Government department safeguarding policy reviews
IICSA · Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Linked to Westminster Investigation Report · Issued 25 February 2020 · Addressed to: Cabinet Office
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
The Cabinet Office must ensure that each government department reviews its child safeguarding policy or policies in light of the expert witness report of Professor Thoburn. There must also be published procedures to accompany their policies, in order that staff know how to enact their department's policy. All government departments must update their safeguarding policies and procedures regularly, and obtain expert safeguarding advice when doing this.
IICSA, Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Linked to Westminster Investigation Report · 25 Feb 2020 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- In May 2023, the government confirmed that this recommendation had been completed (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 18 September 2020, the UK government confirmed that all government departments were aware of Professor Thoburn's report. It also stated that Civil Service HR had launched a model safeguarding policy and 'Health Check' process, which enables departments to check their own procedures and practices to ensure they are fit for purpose. On 25 August 2021, Civil Service HR stated that they had conducted a survey to review departmental use of the model policy and 'Health Check' and that it gave assurance of progress in the Civil Service.
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.
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.