The Children and Social Work Act 2017 sets out how agencies must work together by placing new duties on the Local Authority, Police, Integrated Care Board to work together and include other local partners to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area.

This guidance offers a framework for us to work together, share information and use our individual and collective resources more effectively to bring about positive and sustained changes for children, young people, and families in Wolverhampton.

To do this we need to work collaboratively and honestly with the children and their families/carers to identify strengths and needs, to find practical and achievable solutions and to provide the right amount of information, advice, and support at the right time.

Everyone has a responsibility to take a ‘Think Family’ approach in the context of safeguarding children and adults and this should be at the heart of practice across all partner agencies.

A ‘Think Family’ approach refers to the steps taken by all practitioners to identify and consider wider family needs. This extends beyond the individual and includes those who may not live in the family home but may still have an active role within the child’s life. Working together effectively will help improve lives, so ‘Think Family’!

In Wolverhampton, all our services are responsible for promoting conversations which are essential to identifying and providing an appropriate response to safeguarding. Having the right conversation with the family/child can help identify concerns and needs at an early stage and enable professionals and agencies to provide appropriate early support.

Anyone who is unsure of how best to manage the risks and support for a family should phone the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH24) on  01902 555392.

Thresholds of Need and Support in Wolverhampton - updated version 2025

CONSENT 

• Always gain informed consent unless doing so places a child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm
• Respect the wishes of those who do not give consent, except where safety may be at risk or when it is inappropriate to seek their agreement
• If consent is not given, record why you believe safety may be at risk, or why it was inappropriate to seek consent

Informed consent - is meaningless unless it is clear, unambiguous, informed, specific, freely given and can be evidenced. Therefore all workers need to be open and honest about:

• why we want to share information
• the type of information we wish to share
• how we would share it
• who we intend sharing it with

If a referral to MASH24 is required, please use the eMARF.