* Safeguarding Briefings: Learning from reviews (Local & National) *

Welcome to our Reviews and Learning Briefings page. Here you will find concise summaries and key learning from local and national safeguarding reviews, helping practitioners and partner agencies strengthen practice, improve outcomes for children and families, and promote a culture of continuous learning.

Safeguarding reviews provide valuable opportunities to learn and improve. This page brings together briefings from local and national reviews, highlighting key themes, practice insights, and recommendations to support effective safeguarding across the partnership. By sharing key findings, emerging themes, and practice messages, we aim to support reflective practice, strengthen multi-agency working, and enhance safeguarding arrangements across Bedfordshire.

We encourage practitioners and partner agencies to use these briefings to inform practice, supervision, and team discussions. If you have any feedback on the learning resources, suggestions for future briefings, or examples of how the learning has influenced your practice, please share them with us so we can continue to strengthen learning across the partnership.

A Rapid Review is a multi-agency assessment carried out following a serious child safeguarding incident where abuse or neglect is known or suspected. It aims to identify immediate learning, ensure any necessary safeguarding actions are taken, and determine whether a more detailed Child Safeguarding Practice Review is required. Rapid Reviews must be completed within 15 working days of the incident being notified.

A Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR) is a formal process carried out when a child has been seriously harmed or has died, and abuse or neglect is known or suspected. Its purpose is not to apportion blame, but to bring together agencies to identify what happened, understand why, and learn from the case. The review focuses on improving multi-agency safeguarding practice, strengthening systems, and reducing the risk of similar harm occurring in the future.

Local Learning

Information from our local CSPR's are published by each partnership; Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton.

National Learning

Persistant themes in Safeguarding Reviews (October 2026)

The National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel delivered a webinar exploring three of the ten persistent themes most frequently identified in Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (CSPRs). The session aimed to move beyond simply identifying recurring findings and focus on practical approaches to addressing them in day-to-day and strategic safeguarding practice. The webinar highlighted the Panel's newly published suite of resources designed to support practitioners, managers, leaders and safeguarding partnerships in reflecting on and responding to these persistent themes.

Read more in our briefing. (Please take a minute to complete this short survey to tell us if briefings like this are useful!)

Click on the image to download the 'at a glance' info.

Click here for the Strategic Leaders/ Partnership briefing.

POSTER: Persistent Themes in Safeguarding Reviews

Identifying & Responding to Adolescent Suicide (Oct 26)

As part of its programme of national learning, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel hosted a webinar on Identifying and Responding to Adolescent Suicide Risk. The event focused on strengthening professional understanding of adolescent suicide risk, promoting effective multi-agency responses, and sharing learning to support safeguarding practice. Participants were encouraged to continue the discussion through a dedicated learning forum and accompanying resources.

Preston Davey Practitioner Briefing (Sept 2026)

Preston Davey was born in June 2022 and entered foster care shortly after birth. He was placed with prospective adoptive parents in Spring 2023. Within a short timeframe, Preston suffered prolonged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Preston tragically died in July 2023. In June 2026, the adoptive parents were jailed for their parts in his death.

This briefing reflects emerging learning identified through trial evidence and media reporting. The statutory Child Safeguarding Practice Review remains ongoing and may identify additional or different findings when published by Oldham Safeguarding Children Partnership.

(Please take a minute to complete this short survey to tell us if briefings like this are useful!)

Child Neglect thematic analysis; 'Why did it take so long to respond?'

This thematic analysis, commissioned by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, examines multi-agency responses to child neglect in cases of serious harm or death. Drawing primarily on extensive stakeholder engagement, an accompanying literature review, and a qualitative content analysis of 100 rapid reviews and 34 LCSPRs that have been considered by Panel, it explores how neglect is defined, identified, and addressed in England. You can learn more about Neglect via our local information page and the National Child Safeguarding Review Panel website.

'Why did it take so long to respond?': Child Neglect Thematic Analysis (April 2026)

National safeguarding practice review into the death of baby Victoria Marten (Feb 2026)

This review sets out recommendations and findings for national government and local safeguarding partners to protect unborn babies and vulnerable infants at risk of serious harm. It examines what happened to baby Victoria Marten and sets out national learning for the child safeguarding system. Protecting all vulnerable babies better (Feb 2026)

Child Sexual Abuse within the Family Environment (Jan 26)

This webinar took place on 22nd January 2025, sharing key learning from the panels 'I wanted them all to notice' report (Nov 2024) in to CSA in the Family Environment. Read the full report and the briefing paper.

Child Sexual Abuse within the Family Environment (22.01.25)

Sara Sharif, Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership (Nov 2025)

Sara Sharif (7 min briefing)

Read the full CSPR here

Race, Racism & Safeguarding Children (Apr 25)

The Panel is hosting a webinar (12.00-13.00, Tuesday 29th April) to cascade the key messages from its report on race, racism and safeguarding children. This 1-hour ‘lunch and learn’ online events will include an overview of the key learning and local recommendations for safeguarding partners and practitioners. The webinar will be hosted by Panel Chair, Annie Hudson, the Panel lead for the report, Jahnine Davis, and Panel member Dale Simon. Read the report and briefing paper.

Recommendations include:

- - Acknowledging and Challenging Racism: Local leaders should ensure that appropriate internal structures are in place to support practitioners to recognise, discuss and challenge internal and institutional racism.
  - Empowering Practitioners: Creating conditions that empower practitioners to have conversations with children and families about race and identity. This includes building skills and confidence and ensuring there are safe opportunities for self-reflection within teams and in supervision to acknowledge their own biases.
  - Reviewing Local Strategies: Child Safeguarding Partnerships should review their local strategies and approaches to addressing race, racism, and racial bias in their work with Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage children.

Race. Racism and Safeguarding Children (29.04.25)

Elective Home Education (Oct 2024)

This webinar took place on Thursday 3rd October 2024 to inform child protection professionals about the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel's briefing paper on safeguarding children in elective home education. While the Panel acknowledges and respects the rights of parents to determine that their child should be educated at home, this webinar and briefing paper is based on evidence from safeguarding reviews where children who have been electively home educated have suffered serious harm or died as a result of abuse or neglect. The briefing paper is available here.

Elective Home Education (03.10.24)