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Social media
Source: House of Commons Library
Date published: 23 April 2026
The House of Commons Library has published a briefing looking at the debate surrounding proposals to ban social media for children. The briefing explores arguments for and against a ban and discusses the government’s open consultation on social media use which launched in March 2026. The briefing also collates headline statistics around social media use amongst children and young people.
Read the briefing: Proposals to ban social media for children
Safeguarding incidents
Source: Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel
Date published: 29 April 2026
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has published its annual report on serious child safeguarding incidents in England. Drawing on evidence from rapid reviews and the Panel’s national programme of work, the report aims to provide a system wide picture of where children are most at risk, the complex circumstances many families face, and the improvements needed to strengthen safeguarding practice. The report examines learning from serious incidents notified to the Panel between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 involving 360 children who died or were seriously harmed due to abuse or neglect. Of the 274 rapid reviews considered, 47% involved the death of a child, 60% included neglect as a factor and 51% included domestic abuse. Key themes identified include: babies under one were most affected; many children faced complex, overlapping challenges; and strong multi agency working is critical to reducing risk.
Read the report: Annual report 2024 to 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026
Source: DfE and Community Care
Date published: 30 April 2026
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and has now become law. The Act primarily applies to England with some measures extended to Wales. Key measures introduced to strengthen safeguarding include: statutory multi agency child protection teams in each council area; a system of Single Unique Identifier numbers for children across services to assist information sharing; access to family group decision-making meetings for all families with children at risk of entering the care system; and registers of ‘children not in school’ in each local authority.
Read the press release: Families to save up to £1,000 as children’s reforms become law
Read the Community Care news story: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill becomes law