Review urges tighter controls on sex offenders and information-sharing when families move

A national child safeguarding review has called for urgent changes to protect unborn babies and infants, including a legal requirement for registered sex offenders to inform services about new partners and notify them of any pregnancies.

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel said the case of Victoria Marten exposed systemic safeguarding weaknesses that frequently appear in serious incidents; particularly around offender management, multi-agency coordination and breakdowns in information-sharing when families move across council boundaries.

Victoria was born in December 2022 and died in early 2023 after her parents concealed her birth and deliberately avoided contact with statutory services. In 2025, both parents were convicted of gross negligence manslaughter, child cruelty, perverting the course of justice and concealing the birth of a child.

While the Panel described the circumstances as rare, it emphasised that the risks present in Victoria’s family history — including concealed pregnancies, repeated child removals, domestic abuse, serious offending, disengagement from services and frequent relocation — are common in child protection cases across England.

One of the review’s key national recommendations is for the government to amend the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to expand the registration requirements for registered sex offenders.

Under the recommendation, offenders would be required to notify police of the name of any new partner and to inform police within a specified period if they or their partner becomes pregnant.

The Panel said closer integration between criminal justice services and children’s safeguarding systems is essential, particularly when individuals with serious offending histories are parents or carers.

It also called for updated MAPPA guidance to better align offender risk management with child safeguarding responsibilities, noting that gaps between systems can allow significant risks to go unaddressed.

The review also highlights persistent weaknesses when families move between local authority areas — a factor frequently linked to missed safeguarding opportunities.

One recommendation calls for statutory guidance to clearly require robust, formal handover processes for children in need and those subject to child protection plans.

This should include comprehensive case summaries, shared chronologies and timely transfer-in conferences, alongside clearer principles for determining safeguarding responsibility when jurisdiction is unclear.

Safeguarding partners are also urged to ensure multi-agency case summaries and intervention plans are consistently maintained and ready to share as soon as families relocate.

Panel Chair, Sir David Holmes CBE said: “Few tragedies are greater than the death of a baby, and baby Victoria’s is all the more devastating because her parents caused it.

“Baby Victoria lived in a family where there had been several concealed pregnancies, repeated child removals, domestic abuse, lack of engagement with services, serious offending and frequent moves. These are risks we see time and again in serious safeguarding incidents, and they are examined in depth in our review.

“While baby Victoria’s death was rare, her status as a vulnerable unborn baby and then a vulnerable infant is not. Last year, more than 5,000 unborn babies and infants under one were on child protection plans. Their parents are struggling, often disengaged from services, and many receive little support.

“A key lesson from baby Victoria’s story is clear: to protect vulnerable babies better, we must support their parents too. That may be hard to hear and hard to understand, but it is essential if we are to stop cycles of harm from repeating. Safeguarding professionals need the time, skills and resources to understand why families disengage and to address the underlying issues - whatever they may be - domestic abuse, substance use, mental health, trauma after previous child removals or anything else.

“That is why we are calling for improved national guidance for safeguarding vulnerable unborn babies and infants, and better support for parents whose children are removed. These changes will help reduce future harm.

“We cannot prevent every act of extreme parental harm - but we can reduce the risks in families and help people to move forward. That must be baby Victoria’s legacy.”

The review comes against a backdrop of increasing numbers of very young children within the child protection system.

As of March 2025, more than 5,000 unborn babies and infants under the age of one were subject to child protection plans — the age group most frequently involved in serious safeguarding incidents and with the highest fatality rate.

The Panel said this scale of vulnerability presents both significant risk and a major opportunity for early, preventative intervention.