Children First Act 2015

The 2015 Act imposes certain reporting obligations on organizations and groups of professionals that provide ‘relevant services’ to children (listed in Schedule 1 of the Act). The Act requires, inter alia, the provision of child safeguarding statements (Part 2), reporting by ‘mandated persons’ and ‘authorized persons’ (Part 3); and inter-departmental/sectoral implementation plans (e.g., information-sharing). The legislation also abolishes the common-law defense of “reasonable chastisement.” (Section 28).