Safeguarding Monthly Bulletin - September 2026
Welcome to the October Safeguarding Bulletin!
As the colourful days of autumn continue and the evenings draw in, we are pleased to share the October edition of the Safeguarding Bulletin, bringing together key updates, guidance and resources from across Somerset.
October is a month of important health and wellbeing campaigns, including Stoptober, Breast Cancer Awareness Month and World Mental Health Day. With Halloween celebrations also approaching, it is a timely reminder to remain alert to safeguarding concerns and help ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults can participate safely in seasonal activities and community events.
Thank you, as always, for your continued dedication and commitment to safeguarding and supporting individuals across our communities.
We hope you have found this month's edition helpful and informative. Our aim is to continue sharing relevant safeguarding updates, resources and learning opportunities to support your practice.
If you have any questions, suggestions for future editions, or would prefer not to receive this bulletin, please contact us at Somicb.safeguardingandcla@nhs.net.
Please feel free to share this bulletin with colleagues who may find it useful. If they would like to receive future editions directly, simply send us their contact details and we will be happy to add them to our mailing list.
This month the bulletin includes:
Information
· MARM Guidance
· Care Support – Learning from Reviews
· Domestic Abuse Posters in Healthcare Settings
· New Resource: Recognising Signs and Indicators Associated with COM Networks
· Joint Targeted Area Inspection – Children Living with Neglect
· Somerset Domestic Homicide Review Learning Brief DHR060 and DHR057
· Prevent Month of Action – November 2026
· Birth notification process for unassisted births
Newsletters
· SSCP Learning Bulletin – September 2026
Training / Learning / Webinars
· Easy Access Gambling Harms Workshop
· Sexual Abuse Training Opportunities
MARM Guidance – updated link included below
Please see the revised MARM guidance.
The MARM guidance has been updated by the Safeguarding Adults board to strengthen consistency and ensure a person-centred approach. Key changes include:
Clarification of when the MARM process should be considered, with clearer guidance on the circumstances and levels of risk that may warrant a MARM response.
Capacity and Best Interests: Where a person has been assessed as lacking capacity to make decisions relating to their health and wellbeing, the appropriate process is a Best Interests meeting rather than a MARM.
Person-centred approach: The guidance reinforces that the MARM process must be centred on the individual, with active efforts made to involve the person in meetings, discussions and risk assessments wherever possible.
These amendments aim to support proportionate decision-making, promoting meaningful involvement of individuals in managing risks that affect their lives.
Carer Support – Learning from Reviews – updated link included below
Recent Domestic Homicide Reviews and Safeguarding Adult Reviews in Somerset have highlighted the important role carers play and the need to ensure they receive appropriate support. In Carer Support – Learning from Reviews, we share information on carers' assessments, referral pathways, and useful resources to help professionals identify, support, and signpost carers, helping to reduce the risk of carer breakdown and improve outcomes for both carers and those they care for.
Domestic Abuse Posters in Healthcare Settings
A recommendation from a Somerset DHR has highlighted the importance of Domestic abuse posters in health care settings, especially waiting rooms and on the back of toilet doors. A suite of downloadable posters can be found on the Somerset Domestic abuse website: Document and resource library
New Resource: Recognising Signs and Indicators Associated with COM Networks*
Police colleagues have shared a resource relating to COM Networks. While matters involving COM Networks would typically be subject to a police investigation, the document provides valuable information on the signs, indicators, and behaviours that practitioners may encounter in their day-to-day work.
To support awareness and the early identification of potential safeguarding concerns, we are sharing this resource with partners across the system. We encourage practitioners to take time to review the document and consider how the information may be relevant to their role and practice.
Please feel free to share the resource with relevant colleagues within your organisation to help strengthen understanding and support effective safeguarding responses.
* COM networks are online groups mostly involving teenagers, that coordinate serious criminal activity including sextortion, cybercrime, and real‑world violence.
They groom, coerce, and extort children, often pushing them into extreme self‑harm, sexual abuse, or violent acts.
Joint Targeted Area Inspection – Children Living with Neglect
The next Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) will focus on Children Living with Neglect. Guidance and supporting documents have been shared to help agencies review their current practice and prepare for this inspection theme. Please take time to familiarise yourself with the resources and share them with relevant colleagues.
Link: Joint inspections of the response to children experiencing neglect - GOV.UK
Information Sharing Duty – New Statutory Guidance
The new Information Sharing Duty Statutory Guidance comes into force in England on 30 September 2026. The guidance places children's welfare and safety at the centre of information-sharing decisions and makes clear that information should be shared where it may help another organisation carry out its safeguarding and welfare responsibilities.
Importantly, there is no requirement for a child to meet a specific safeguarding threshold before information can be shared. The duty supports information sharing in relation to early help, emerging vulnerabilities, child protection concerns, risk assessment, and service provision.
The guidance also clarifies that:
Consent is not always required for safeguarding information sharing.
Data protection legislation should not be viewed as a barrier to lawful information sharing.
The Common Law Duty of Confidentiality does not prevent appropriate safeguarding information sharing.
Parental objections alone are not a reason to withhold information when the duty applies.
The Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) will support implementation through guidance, briefings, and resources to help practitioners understand the new requirements and share information confidently and appropriately.
Please review and circulate the guidance within your organisation.
Link: DfE Information Sharing Duty statutory guidance
Somerset Domestic Homicide Review Learning Brief DHR060
Please find attached Somerset Domestic Homicide Review Learning Brief DHR060 Nicole and DHR057 Tracey
Birth notification process for unassisted births
Please find a link below the recently published NHS England guidance on the birth notification process for unassisted births. The guidance has been developed to provide clarity on the legal requirements for birth notification, the process that should be followed following an unassisted birth, and the roles and responsibilities of families, healthcare professionals, and Child Health Information Services. It also highlights the support and services available to women and babies following an unassisted birth.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/guidance-on-birth-notification-process-for-unassisted-births/
This is being shared for information and awareness. Please take a moment to review the guidance and circulate it to any colleagues or teams who may find it helpful.
Prevent Month of Action – November 2026
Please see the attached poster and timetable for the Prevent Month of Action 2026, including booking links for all webinars available to statutory and civil society organisations across the Southwest.
SSCP Learning Bulletin
Please find below the link to the SSCP Learning Bulletin for September. This edition includes important updates on the new Information Sharing Duty, the forthcoming Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) theme on Children Living with Neglect, ICON Week 2026, and learning from recent reviews on the importance of contingency planning.
You will also find information on the review of the Somerset Children and Young People's Plan 2024-2030, an opportunity to contribute to the development of the Multi-Agency Exploitation Screening Tool, and resources to support National Care Leavers Month.
SSCP Learning Bulletin - September 2026
Easy Access Gambling Harms Workshop
Anew initiative called Easy Access Workshops have recently been launched, which are short informative sessions for people who want to know more or are uncertain about support. Please can you share this information and display the attached poster.
What are Easy Access Workshops?
Easy Access Workshops are designed to provide people experiencing gambling-related harms with timely information, advice, and guidance. For some people, these workshops may provide all the support they need, while for others they may act as a first step towards accessing more structured services.
Each workshop will:
Be delivered online.
Last approximately 30 minutes.
Run Monday to Thursday.
Provide a low-barrier entry point into support.
Offer a seamless pathway into more structured services where appropriate.
Workshop topics
Monday - What Support is right for me?
Tuesday - Digital Support
Wednesday - Regaining Control
Thursday - Affected Others
Sign Up
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=FWYkWUDg5UuAtq6bCfuDmwy700Yk1UNDh4YkdNkXk7lUME1XSEFOSTZITEhCRjhZS1FWUVdGQkFORy4u or Scan QR Code on the poster which will take you to a very brief sign-up form. A link will be sent to you for the next available workshop as per your selection.
Child Sexual Abuse Training Opportunities – October 2026
Spotlight on Child Sexual Abuse
14 October 2026 1000-1200 MS Teams
SSP Spotlight on Child Sexual Abuse
Target group
This session is open to all practitioners and volunteers working with children, young people, families and adults with care and support needs in Swindon.
Child Sexual Abuse is one of the strategic priorities for the Safeguarding Partnership
This session is an opportunity for frontline practitioners and managers to find out more about what is happening locally in Swindon.
Book your place
To book your place click on the link below.
Practitioner forum – Spotlight on Child Sexual Abuse
Developing an Understanding of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
21 October 2026 to 22 October 2026 from 9.30am to 4.30pm MS Teams
Please note: This is a two-day training course delivered over two full days. You will need to attend both sessions to obtain a certificate of attendance.
Target group
All staff working in settings who may be in contact with children, young people and/or parents/carers who may become aware of possible abuse or neglect.
This course has been developed by the NSPCC to provide professionals working with children and families with a base-level understanding of CSA. Participants will be provided with the opportunity to review and consider insights from the research base for CSA.
You will be supported to work through a case study using the 4Rs of safeguarding: Recognising Abuse/ Behaviour of offender: Responding: Reporting and Recording, to look at the impact of CSA, on the young person, the family and wider community/society.
Book your place
For more information and to book your place, please click on the link below.
Are you on our circulation list? Do you want to be kept updated about our training and newsletter then sign up and we will add you to our circulation list:
https://forms.office.com/e/f7CRNF6Wax. You can ask to be removed at any time by emailing safeguardingpartnership@swindon.gov.uk
