Serious case reviews must be undertaken by Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LCSBs) where —

  • abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected; and
  • either — (i) the child has died; or (ii) the child has been seriously harmed and there is cause for concern as to the way in which the authority, the LSCB  partners or other relevant persons have worked together to safeguard the child.

In addition, an SCR should always be carried out when a child dies in custody, in police custody, on remand or following sentencing, in a Young Offender Institution, in a secure training centre or a secure children’s home, or where the child was detained under the Mental Health Act 2005. SCRs should also be carried out in cases where a child died by suspected suicide.

LSCBs should also conduct reviews of cases which do not meet the criteria for an SCR, but which can provide valuable lessons about how organisations are working together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

The final decision on whether to conduct the SCR rests with the LSCB Chair. 

Publication of serious case review overview reports

The Coalition Government confirmed on 10 June 2010 its commitment to ensuring that the overview reports and executive summaries of all new SCRs initiated on or after 10 June should be published, unless there are compelling reasons relating to the welfare of any children directly concerned in the case for this not to happen. 

Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) was published 21 March 2013 and makes clear that it is only by publishing SCR reports that we will have the greater level of transparency and accountability needed to enable lessons to be learned as widely and thoroughly as possible. This will ensure professionals are able to understand fully what happened in each case, and most importantly, what needs to change in order to reduce the risk of such tragedies happening in the future.

On 26 October 2010 the Government published the two SCR overview reports relating to Peter Connelly (see article section).

On 29 March 2012 the Government published the SCR overview report on the 'J' children in Edlington  (see article section).

Further information

Statutory guidance

Chapter 4 of  Working together to safeguard children (2013) sets out the processes local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) should follow when undertaking SCRs.

Resources

Biennial overview reports:

Contact information

Copies of fully anonymised final SCR reports should be sent to the serious incidents briefing team either by hard copy by registered post, or via email (password protected and encrypted using Winzip).

Contact details

Serious Incidents Briefing Team
Ground Floor
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
Email: mailbox.scr@education.gsi.gov.uk