Guidance on LEA and police visits to absent children

The Department for Education (DfE) and Home Office are the lead departments and expect to complete implementation of this recommendation by late 2027. Progress and next steps:
- DfE will amend guidance for supporting young people who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), or at risk of becoming NEET to support the development and implementation of a number of initiatives set out in the Post 16 Skills White Paper to help young people at risk of becoming NEET into education, training and work.
- The revised guidance will set an expectation on education providers to notify local authorities within a specified timescale where a young person aged 16+ is no longer participating in education or training.
- The guidance will also address referrals by local authority NEET officers to relevant services, including safeguarding. It will clarify that low attendance should trigger safeguarding consideration where appropriate.
- Decisions on whether police visits are made to the homes of children not attending their place of education are made on a case-by-case basis, informed by multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. Police attendance in these circumstances is uncommon and is typically limited to situations where there is a clear safeguarding rationale, such as identified or escalating risk of harm, or where police are best placed to respond.
- Police are statutory safeguarding partners and, in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children, contribute to locally agreed arrangements based on need, risk, and vulnerability. In most cases, concerns about children not receiving education sit primarily with local authorities under their existing duties to identify children missing from education. This will be supported by forthcoming measures in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, strengthening expectations around visibility and information sharing, including duties to maintain Children Not in School registers and the introduction of a single unique identifier to improve data linkage across services.
- Where there is reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on the local authority to make enquiries. Police will support these enquiries where appropriate, particularly where there are concerns about immediate safety, potential criminal offences, or if powers of entry may be required. Police involvement in home visits is therefore typically linked to Section 47 thresholds or equivalent safeguarding risks, rather than education status alone.
- Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) play a critical role in identifying risk, harm, and emerging concerns, including cases that may not initially meet statutory thresholds. How these cases are reviewed and escalated is fundamental to effective safeguarding arrangements, enabling police to exercise professional curiosity and ensuring systems are responsive to professional challenge.
- By mid-2027, the Home Office and the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection will review whether national guidance is required to support consistent decision-making on when police involvement, including home visits, may be appropriate.

No statement on delivery from Department for Education has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.