a way which effectively safeguards and promotes the welfare of children, and to escalate those concerns where resolution is not achieved. Professionals have equal responsibility to respectfully listen and respond to the concerns raised by others.

The updated LSCP Multi-Agency Escalation Policy is to ensure that professional disagreements are resolved swiftly, transparently and in a way that results in improved safeguarding outcomes for children. This Policy explains how these disagreements and concerns can be raised and escalated in Lambeth.

Key changes include:

• when to use the policy
• who the policy applies to
• the principles of challenge and escalation
• new timescales for resolution
• new form to evidence and track escalations
• new expectation to notify the LSCP to support identification of patterns and themes.