Allegations about adults who work with children

What type of referral are you making?

This page is for professionals. If you are a member of the public or a parent, visit Report a concern about a child or a teenager.

Referrals to the Single Point of Advice (SPOA)

Refer to SPOA any level 4 concerns about:

  • contact or online sexual abuse
  • suspected grooming
  • physical abuse, or
  • inappropriate restraint leading to injury

Identify the need for LADO involvement in the report.

Referrals to the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer)

Refer concerns or allegations about conduct directly to the LADO. You can also refer via the police or social care. Concerns can be about:

  • contact with children and young people through social media, personal email, or phone
  • emotional abuse, bullying, threats, intimidation or derogatory comments
  • non-sexual contact, which breaches a code of conduct or positive handling policy
  • breaches in safeguarding policies and procedures around professional conduct
  • providing rewards and incentives that are not sanctioned within a code of conduct. And when this singles out particular children or young people to the detriment of others
  • being under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the workplace
  • inappropriate use of work IT equipment at work or home e.g. viewing adult pornography
  • failure to protect or report a safeguarding concern
  • involvement with Children’s Services for own children. For example, care proceedings or Child Protection Plans
  • domestic abuse
  • private life matters. This could involve:
    - arrest or prosecution for a criminal offence outside of work. This includes sexual offences, violence, drugs, drink driving, and fraud. It could be about adults or children.
    - personal involvement with Children’s Services. For example, an employee who has children in care or on child protection plans    
Make a referral

Child on child abuse

You must report concerns about abuse and sexually harmful behaviour between children to:

If staff in a setting have failed to report a concern to their safeguarding lead or if this was done late, you should also:

Advice and guidance on managing this in schools is found at:

Mental health and self-harm

You must report cases where there is a risk of significant harm to a young person to:

You can also:

If there are concerns about staff conduct and suitability, you should:

More advice on:

Criminal exploitation

You must refer specific concerns about young people to

More guidance in:

Accidents and injuries involving children in settings

Report serious injuries with concerns about:

  • the explanation of the injury or potential injury
  • medication errors where there was a potential risk of significant harm

to the relevant agency, e.g., SPOA, Ofsted, and also the Care Quality Commission.

You should refer concerns about staff neglect or conduct to:

  • the LADO (Allegations about adults who work with children)

Nurseries should refer to guidance from Ofsted in:

Contact arrangements

If you get requests from parents about disputes linked to contact or residence of children, you should:

  • advise them that you are not able to make decisions about unresolved issues.

Decisions made by social work teams

Send concerns about:

  • a referral not being actioned
  • delays in decision-making
  • case closures

to the practice manager of the social work team involved.

Allegations about adults who work with children - the LADO

This page is for professionals. If you are a member of the public or a parent, visit Report a concern about a child or a teenager.

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) deals with allegations about adults who work or volunteer with children. We offer advice to employers and agencies when an allegation has been made about a person, whether at work or in their private life.

Refer directly to the Single Point of Advice (SPoA) when a child is at risk of or has been significantly harmed, and an adult who is working or volunteering with children has:

  • behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
  • possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
  • behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she may pose a risk of harm to children
  • behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children.

For other concerns about conduct, you can make a referral to the LADO.

Children's LADO referral form

Managing Allegations Process

This page is for professionals. If you are a member of the public or a parent, visit Report a concern about a child or a teenager.

When an allegation or concern has been raised about a person who works or volunteers with children, refer to the  Managing Allegations Guidance [378.7 KB] [pdf] and follow the pathways below:

Pathway 1: A clear disclosure of harm such as physical or sexual abuse:

  1. Contact the Single Point of Advice (SPOA). If it is out of hours, contact the Emergency Duty Service on or 01273 335 905

  2. SPOA checks the concern and decides how serious it is. If it is very serious (level 3 or 4), they will tell the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

    For levels 1 and 2, see Organisations that help families.

  3. The MASH Practice Manager will check the referral with the Police. They will decide if they need to have a Strategy Meeting,
    or close to Children’s Social Care and refer to LADO to take forward

  4. In a Strategy Meeting, they will choose to do one of the following:
    - refer for a Children’s Social Care assessment
    - start a police investigation
    - decide no further action (NFA) is needed for Children’s Social Care
    - ask LADO to take forward for oversight of employer’s internal investigation

  5. A Children’s Social Care assessment could result in:
    - transfer to long-term Children’s Social Care team
    - no further action (NFA) to Children’s Social Care

  6. A Police investigation could result in:
    - prosecution
    - no further action (NFA). LADO to be kept updated on Police investigation outcome.

  7. If the Police investigation closes with NFA,

    LADO will tell the Employer the next steps. This might include an internal investigation with HR advice on a risk management plan until the investigation is finished. The outcomes might be:

    - no further action (NFA)
    - disciplinary process
    - LADO to be kept updated on the employer’s investigation outcome

  8. A disciplinary meeting might result in:
    - dismissal or resignation (consider the threshold for DBS referral)
    - training/guidance
    - no further action (NFA)
    - LADO should be updated on the outcome of the disciplinary process.

Pathway 2: A general concern, e.g. conduct or behaviour:

  1. Make a LADO referral

  2. LADO will advise on the next steps, including whether to start an internal investigation:
  • if new concerns are identified, consider a referral to SPOA
  • Do an internal investigation with HR advice on a risk management plan until the investigation is finished.
  • NFA
  • disciplinary process. 
  • LADO to be kept updated on the employer’s investigation outcome

An internal investigation could result in a disciplinary process (see pathway 1, point 8).