News and Updates
Stronger protection for children: The Online Safety Act 2023 in force from 25th July 2025
The Online Safety Act 2023 introduces stronger protections for children online, including a legal requirement for all pornography sites accessed in the UK to have effective age verification in place by 25th July 2025. Major sites have agreed to comply using tools such as facial age estimation and ID checks. Ofcom will enforce this duty and can fine or block services that fail to meet the standard.
The Act also requires platforms to carry out risk assessments, apply age-appropriate controls, and remove illegal content such as child sexual abuse material, grooming, and incitement to violence. Platforms must now consider how their design, including algorithms, anonymity, and livestreaming, may expose users to harm. Schools should ensure staff are aware of these changes and review how online safety is addressed through curriculum and safeguarding procedures.
In addition to age verification, the Act introduces new criminal offences. These include cyberflashing, epilepsy trolling, and encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, which are now illegal even if done anonymously. It is also a crime to share deepfake pornography or send false information with intent to harm. Laws on non-consensual intimate images have been strengthened to cover threats to share, and images altered using AI. DSLs should help ensure these risks are understood by staff as safeguarding issues and addressed in training and policy.
You can find out more of the Ofcom website here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/parents
The Internet Matters website has a useful article here: https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/rising-harms-new-rules-why-the-online-safety-act-matters/
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Duty to protect staff from sexual harassment
From 26th October 2024, employers have a legal duty to protect staff from sexual harassment.
To find out more click the links below – Protecting staff from sexual harassment: your role | GovernorHub (thekeysupport.com)
Get ready for new duty to prevent sexual harassment | CIPD
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Wirral Harmful Sexual Behaviour Tool –
The tool is now available: https://www.wirralsafeguarding.co.uk/harmful-sexual-behaviour/
Training on the HSB Tool is also available –
Delivered by by the Youth Offending Service, this two hour session will include a brief overview of the policy, understanding the process that guides referral and the assessment & intervention that a young person will receive.
The session is suitable for all front line practitioners working with children and young people or managers of practitioners who do so. Examples would be those working in Social Care, Schools, Youth Work, Family Intervention and Health
Spotlight sessions on how to use the tool can be found here: https://www.wirralsafeguarding.co.uk/harmful-sexual-behaviour-briefing/
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Pan Merseyside MASA – Practice Learning Reviews Emerging Themes
The Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership has been working in conjunction with colleagues from Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, and Knowsley to consider common themes appearing in Case Reviews across the Merseyside area. Five common themes were identified from all of the Case Reviews considered: Voice & Lived Experience of the Child, Professional Curiosity & Challenge, Contextual Safeguarding, Recording and Decision Making, and Information Sharing.
To share the learning from these Case Reviews we have put together some resources, using Sway and can be accessed below:
Pan Merseyside MASA – Practice Learning Reviews Emerging Themes
Keeping Children Safe in Education – Webinar Series from the DfE
The DfE has engaged four subject matter experts for a series of four 60-minute safeguarding webinars to support the statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE). The webinars focus on four important topics: Low level concerns; single central record; safeguarding partners and sexting/online harms. The first two seminars have already taken place, but you can see the recordings; the final two webinars are this week and next.
1. Low-Level Concerns: Delyth Lynch, Deputy Head (Safeguarding), Wellington College (Recording here: https://kcsie.orcula.co.uk/)
2. Single Central Record: Louis Donald, Director of Safeguarding, Creative Education Trust (Recording here: https://kcsie.orcula.co.uk/)
3. Sexting and Online Harms: Jon Needham, Director of Safeguarding and Well-being, Oasis Community Learning (Weds. 1st March 4pm)
4. Safeguarding Partners: Cynthia Davies, Safeguarding Strategy and Systemic Improvement, Department for Education (Mon. 6th March 4pm)
To book the future seminars, register here: https://orcula.com/kcsie/register/Site/Register