News

The Information Sharing Duty will be implemented from 30 September 2026. The content and information which is available at How We Share Information in Durham which will be amended in accordance with the duty once available.

The Information Sharing to Safeguard Children – How we work in Durham training which is hosted on our e-learning system is currently unavailable as it is being updated due to the Information Sharing Duty coming into force on 30 September 2026.

Please contact DSCPTraining@durham.gov.uk for any queries related to the training.

The Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024/2025 is now available on our Annual Reports page.

The booking for Safeguarding Week 2025 is now open

 Dates: Monday 17 November to Friday 21 November 2025

The theme of this year’s week is ‘Identification of Risk Across the System’ . We have free sessions on Microsoft Teams running each day covering 4 sub-themes of:

• Harm Outside the Home
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Domestic Abuse
• Cumulative Harm

We have amazing facilitators delivering across the week, some of which we have commissioned as lived experienced speakers and all experts in their field.

Places on some sessions are limited so book quickly to avoid disappointment. Complete one booking form per participant and select all the courses you would like to attend.

It is only through sharing information that agencies or organisations and practitioners build a richer picture of the day-to-day life of the child and family they are working with.

We have developed an Information Sharing Agreement to provide a framework to share information to safeguard children and young people, specifically when considering information relating to HOTH.

Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures Manual: Tier 2 Information Sharing Agreement: Harm Outside of the Home.

It sets out clear expectations and the importance of timely, informed, respectful and purposeful gathering and sharing of information.

Sharing information could change a child’s life; if you think a child is at risk, you can share information to protect them from harm and to provide the right help at the right time which allows us to safeguard children and provide support at an early stage.

It is not necessary to seek consent to share information for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of a child provided that there is a lawful basis to process any personal information required.

Find out more by accessing the DSCP training package which will support you in your role to share information to safeguard children and young people.  The course covers:

• learning from practice in Durham
• information sharing in the context of safeguarding; a strong emphasis on prevention, and;
• sharing within the lawful basis of ‘public task’ rather than consent

Training can be found at Information sharing – How We Share in Durham (durham-scp.org.uk)

For further information contact DSCP Business Unit; DSCPSecure@durham.gov.uk

The Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2023/2024 is now available on our Annual Reports page.