Recent research and reports across children's social care and early years services highlight the importance of relationships, stability, participation and effective support.
They also raise questions about whether organisational systems adequately recognise what matters most to children and families.
1. Parliamentary inquiry highlights the impact of care instability on children's relationships
Published: 27 October 2026
Source: Become — APPG Inquiry on Relationships
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Care-Experienced Children and Young People has published a report examining how the care system protects and supports children's relationships.
Drawing on evidence from more than 170 young people, alongside professionals and organisations, the inquiry raises concerns about placement instability, repeated moves and decisions that fail to adequately protect children's important relationships.
Recommendations include strengthening accountability, improving care planning with children and ensuring that relationships are given greater consideration in placement decisions.
What this means for safeguarding practice
Safeguarding must consider more than immediate physical safety.
Disruption to relationships, repeated placement moves and the loss of trusted adults can have significant implications for children's emotional wellbeing, stability and sense of belonging.
2. Ten-year evaluation identifies lessons for early years services
Published: 23 October 2026
Source: NatCen — Ten Years of A Better Start
The National Centre for Social Research has published findings from its evaluation of A Better Start, a ten-year, £215 million programme supporting families with young children across five areas.
The evaluation highlights the value of relationship-based approaches, parental engagement, joined-up services and early support.
It also identifies challenges involving long-term sustainability, workforce continuity and the ability to demonstrate measurable outcomes consistently.
What this means for safeguarding practice
Prevention requires more than short-term initiatives.
Effective early intervention depends on sustained relationships, coordinated services and meaningful evaluation of whether support improves outcomes for children and families.
3. Ofsted publishes children's experiences of social care
Published: October 2026
Source: Ofsted — Children's Social Care Questionnaires 2026
Ofsted has published findings from questionnaires completed by children and young people receiving support in social care settings.
The publication offers important insight into children's experiences, including their feelings of safety and the support available to them.
What this means for safeguarding practice
Organisations should not rely solely on policies, inspection outcomes or professional accounts when evaluating safeguarding effectiveness.
Children's views should inform service development, quality assurance and decisions about their care.
4. Northern Ireland publishes latest adoption statistics
Publication: Children Adopted from Care in Northern Ireland 2025/26
Source: Department of Health Northern Ireland — Official Statistics
The Department of Health has published official statistics relating to children adopted from care in Northern Ireland.
This provides useful evidence for understanding adoption activity and care-system outcomes within Northern Ireland.
What this means for safeguarding practice
Official data can support scrutiny of children's experiences and system performance, but should be considered alongside qualitative evidence about stability, relationships and longer-term outcomes.
The figures relate specifically to Northern Ireland and should not be treated as England-wide statistics.
A shared message: relationships are central to safeguarding
Across these publications, there is a consistent reminder that effective safeguarding must be grounded in children's lived experiences.
Policies, placements, referral pathways and professional interventions all matter. However, so do continuity, belonging, trusted relationships and the opportunity for children and families to influence decisions affecting their lives.
For organisations, this creates an important challenge: are we measuring what our systems do, or the difference those systems make to children?
RLB Safeguarding works with organisations to strengthen safeguarding culture, governance, professional practice and quality assurance, with a focus on achieving meaningful outcomes for the people they support.