The government has today published its formal response to the consultation on proposals to establish a Child Protection Authority (CPA) in England. This marks an important step in strengthening how we as a country protect our children.
The Child Protection System
Keeping children safe underpins this government’s ambitions for opportunity, stronger communities, and improved life chances. That means the way we work, and those who work within it, must be clear in their purpose, confident in their practice, and effective in what they achieve.
Yet evidence from reviews, inquiries and frontline experience shows this this is not always the case. Too often, opportunities to prevent harm are missed; too often, when concerns are raised, action does not follow quickly or effectively enough. As a result, there remains a gap between what we know works and what is consistently put into practice.
Many dedicated people work tirelessly to protect children every day. Yet gaps remain between what we know works and what happens in practice. These gaps can leave children and young people without the protection or support they need, when they need it most.
What we heard
We consulted on the creation of a CPA following a key recommendation from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. We received responses from practitioners, organisations, experts, and victims and survivors. Their insights have been central in shaping our approach.
A clear message came through. There is strong support for a national body that can bring greater clarity and direction, join up learning and turn it into action and help ensure that good practice is applied consistently.
At the same time, respondents were clear that any new body must make a positive difference to frontline work. It should build on what already works well, avoid duplication, and stay closely connected to the real experiences of childrens, families, and professionals.
Many respondents, particularly victims and survivors, spoke powerfully about missed opportunities to act and the lasting impact this can have. Their voices underline the importance of not only learning from harm, but acting on that learning. Addressing this requires a stronger, more coherent approach at national level, alongside practical support for those working directly with children and families.
The Child Protection Authority
The CPA will provide national leadership to improve how child protection works in practice. It will bring together data, evidence, professional expertise, and lived experience to spot risks earlier, support better decision making, and help agencies work together more effectively.
A key role of the CPA will be to make sure that learning leads to real change. This includes making it easier for those working with children to access clear guidance and practical support and ensuring that lessons from reviews ad cases are followed through.
The CPA will provide national leadership and oversight of the child protection system. It will ensure that evidence and insight are used more effectively and that learning translates into meaningful change.
It will bring together data, evidence, practitioner expertise and the voices of children, families and survivors to strengthen how the system identifies and responds to significant harm. By doing so, it will support earlier intervention, clearer accountability, and more effective multi‑agency working.
The CPA will play a central role in:
identifying emerging risks and patterns of harm earlier, enabling earlier and more coordinated responses;building a clearer national picture by bringing together information from different agencies;promoting and embedding good practice so that learning is consistently applied; andsupporting the implementation of recommendations, ensuring that where improvement is needed, action follows.It will also strengthen accountability across the system, working closely with inspectorates, regulators and government departments. We are exploring options to legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to equip the CPA with appropriate powers to act where serious or persistent failings leave children unprotected.
Crucially, the CPA will reflect the multi‑agency nature of child protection. It will bring together expertise from all agencies who have a role in protecting children and across all settings where children could be harmed. Above all, the CPA will place the experiences and voices of children, families and survivors at the centre of its work.
Reform Programme
The establishment of the CPA sits within a broader programme of reform to strengthen child protection.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we are improving how the system works in practice, including through strengthened multi‑agency arrangements and improved information sharing. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduces a mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse, while wider cross‑government work, including action to tackle violence against women and girls and new duties of candour for public authorities, is helping to create a more transparent, accountable and effective system.
Together, these reforms reflect a determination to ensure that the system is better connected, more responsive, and more able to prevent harm as well as respond to it.
The CPA will play a critical role alongside wider reforms, supporting more joined‑up working between services and helping to ensure that learning leads to better outcomes for children.
Next Steps
The government is committed to establishing the Child Protection Authority and we are exploring options to legislate when parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, we will continue to develop the CPA’s functions and capabilities, building on the existing work of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. I would like to thank Panel members, and Chair, for their work to date.
This marks an important milestone on the journey towards establishing this new body. We will continue to work closely with partners across the system, and with children, families and survivors, as we move towards implementation.
Our goal is clear: a child protection system that is expert and decisive, better connected, more responsive, and focused on delivering meaningful change. One that supports those working to protect children, learns from experience, and acts promptly where improvement is needed, and above all, a system that ensures children are protected and supported to achieve and thrive.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2026-07-07.hcws194.0
seen at 09:59, 8 July in Written Ministerial Statements.