This briefing is a summary of the statutory guidance Duty on Police Forces in England and Wales to Notify Education Establishments of Domestic Abuse Incidents: Operation Encompass, published by the Home Office in November 2025. Click on the link to access the full guidance.
Operation Encompass is an information-sharing scheme between the police and relevant educational settings. It requires police forces in England and Wales to notify educational settings and – where relevant – local authorities about domestic abuse incidents they attend. See Operation Encompass for information and training tools for organisations and leads.
The Home Office has now published the Operation Encompass guidance which is statutory; it outlines the principles of the information-sharing duty, the Operation Encompass scheme and provides best practice guidance.
The duty applies to all children in education, from reception (usually aged 4 or 5 years old) up to the age of 17. The term ‘relevant educational settings’ includes those enrolled in registered primary and secondary schools, including independent and private schools, alternative settings (for example Pupil Referral Units), further education colleges or 16 to 19 academies.
Educational settings are often the only consistent support available to some children. Many children affected by domestic abuse are not known to any other services, and the domestic abuse they experience may not reach the threshold for intervention by social care.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognised children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right if they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse. Any response from services, therefore, must recognise the impact that domestic abuse has on children and should be informed by their voice and needs, ensuring that they are supported.
Police attendance at incidents should result in an Operation Encompass notification to the educational setting where a child under 18 is a victim of domestic abuse. This includes children who are physically present at the incident, children who are not physically present and situations where the child might live in another household temporarily or permanently.
It should be noted that an Operation Encompass notification does not replace a safeguarding children referral. Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social care, as per local safeguarding children partnership procedures.
Forces have a legal duty to notify a child’s educational establishment if they have reasonable grounds to believe that a child may be a victim of domestic abuse (because they have seen, heard or experienced the effects of domestic abuse).
Where a child is home educated or missing education, notifications should be made to the relevant local authority.
All frontline officers in a force should be fully trained in Operation Encompass. This includes its purpose, when and how to apply it, and is available through the Operation Encompass charity. Officers should be aware that Operation Encompass notifications do not replace usual safeguarding procedures and safeguarding children referrals.
Frontline officers attending domestic abuse incidents, including via Rapid Video Response, should make every reasonable effort to identify all children connected to the household. This includes children who are not immediately visible (e.g., asleep or hiding), children who live there permanently or temporarily, visiting children, and children who are not present at the incident.
Officers should conduct a check on the welfare of any children present at the scene to ensure their safety, in line with their force’s processes. This should also include speaking directly with the child, whether in-person or via Rapid Video Response. Officers should gather key information from the child (where appropriate), parent, caregiver or guardian at an incident, such as the child or young person’s name, date of birth, and their educational setting.
They should make an Operation Encompass notification for all children connected to the household. The notification should be made before the start of the next school day or, in exceptional circumstances, as soon as possible.
There should be an Operation Encompass lead in each police force, to ensure consistent and effective implementation across the force. They serve as the main contact, working with educational settings, safeguarding leads, and internal teams to embed the scheme into daily safeguarding practices.
The Chief Constable is responsible for the effective delivery of Operation Encompass.
A designated police lead oversees implementation, aligns delivery with Home Office guidance, and ensures timely communication with educational settings before the start of the school day.
Where police officers have concerns about a child’s welfare, they should make a referral to the local authority children’s social care, which should be made immediately if there is a concern that a child is suffering significant harm or is likely to do so. Local authorities should always be notified and involved where there is no relevant educational setting to notify. This could include cases where a child is home educated or missing education.
Notifications must only be shared with the trained Key Adults in an educational setting, which specifically include the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and deputy.
A DSL is responsible for leading on all safeguarding and child protection matters within an educational setting. They are likely to be the Key Adult for Operation Encompass notifications and are responsible for making safeguarding referrals to appropriate agencies, maintaining up-to-date safeguarding policies and training, overseeing record-keeping, and liaising with families where appropriate.
Additional training for Key Adults on the Operation Encompass scheme is available through the Operation Encompass charity.
A notification must be made if any of the following apply:
An Operation Encompass notification should be made by telephone, email or notification made via another electronic method to an educational setting’s Key Adult, before the start of the next school day (wherever possible) following the incident.
Police officers can identify the relevant educational setting through the child or the non-abusive parent/caregiver at the scene or, where this is not possible, through the local authority.
Officers should consider making further referrals to specialist domestic abuse services where appropriate.
The notification should include:
In cases involving siblings or multiple children who attend the same educational setting, police may choose to issue a separate notification for each child, or issue one notification, which should still include the voice of each child.
In some situations, a police officer might attend a domestic abuse incident in a local area that differs from the local area where a child attends an educational setting. In this case, the notification must still be sent to the educational setting attended by a child.
In cases where ‘honour’ based abuse or harmful practices have been disclosed, it should be noted that engagement between statutory services and wider family members can increase risk. Careful consideration and discretion should be used about information sharing and confidentiality to prevent escalation and harm.
It is good practice for police forces to collect data on the scheme, including the number of notifications sent and the number of children involved in these notifications.
This helps build a clearer picture of the number of children affected by domestic abuse supported via Operation Encompass. It ensures that the voice of the child is heard and considered at the time of the domestic abuse incident.
It also helps professionals understand the true scale of domestic abuse and respond appropriately to children’s needs.
Click on the link to access the full statutory guidance: Duty on police forces in England and Wales to notify education establishments of domestic abuse incidents: Operation Encompass (Home Office).
