Use the school's postcode for the relevant MASH team. Full or partial postcodes accepted.
177 Local Authorities
Full coverage across England and Wales: London boroughs, unitary authorities, county councils, metropolitan districts and all 22 Welsh local authorities.
Direct Contact Details
Phone, email and out-of-hours numbers for each MASH team are provided. No need to search through council websites.
Statutory Aligned
Built to support DSLs meeting their statutory duty to refer concerns to the local authority under Keeping Children Safe in Education.
What is a MASH and when should I contact them?
A Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is a team of professionals from children's social care, police, health and other agencies who work together to assess child protection concerns. Every English local authority operates a MASH (or equivalent single point of contact).
Under Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE 2026, in force until 31 August 2026; KCSIE 2026 from 1 September 2026) and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 , your Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) must refer any child for whom there are reasonable grounds to suspect abuse or neglect to the local authority's children's social care. The MASH is the front door to this process. Before making a referral, your DSL should be satisfied the concern meets the section 17 or section 47 threshold for statutory children's social care involvement. Where concerns are present but have not yet reached that level, an early help assessment is the proportionate first response.
🏴️⚪️ Wales: Different Framework
Wales does not operate the MASH model. Instead, concerns are referred directly to the local authority's Children's Social Services duty team . Schools in Wales follow Keeping learners safe (Welsh Government, last updated April 2022) rather than KCSIE, and the statutory framework is the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and Wales Safeguarding Procedures 2019 . In Wales, the DSP (Designated Safeguarding Person) leads on referrals, coordinated regionally through one of five Regional Safeguarding Boards (RSBs) .
🏴 Scotland & Northern Ireland: Different Frameworks
This tool covers England and Wales only. Scotland follows the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 (updated 2023) , published by the Scottish Government, with referrals going to the local authority children's social work department. Northern Ireland follows Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland (October 2024 edition) and the Department of Education's Safeguarding and Child Protection in Schools guidance, with referrals to the local Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust gateway team. If you are in Scotland, see gov.scot . If you are in Northern Ireland, see health-ni.gov.uk .
When to Contact Children's Social Services (England & Wales)
- • You have reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm
- • A child makes a disclosure of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, neglect)
- • You observe signs consistent with exploitation (CCE, CSE, county lines)
- • A child is missing from education and you cannot account for their welfare
- • A professional disagrees with a decision not to refer and wishes to escalate
Sources: DfE, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 (in force 1 September 2026, GOV.UK); DfE, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 (in force until 31 August 2026, GOV.UK); HM Government, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 . Wales: Welsh Government, Keeping Learners Safe (last updated April 2022). Contact details sourced from local authority public websites; reviewed April 2026.