New statutory Information Sharing Duty guidance has been introduced following the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and came into effect from 30 September 2026.  The new guidance represents a significant shift in safeguarding practice, moving from a position where practitioners could share information where appropriate, to a statutory expectation that relevant information must be shared where it may assist another organisation in safeguarding or promoting the welfare of a child, unless sharing would be more detrimental to the child than not sharing.

For more information, please see the DSCP Briefing, FAQs document and information slide:

New-Information-Sharing-Duty-One-Page-Sept-2026 DSCP-BRIEFING-New-Statutory-Information-Sharing-Duty-Guidance-Sept-2026.v2 Possible-FAQs-Information-Sharing-Duty-2026