No quick fixes: Multi-agency working to improve information-sharing on men and keep children safe

The failure of public agencies such as children’s social care (CSC), health and the police to share information about children and families has been repeatedly identified as a factor contributing to missed opportunities to protect children from harm in England. Specific failings relating to information on men in children’s lives who may pose a danger have also been highlighted, including in the Myth of the Invisible Men report published by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Successive governments have sought to address these failings by mandating the reform of local multi-agency governance structures and by seeking to influence day-to-day interactions between agencies including CSC, health, the police, schools and others with child safeguarding responsibilities. This article offers a critical perspective on the most recent reforms by drawing on previous research on the barriers and facilitators to information-sharing and findings from four case studies that examined local initiatives that have aimed to improve information-sharing. We identify three key themes that we argue need to be carefully considered in the design and implementation of multi-agency structures and working practices: (1) resources and organizational commitment to multi-agency working; (2) communication between professionals; and (3) competing perspectives on sharing information without consent.