Harrow Council’s struggling children’s services face fresh pressure after the government unveiled sweeping reforms to strengthen protection for children living with domestic abuse.
In its official response this month to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report Victims in Their Own Right, ministers pledged more than £500 million for Family First Partnerships and promised funding until 2029.
The plan marks a significant step in recognising children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right, but it also places heavier statutory duties on local authorities, backed by tighter inspection and greater accountability.
For Harrow, the implications are stark. The borough’s children’s services were rated “inadequate” by Ofsted earlier this year and remain under a government improvement notice. Meeting the new national expectations will require rapid improvements in areas where the service is already under strain.
The forthcoming Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will oblige councils to integrate schools formally into safeguarding partnerships, embed domestic abuse specialists into frontline teams, and enforce a new legal duty to share safeguarding information across agencies.
The reforms also extend councils’ responsibilities for safe accommodation. Children must now be treated as victims in their own right, included in needs assessments, and tracked through annual outcome reports covering those living in refuge or other safe housing.
Although ministers point to record levels of investment, the money will flow through Police and Crime Commissioners and Integrated Care Boards under a new Duty to Collaborate. Critics warn this could create patchy provision and leave councils like Harrow without the stability needed for long-term planning.
Scrutiny will also tighten. Ofsted and other inspectorates are expected to probe councils’ responses to domestic abuse in greater depth, with new requirements for more detailed data on children’s experiences, from early help referrals to Child in Need plans. At the same time, social workers and frontline staff must complete updated training on coercive control, trauma, and domestic abuse, delivered through a two-year induction programme and new professional standards – a demanding task for Harrow as it seeks to rebuild its depleted workforce.
For a Harrow service already under government watch, the reforms amount to a critical test. Failure to act quickly risks not only further censure from inspectors, but also leaving vulnerable children without the protection the law now promises them.
[Government response to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report Victims in Their Own Right.]
In its official response this month to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report Victims in Their Own Right, ministers pledged more than £500 million for Family First Partnerships and promised funding until 2029.
The plan marks a significant step in recognising children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right, but it also places heavier statutory duties on local authorities, backed by tighter inspection and greater accountability.
For Harrow, the implications are stark. The borough’s children’s services were rated “inadequate” by Ofsted earlier this year and remain under a government improvement notice. Meeting the new national expectations will require rapid improvements in areas where the service is already under strain.
The forthcoming Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will oblige councils to integrate schools formally into safeguarding partnerships, embed domestic abuse specialists into frontline teams, and enforce a new legal duty to share safeguarding information across agencies.
The reforms also extend councils’ responsibilities for safe accommodation. Children must now be treated as victims in their own right, included in needs assessments, and tracked through annual outcome reports covering those living in refuge or other safe housing.
Although ministers point to record levels of investment, the money will flow through Police and Crime Commissioners and Integrated Care Boards under a new Duty to Collaborate. Critics warn this could create patchy provision and leave councils like Harrow without the stability needed for long-term planning.
Scrutiny will also tighten. Ofsted and other inspectorates are expected to probe councils’ responses to domestic abuse in greater depth, with new requirements for more detailed data on children’s experiences, from early help referrals to Child in Need plans. At the same time, social workers and frontline staff must complete updated training on coercive control, trauma, and domestic abuse, delivered through a two-year induction programme and new professional standards – a demanding task for Harrow as it seeks to rebuild its depleted workforce.
For a Harrow service already under government watch, the reforms amount to a critical test. Failure to act quickly risks not only further censure from inspectors, but also leaving vulnerable children without the protection the law now promises them.
[Government response to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report Victims in Their Own Right.]
Harrow Monitoring Group 