Our Priorities
The Cheshire East Safeguarding Children’s Partnership have agreed shared priorities for our partnership which support these ambitions and we have adopted these as our initial plan for supporting the protection and wellbeing of children and young people in Cheshire East.
We will improve frontline multi-agency practice through working on:
Harm Outside the Home
Some children experience abuse and exploitation outside the home. This is often referred to as “extra-familial harm”. Harm can occur in a range of extra-familial contexts, including school and other educational settings, peer groups, or within community/public spaces, and/or online. Children may experience this type of harm from other children and/or from adults. Forms of extra-familial harm include exploitation by criminal and organised crime groups and individuals (such as county lines and financial exploitation), serious violence, modern slavery and trafficking, online harm, sexual exploitation, teenage relationship abuse, and the influences of extremism which could lead to radicalisation. Children of all ages can experience extra-familial harm.
Harm Outside the Home Strategy 2026-2029
The Cheshire East Safeguarding Children’s Partnership has developed a Harm Outside The Home Strategy to strengthen our collective response to harm outside the home (HOTH) from 2026–2029. Safeguarding has traditionally focused on risks within the family home, but as children grow older, they spend more time in external environments and online spaces. These contexts introduce new risks that differ from those faced in early childhood. Exploitation outside the home can be subtle and hard to detect, often only becoming apparent after harm has occurred. Cheshire East recognises the need to adapt safeguarding approaches to address these extra-familial risks.
The Strategy sets out a vision for agencies, communities, and partners to work collaboratively to protect children from individuals and groups who cause harm. The aim is to prevent children coming to harm, identify signs, indicators early, provide effective support to children and families ensuring that children are at the centre of everything we do and disrupt harmful networks.
Practice Support links and tools
Pan Cheshire Contextual Safeguarding Screening Tool
Pan Cheshire Contextual Safeguarding Assessment Tool
Pan-Cheshire All Age Exploitation Strategy 2023–2026
Cheshire Serious Violence Strategy 2024–2029
Multi-agency Practice Principles for responding to child exploitation and extra-familial harm
The Children's Society - Child exploitation and abuse: an appropriate language guide
National Referral Mechanism - Guidance for front-line practitioners
Share community partnership intelligence with the Police
Child Sexual Abuse
Cheshire East’s Safeguarding Children's Partnership is committed to tackling child sexual abuse through a collaborative, multi-agency approach. By implementing this strategy, we aim to create a safer and more nurturing environment for all children and young people in our community. We will continuously evaluate our efforts and adapt our approach to ensure that we are effectively addressing the complex issue of child sexual abuse and promoting the well-being of our children and families.
We recognise that tackling child sexual abuse is a complex and ongoing challenge, and we are committed to working together as a partnership to achieve our vision. We will continue to engage with all stakeholders, including children and young people, families, professionals, and the wider community, to ensure that our strategy remains responsive and effective.
As we move forward, we invite all partners to join us in this important work. Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of children and young people, ensuring that they can grow up in a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment.
We would like to thank all those who have contributed to the development of this strategy, and we look forward to collaborating with you to achieve our shared goals. Your commitment, expertise, and collaboration are essential to the success of our efforts to tackle child sexual abuse and safeguard the well-being of children and young people in our community.
Child Sexual Abuse Strategy
This Child Sexual Abuse Strategy covers 2025-2028 and we are committed to a phased implementation approach. Our initial focus will be prevention and early identification & support and we expect this phase to last 12 months.
In conclusion, we reaffirm our commitment to tackling child sexual abuse through a comprehensive, evidence-based, and collaborative approach. We will continue to build on the progress we have made, learn from our experiences and best practice, and adapt our strategies to meet the changing needs of children and families. Together, we can ensure that every child can thrive and reach their full potential.
Practice Support links and tools
Child Sexual Abuse definitions
Communicating with children: A guide for those working with children who have or may have been sexually abused
ERASE tool
Child Neglect
Neglect can be complex and is often difficult to define clearly because most definitions are based on personal perceptions of neglect. These include what constitutes "good enough" care and what a child's needs are. Neglect often co-exists with other forms of abuse and is often a pre-condition to allowing other abuse to take place.
Neglect is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) as:
The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and / or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:
- provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
- protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
- ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or • ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.
It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.
Cheshire East Neglect Strategy - 2025-2028
The Neglect Strategy 2025-2028 works towards our partnership vision for children and young people in Cheshire East; through working TOGETHER we will make Cheshire East a great place to be young. We will make our families and communities strong, welcoming and supportive, where differences are respected and celebrated.
All our children and young people deserve to be happy, healthy and safe, and to enjoy a life which is filled with fun and opportunities to learn and develop. We are hugely ambitious for all our children and young people, supporting them to succeed and grow as individuals.
Practice Support links and tools
Child Neglect Identification tool
Child Neglect Identification tool - Guidance