Brent Safeguarding Children Partnership is placing a renewed emphasis on tackling neglect, a key priority for the coming year, alongside continuing work on capturing the voices of young people. The partnership has identified neglect as one of its three fundamental priorities, with Nigel Chapman, Corporate Director for Children, Young People, and Community Development, explaining that it is often difficult to tackle effectively because it is a long-term issue without a single, immediate trigger.
This focus was highlighted during a Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday 30 June 2026, where the Brent Safeguarding Children Partnership presented its annual report. Keith Mackin, the Independent Scrutineer for the partnership, noted an increase in safeguarding partnership reviews after a period of very few. He clarified that this increase reflects a change in the pattern of safeguarding partnership reviews
and that the partnership is constantly looking at activity within that
and cases of concern.
Learning is drawn not only from major safeguarding reviews but also from multi-agency audits.
Neglect has been identified as a priority risk for children in Brent, alongside vulnerable adolescents at risk of criminal exploitation and gang-related activity. Detective Superintendent Will Lexton Jones from the Metropolitan Police agreed that these are chronic risks,
noting the prevalence of repeat missing children as a symptom of exploitation. The partnership is investing in initiatives such as a local missing hub to address this. The effectiveness of the partnership's response to these risks is being closely monitored, with data on children subject to child protection plans where neglect is a factor, and professional confidence in identifying and responding to neglect being tracked.
In addition to the focus on neglect, the partnership's key priorities for the next 12 months include capturing the voice of young people. This is an area of development, with the next stage involving the appointment of young scrutineers. Keith Mackin acknowledged that this has proven a bit more difficult than we thought,
citing employment and legal barriers that have now been overcome. The ambition is to employ young people to network within the borough's youth population.
To tackle neglect effectively, training and development across the partnership are key. The take-up of early help services, such as those offered at family wellbeing centres, is also seen as an indicator of successful early intervention work, which is believed to reduce the escalation of issues. The partnership collaborates with various agencies, including education, youth organisations like the Young Brent Foundation, and commissioned services. Improvements in multi-agency information sharing at the front door and the implementation of a family group decision-making service are also noted. The police are involved in disruption activity, and a contextual safeguarding lead works closely with partners. A panel meets regularly where all partner agencies discuss individual children at risk of exploitation.
Further details on the partnership's work can be found in the Public reports pack for the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.
