Risk, response and review: multi-agency safeguarding: a thematic analysis of child practice reviews in Wales 2023

Child Practice Reviews (CPRs) are undertaken in circumstances of a significant incident where abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected. The purpose of a child practice review is to generate professional and organisational learning and promote improvement in future inter-agency child protection practice. The analysis provides a deep dive into the complexities surrounding multi-agency safeguarding and the challenges in achieving a collective safeguarding responsibility. None of these factors are singular or offer simple solutions and all require concerted collective commitment at all levels, to further reduce risk and ensure that good practice is sustained over the long term. The report contains actionable recommendations to support practitioners, leaders and policymakers to maximise effective working across all agencies involved with children and families. In addition, there are recommendations to ensure that CPRs are of high quality with clear review processes to provide greater transparency to prevent future harms. Lead author Michelle McManus, Professor of Safeguarding and Violence Prevention at Manchester Met, said: “Our analysis aims to be constructive, not critical. While it revealed several key issues that require urgent prioritisation, it also highlighted examples of good practice that should be acknowledged.