Recommendation SP52: National guidance on structured risk assessments
From The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1, published 13 April 2026.
Recommendation
Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England should review:
1. Whether there is a need for further development and guidance including on the thresholds for when complex structured risk assessments (such as the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth) are required for children and young people who present a risk of violence to others. A balance may need to be struck between sufficient provision of guidance to assist as to when the more complex type of structured risk assessment may be justified and retaining the case-specific judgements by professionals that are inevitably required.
2. Whether national guidance is required to ensure clarity about who is responsible for conducting complex structured risk assessments (where they are appropriate) for children and young people who present a risk of violence to others. Consideration should also be given to the roles of children and young people’s mental health services and wider children’s services in conducting or referring for appropriate risk assessments.
In brief (written by this site)
In July 2026, HM Government stated that the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England expected to complete the recommendation by 31 March 2027 (Home Office response, Jul 2026). It stated that the review will examine evidence on structured risk assessment tools, assess whether further guidance and thresholds are needed for children and young people who present a risk of violence, and incorporate learning from Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (Home Office response, Jul 2026). The record holds no update since the government's response of July 2026 (Home Office response, Jul 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England are the lead organisations and expect to complete this recommendation by 31 March 2027. Progress and next steps:
- DHSC and NHS England will review whether further development and clearer national guidance is needed on the use of structured risk assessments for children and young people who present a risk of violence to others.
- The review will:
- Consider the current evidence regarding the use of structured risk assessment tools for relevant children and young people.
- Based on this evidence, decide whether further guidance is needed in the use and thresholds for structured risk assessment for these children and young people.
- The role of children and young people's mental health services in conducting or referring for appropriate risk assessments.
- Learning from Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust's work under recommendation 51 will feed into the national review.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The government's response to Phase 1 (CP 1623, 2 July 2026) agreed with all 67 recommendations in one sentence, and names only 39 of them individually. Where a recommendation is not named, the response shown is the passage the response gives for the group it belongs to (the recommendations for organisations outside central government, or the recommendations to policing bodies), which is not a response to that recommendation alone; the response does not list the members of any group. The 10 recommendations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider show no response: the response introduces them (paragraph 20) but answers none of them. The government accepts the recommendations that are for central government to deliver. Where a recommendation is for an organisation outside central government, the government's agreement is not that organisation's acceptance.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Department of Health and Social Care has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 July 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department of Health and Social Care
Response