Effective Support for Children, Young People and Families in Bexley

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 states that safeguarding partnerships should publish a threshold document that sets out the local criteria for action in a way that is transparent, evidence-based, accessible, and easily understood. This should include:

  • the process for accessing universal services and community-based early help, which may include an assessment
  • the criteria, including the level of need, for when a child should be referred to Family Help, which covers non-statutory and statutory support and services provided through:
    • targeted early help under sections 10 and 11 of the Children Act 2004. This support is provided to children and families who are identified by practitioners to have multiple and/or complex needs, requiring a specialist and/or multi disciplinary/agency response, where statutory support or intervention is not require
    • statutory support, including assessments, delivered under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (children in need, including how this applies for disabled children)
  • the criteria, including the level of need, for when a child should be referred to local authority children’s social care for assessment and for statutory services under:
    •  section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm)
    •  section 31 of the Children Act 1989 (care and supervision orders)
    • section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (duty to accommodate a child)
  • clear procedures and processes for cases relating to:
    • the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children inside and outside the home, including online
    • looked after children
    • children managed within the youth secure estate
    • disabled children

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children–2

Bexley’s ‘Effective Support for Children, Young People and Families in Bexley: Shared guidance to help all practitioners working with children, young people, families and carers to provide additional and early help, intensive and specialist support’ document was refreshed in 2026 and reissued in April 2026:

Effective Support 2026

The refreshed appendices for the document can be found here (including a directory of services updated in October 2024):

Effective Support 2026 Appendices

The document contains the following:

  • Our vision for effective support in Bexley
  • Understanding need, support and help
  • Consulting with other services, schools and setting
  • Levels of need and help
  • Children in special circumstances
  • Access to Level 2 services – Additional
  • Access to Level 3 services – Intensive
  • Access to Level 4 services – Specialist Children’s Social Care
  • Effective support at a glance
  • Indicators of possible need.

As part of the London wide MASH review, the London Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (LSCP) has produced a revised thresholds document in 2025 which provides a framework for professionals who are working with children, young people and families:

https://www.londonsafeguardingchildrenprocedures.co.uk/thresholds.html

effective support