Report Concerns

What can I do if I am a child or young person who is being abused or neglected?

ChildLine is a free, confidential helpline for all children and young people in the UK. You can call at any time of night or day, and talk about any problem. Just pick up a phone and dial 0800 1111.

The lines can be busy, so if you can't get through at first keep trying.

You can also phone Children’s Services on 0300 123 4043

If you are living away from home there is a special help line called The Line. This is the helpline for you if you live in a foster home or children's home, if you're at boarding school, or if you've been in hospital for a long time. You can call The Line on 0800 4444 from 3.30pm to 9.30pm at weekdays, and 2pm to 8pm at weekends.

You can write to ChildLine if you prefer, and one of the counsellors will reply to your letter. This is also free, and you don't have to use a stamp. Write to:

ChildLine
Freepost NATN1111
London
E1 6BR

You can also ring the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000.
You can find out more about ChildLine and the NSPCC by using the links on this page to visit the ChildLine and NSPCC websites.

What can I do if I suspect a child is being abused?

As a concerned member of the public, your referral will be treated in the strictest confidence.

If you suspect for any reason that a child is not being treated correctly, please contact the following numbers:

The Police 999
Children’s Services (including out of hours): 0300 123 4043
The Child Abuse Investigation Unit 0845 33 00 222. This is a specialist team that is a department within the police with countywide responsibility for undertaking child protection investigations.

Also, use the above contact numbers, if you believe a child or group of children may be being targeted by someone in your area.

What will happen if I make a referral?

When you call Children’s Services on the above number, your referral will be passed to Customer Services Centre.

Customer Services Centre consists of a group of specially trained staff who will take the details of your call, and pass these on to the appropriate team.

In order to avoid you having to answer lots of questions several times over, they will ask all relevant details to help them gain a picture of your concerns. This will include names, addresses etc. Once you have made your referral, this will be logged and sent to the relevant team. If you have agreed to be contacted, someone from the team may contact you for some more information or to clarify any points. If you choose to remain anonymous you will not be contacted again.