Section 11 Self-Assessment

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places duties on a range of organisations and individuals to ensure their functions, and any services that they contract out to others, are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Improving the way key people and bodies safeguard and promote the welfare of children is crucial to improving outcomes for children and young people. 

Guidance and Responsibilities

• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026: Chapter 4 of this guidance outlines the statutory responsibilities of agencies under Section 11, detailing their specific duties and requirements.
• Agency Compliance: Each agency is responsible for ensuring compliance with these statutory commitments.
• Schools’ Responsibilities: Schools have distinct responsibilities under Section 175(4) of the Education Act 2002, with further guidance provided in the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) 2024 document.
• The statutory guidance in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 applies to all organisations and agencies involved in children’s welfare, including schools.

One of the roles of local safeguarding partnerships is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of what is done to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and advising organisations on ways to improve. All organisations are therefore be asked to complete a self-assessment and provide evidence of how they comply with s11 when carrying out their day-to-day business. This audit gives an indication of how well organisations are working to keep children safe.  

One S11 Self-audit must be returned to the ISCP when requested from each partner organisation which reflects the safeguarding arrangements across all its directorates.

The purpose of this self-evaluation is to enable each agency to reflect upon the statutory requirements and:

1. Identify whether they are meeting statutory requirements.
2. Provide assurance to the board that their organisation is meeting statutory requirements.
3. Identify where they are addressing or plan to address the four Partnership Priorities.
4. Develop an action plan where requirements are not currently met.

Agencies will be asked when requested to complete the template and provide the findings of their self-evaluation and action plan to the ISCP Business Unit.

Agencies placed under a duty to co-operate by this legislation include: