The statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2023 edition) does not specify a fixed number of individual "rules" in the document. Instead, it provides a comprehensive framework of statutory responsibilities, principles, and expectations for multi-agency working to safeguard children. It includes detailed guidance on roles, responsibilities, multi-agency arrangements, child protection practice standards, and organizational duties across various sectors working with children
. The guidance is structured into chapters covering key topics such as:
- A shared responsibility for safeguarding
- Multi-agency safeguarding arrangements
- Providing help, support, and protection to children
- Organizational responsibilities
- Learning from serious safeguarding incidents
- Child death reviews
It also includes national multi-agency child protection standards and specific provisions for sectors like education, health, social care, and sports
. Because the guidance is a legal framework and not a list of discrete "rules," it is better understood as a set of statutory duties and standards rather than a countable number of rules. The document is extensive and detailed, designed to be followed unless there is a good reason not to, but it does not enumerate a specific number of rules. In summary, there is no fixed number of "rules" stated in the statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2023); it is a comprehensive statutory framework covering multiple aspects of safeguarding children across agencies and sectors
