New statutory information sharing duty: what organisations need to know

The government has published new statutory guidance on sharing information to safeguard children and young people.

The guidance, published on 10 September 2026, explains the new information sharing duty introduced through section 16LA of the Children Act 2004. The duty comes into force on 30 September 2026 and applies to a range of safeguarding organisations, including education and early years agencies, local authorities, health services, the police and other specified organisations.

It replaces the previous non-statutory Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services.

What is changing?

The new duty is intended to remove uncertainty about whether information can be shared, particularly where concerns relate to emerging needs, early help or a child’s wider welfare rather than an immediate risk of significant harm.

There is no requirement for a child to have reached a particular statutory threshold before relevant information can be shared.

From 30 September 2026, an organisation covered by the duty must share information with another organisation covered by the duty where:

• it holds information about a child, or another person connected to that child;
• it considers the information relevant to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare; and
• it considers that sharing the information may help the recipient assess need or risk, make a decision, provide support or take safeguarding action.

The duty applies both when an organisation identifies relevant information itself and when it receives a request for relevant information from another organisation covered by the legislation.

Must share, rather than may share

This represents an important change in emphasis.

Previous guidance focused largely on giving practitioners confidence that the law allowed them to share information. The new legislation creates an express duty to share where the statutory conditions are met.

However, this does not mean that every piece of information must automatically be shared. Practitioners must continue to exercise professional judgement and consider:

• whether the information is relevant to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare;
• whether sharing it may help the recipient carry out its safeguarding or welfare functions;
• what information is necessary and proportionate to share;
• who needs to receive it; and
• whether sharing would be more detrimental to the child than not sharing.

The final consideration is a specific limitation within the legislation. The guidance describes circumstances in which sharing would be more detrimental to the child than not sharing as extremely limited. A decision not to share on this basis should therefore be rare, carefully considered and clearly recorded.

Consent and working with families

Consent is not normally the appropriate lawful basis for sharing information for safeguarding and welfare purposes.

The new guidance warns against seeking consent where information will be shared regardless of whether permission is given. It describes this as presenting children and families with a “false choice”.

Instead, organisations should identify the appropriate lawful basis from the outset. Practitioners should normally be open and transparent with children and families about:

• why information is being shared;
• what information will be shared;
• who will receive it; and
• how it may be used.

There will still be circumstances in which informing a parent, carer or another person would be unsafe or inappropriate, including where doing so could increase the risk of harm or undermine safeguarding activity.

It is also important to distinguish between consent to share information and consent to receive a voluntary service. A family may choose whether to engage with services such as Family Help, but their agreement is not required before relevant information is shared where the statutory duty applies.

Early help and emerging concerns

The duty is not limited to child protection concerns or situations in which the section 47 threshold may have been reached.

Relevant information must also be considered for sharing where it may help another organisation:

• identify emerging needs;
• understand patterns or accumulating concerns;
• assess what support a child or family may require;
• prevent needs from escalating; or
• promote the child’s welfare.

This is particularly significant for education and early years settings that may previously have been advised not to make an early help referral, or share relevant welfare information, without parental consent.

Confidentiality and data protection

A disclosure made in accordance with section 16LA does not breach an obligation of confidence. Where the duty applies, practitioners do not need to establish that disclosure is justified by an overriding public interest or obtain consent under the common law duty of confidentiality.

Data protection legislation continues to apply. Organisations must still:

• identify an appropriate lawful basis;
• share only information that is necessary and proportionate;
• ensure that information is accurate;
• share information securely;
• maintain appropriate records; and
• be transparent about how personal information may be used.

Data protection should not be treated as a reason to withhold information where the statutory duty applies.

What should organisations do now?

Organisations should prepare for the duty coming into force on 30 September 2026 by:

• reading and circulating the new statutory guidance;
• reviewing safeguarding, child protection, early help and information-sharing policies;
• removing or amending requirements that routinely make parental consent a condition of sharing safeguarding or welfare information;
• reviewing privacy notices, referral processes and information-sharing agreements;
• ensuring that staff understand the distinction between consent to share information and consent to receive a service;
• agreeing how information-sharing decisions and the reasons for them will be recorded;
• discussing the changes with safeguarding leads, data protection officers and information governance leads; and
• replacing saved copies of the previous information-sharing advice.

The guidance is accompanied by strategic and operational template data-sharing agreements that organisations and safeguarding partnerships may adapt locally.

The full statutory guidance and accompanying templates are available on the government’s information sharing to safeguard children and young people page.

Support for ISS members

ISS is reviewing its safeguarding policy templates and training materials in light of the new statutory duty. We wll update them and notify you of any changes and to 'recreate' your policies.

Members do not need to interpret the changes alone. We will provide updated policy wording and practical guidance in our training to help organisations understand what the duty means for referrals, consent, recording decisions and day-to-day safeguarding practice.

The Department for Education has today confirmed that Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 is now in force, replacing the previous 2025 version of the statutory guidance.

The guidance applies to all schools and colleges in England and sets out the legal duties they must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18.

Schools and colleges should now ensure that their safeguarding arrangements, policies and staff training reflect the 2026 guidance.

What changes from today?

The final 2026 guidance was published in July, giving schools and colleges time to prepare ahead of its implementation on 1 September 2026.

From today, it is no longer a document for advance planning: KCSIE 2026 is the statutory guidance that schools and colleges must have regard to.

Among the changes for 2026 are updates relating to:

• safeguarding information for all staff;
• the removal of the previous shorter version of Part One from Annex A;
• revised expectations around the transfer and receipt of safeguarding information when children move between schools;
• racism, faith-targeted abuse and other discriminatory behaviour within safeguarding practice;
• reasonable force and restrictive interventions;
• alternative provision;
• children who are absent from education;
• online safety, including emerging technology;
• safer recruitment and regulated activity; and
• a range of updates reflecting changes to wider statutory guidance and legislation.

A full summary of the changes is provided by the Department for Education within Annex C of KCSIE 2026.

Part One must now be read by all staff

One of the important structural changes for 2026 is the removal of the shorter version of Part One that previously appeared within Annex A.

The Department for Education has confirmed that all staff must now read Part One in full and follow their school or college's safeguarding policies and procedures.

A new Part One – overview for all staff has also been published. This provides a useful quick-reference summary, but the Department for Education is clear that it is complementary to Part One and does not replace it.

Schools should therefore ensure that arrangements for staff induction and safeguarding updates reflect this change.

A further update on regulated activity

The Department for Education has also confirmed today that it has temporarily removed its separate document Regulated activity in relation to children: scope, pending an update.

Schools and colleges should therefore take care that any supporting materials they use concerning regulated activity and safer recruitment reflect the current statutory position.

What do ISS members need to do?

For Independent Safeguarding Service members, much of the work has already been done for you.

Our 2026/27 safeguarding and child protection policy templates have been updated to reflect KCSIE 2026 and the associated statutory changes.

Our safeguarding training has also been updated for the new academic year, so members do not need to work through the guidance independently and determine what each amendment means for practice: the changes are incorporated into our training and resources.

Schools should, however, ensure that:

• staff receive their appropriate safeguarding update and read Part One of KCSIE 2026;
• governors and trustees understand the changes relevant to their safeguarding responsibilities;
• current safeguarding and child protection policies are adopted and made available to staff; and
• local procedures and school-specific safeguarding arrangements remain accurate.

ISS members can access their updated policies, resources and training through their membership dashboard.

Read KCSIE 2026

The full statutory guidance, Part One and the new Part One overview are available from the Department for Education:

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 – GOV.UK

Youth warnings, reprimands and cautions will no longer be automatically disclosed to employers who require Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates from 28 November.

The changes, which come as a result of a Supreme Court judgment that found some elements of the existing filtering rules for Standard and Enhanced DBS checks were disproportionate, are intended to make it easier for people with certain convictions to find employment.

A county lines drug gang forced 40 children to deal cannabis and cocaine at a single school.

The teens, some as young as 14, had been supplied with drugs and dealing kits including deal bags and scales. 

Police say grown-up dealers had a network of 40 pupils dealing at the school which has just over 1,200 pupils - meaning one in thirty was possibly selling drugs.

It is suspected that girls as young as 14 at Kingsdown School in Swindon, Wiltshire, have been pestered for sex in exchange for cocaine.

And the dawn police raid yesterday - on the eve of GCSE results - revealed the extent of the teens coerced into the operation.

Wiltshire Police arrested a 27-year-old man during the raid. He has since been released under investigation.

Sgt Nathan Perry, who planned the 7am raid, said: "We found the person we're looking for, we've managed to safeguard the children who were at risk and we've found drugs.

"We all know about county lines and the risks associated with that.

"The difficulty with this type of drugs operation is that it's specifically targeting very young children in order to get them to deal drugs.

"Some of the information we've been passed is that children are not only being coerced into this activity, but they're also being physically threatened.

"If they go to police or teachers they'll be harmed," he added. 

Police were said to have been alerted to the gang at Kingsdown School.

A pair of older teen boys, both 16, are believed to have been supplying a network of up to 40 children in their mid-teens at the Swindon school.

The 27-year-old was arrested during the morning raid on suspicion of possession of class B drugs with intent to supply and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The raid came as Swindon police focused their sights on modern slavery.

Nationally, police have increasingly turned to modern slavery laws to target drug dealers who force children and vulnerable adults to peddle their product.

Sgt Perry said those convicted could expect sentences of up to 15 years imprisonment.

"You've got children being exploited and young kids being forced to run the drugs. We will take it seriously," he said.

"The sheer nature of the exploitation of these young people is unacceptable.

"If we don't do something to stop that they're potentially going to be at risk for the rest of their lives.