Out-of-school settings guidance update
Southport Inquiry · The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · Issued 13 April 2026 · Addressed to: Department for Education
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Department for Education should update the out‑of‑school settings guidance by reviewing the health and safety section to ensure terminology is clear and consistent, particularly regarding emergency plans and fire/evacuation plans for smaller providers. The guidance should also be updated to include a non‑binding cross‑reference to school entrance security guidance, emphasising that while out-of-school settings may differ from schools in terms of what is necessary, appropriate or proportionate, providers should still consider appropriate entrance and exit security measures.
Southport Inquiry, The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · 13 Apr 2026 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Department for Education stated in its response that it is the lead department and expects to complete implementation by late 2026, that it will review the existing safeguarding policy following publication of a response to the Call for Evidence on Out-of-School Settings safeguarding, that the review will include strengthening of the section on security, health and safety, and emergency planning, and that specific consideration will be given to entrance and exit security issues informed by responses to the Call for Evidence (Government Response to Phase 1 of the Southport Inquiry, CP 1623, Home Office, July 2026).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Response — verbatim from government
●Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is the lead department and expects to complete the implementation of this recommendation by late 2026. Progress and next steps:
- DfE will review the existing safeguarding policy following the publication of a response to the Call for Evidence on Out-of-School Settings safeguarding.
- The review will include relevant guidance documents & strengthening of section on security, health and safety, and emergency planning.
- Specific consideration will be given to entrance and exit security issues, informed by responses to the Call for Evidence.
Department for Education · 2 Jul 2026 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 2 Jul 2026 · Department for Education Government response published 2 July 2026 (CP 1623). The government accepted this recommendation; the lead department reports implementation is in progress. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.