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Rapid Reviews

Working Together 23 outlines that child protection in England is a complex multi-agency system with many different organisations and individuals playing their part. Reflecting on how well that system is working is critical in improving our response to children and their families. Sometimes a child suffers a serious injury or death as a result of abuse or neglect. Understanding not only what happened but also why it happened can help improve our response in the future. Appreciating the impact that organisations and agencies had on the child’s life, and on the lives of their family members, and whether or not different approaches or those actions could have resulted in a different outcome, is essential. It is in this way that we can make good judgements about what might need to change at a local or national level.

A ‘Rapid Review’ is intended to inform the decision-making around whether to undertake a local child safeguarding practice review (CSPR). A notification of a serious incident has been made and therefore, as one Partnership we will now be holding a Rapid Review to consider the case.

Purpose of the Rapid Review

A Rapid Review must be convened within 15 days of a Serious Incident Notification being made. The aim of this rapid review is to enable Partners to:


  • gather the facts about the case, as far as they can be readily established
    • discuss whether any immediate action is needed to ensure children’s safety and share any learning appropriately
    • consider the potential for identifying improvements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
    • decide what steps they should take next, including whether to undertake a local child safeguarding practice review (CSPR)

To inform the Rapid Review meeting, we need to gather the basic facts about the case and determine the extent of agency involvement with the child and family.  Agencies should use this tool to review and report their own practice on a specific case detailed below. Auditors are asked to comment on both the quality and the impact of practice on the outcomes for this child. A number of prompts are provided to support this.

Child J - July 2024

  1. Case background

In July 2024, Child J and his mother were found deceased in the family home; their deaths are thought to be a case of maternal filicide-suicide. Child J, a 5-year-old boy with autism, lived alone with his mother. They appeared socially isolated - they did not leave the house frequently, had no family in the country, and Child J was home educated by his mother. Child J’s parents separated in 2020; the reason for this is unknown, but alleged domestic abuse perpetrated by father may have been a causal factor. Following the separation, there were difficulties relating to father’s access to Child J and private family law proceedings were ongoing at the time of Child J and his mother’s death.

The Rapid Review can be found here.