Using this Manual

This manual contains a set of chapters which reflect Working Together to Safeguard Children and related statutory guidance. The content has been written to be accessible to a wide range of users from the Safeguarding Children Partnership and other relevant local organisations and agencies, including the voluntary, charity, social enterprise, faith-based organisations and private sectors.

The manual has been organised with the Core Procedures in the most prominent place. These chapters explain the actions that must be taken when there are concerns about the welfare of a child.

Chapters which relate to guidance have been written in Safeguarding Practice Guides which capture the most significant points and avoiding a level of detail which put the reader off. Where more detailed guidance is required, this may be included either through a link from a Safeguarding Practice Guide or as a replacement chapter for a Safeguarding Practice Guide.

Work will take place between the LSCP and tri.x to edit and amend the content of this manual to ensure that it reflects local practices and arrangements (see Section 2, Amendments).

These procedures use the word ‘must’ where the provision is a legal requirement. The word ‘should’ is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

This manual will be updated on a regular basis and a summary of the changes can be accessed via the 'Amendments' button on the Home page.

The next scheduled update for the manual is in October 2026.

If you would like to suggest a change to the procedures manual, discuss your suggestion with your line manager in the first instance.

There is additional guidance in the local resource section. This resource is being continuously updated and expanded.

The local resource section which can be accessed via the navigation bar. This library is populated and maintained locally. If there is a resource that you think should be added talk in the first instance to your manager.

The manual is accessed by readers who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a glossary of definitions is available under the resource tab.

There is also a National Contacts resource populated with details of key national agencies and organisations likely to be relevant to procedures user.

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or omissions, please alert your manager.

We recommend that you register with us to automatically receive notification when this manual is updated, and to receive a monthly newsletter containing articles which may be of interest. Click on the 'Register for Updates' button on the home screen, to complete and send your details to us.

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The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. Content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of tri.x.

tri.x is committed to ensuring its platform is accessible to all users and has embedded accessibility into its design, development, and testing processes. The platform is currently partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA, meaning most content meets accessibility requirements, with ongoing improvements to areas such as form behaviour, colour contrast, control sizing & responsiveness.

Accessibility is regularly reviewed through internal assessments, automated testing tools, audits, and user feedback, with amendments evaluated on each release. tri.x supports modern browsers and assistive technologies and now includes a text-to-speech feature to further support users with visual impairments. Users are encouraged to report any accessibility issues so they can be triaged and addressed in future releases.

For more information, please see: Accessibility Statement for tri.x online.

The Manual is intended to be viewed online to ensure only the most up-to-date version of procedures are being used. It will be updated regularly so users are encouraged to develop the habit of consulting the online version rather than retaining hardcopies.

It is recommended that this manual is viewed with the latest browsers, with Java Script and cookies enabled for maximum compatibility and functionality.

Recommended browsers are:

• Internet Explorer 11 (Windows 7, 8 and 8.1);
• Microsoft Edge (Windows 10);
• Google Chrome;
• Mozilla Firefox;
• Apple Safari.

This manual has been tested on a variety of mobile devices to ensure that it displays correctly. If you are using an older mobile device, it is possible that the manual will not display correctly.

If you would like the text to be larger, resize the text under the accessibility options, alternatively if you would also like the buttons and the rest of the layout to be enlarged you can use the zoom function within your browser.

The majority of devices have the functionality to allow a shortcut to be downloaded to the homescreen by loading the site using the 'url' and using the upload function and tapping 'Add to Home Screen'. The functionality may vary between devices, please refer to the manufacturer's instructions.