Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland
Date published:
Last updated:
This policy replaces the ‘Co-operating to Safeguard Children’ guidance issued in 2003.
It provides the overarching policy framework for safeguarding children and young people in the statutory, private, independent, community, voluntary and faith sectors. It outlines how communities, organisations and individuals must work both individually and in partnership to ensure children and young people are safeguarded as effectively as possible. The policy was originally issued in March 2016. It is kept under review and refreshed as necessary. The most recent updates were:
June 2026 - to incorporate the new definition of CCE and include reference to the published Practitioner Guidance on Child Criminal Exploitation (section 7.2.3), and
October 2026 - to reference the changes to regulated activity within the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (NI) Order 2007 (section 1.4 and Appendix 1 (A)