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Find Your Local Children's Services

Every UK council has a children's social care team that takes safeguarding referrals — often called the MASH or duty team. Find yours below.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 now.

Don't wait to work out which council to contact. For anything less urgent, the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 is free, open 24 hours, and can make a referral for you — including anonymously.

Not sure which council?

Contact the council where the child lives, not where you live. If you don't know which that is, use the GOV.UK postcode lookup — it will take you straight to the right council's reporting page.

GOV.UK — report child abuse to your local council

All 208 councils

Each link goes to that council's own official website, where their children's social care contact details are published. We link to the council rather than reprint phone numbers, because council contact numbers change and we will not publish a safeguarding number we cannot verify.

Showing 208 of 208 councils

What happens when you contact them

You will usually speak to a duty social worker or a member of the MASH — a team where social care, police, health and education share information about a child. They will ask what you have seen or heard, and check what is already known.

They then decide the response: no further action, an offer of early help and support, or a referral for a formal assessment. If a child is at immediate risk, it goes to the police straight away. You do not have to be certain, and you are not expected to investigate — that is their job. Read more in our explainer on what a MASH is.

Frequently Asked Questions

External sources

Council links verified against GOV.UK's find-local-council service. Councils change their contact numbers, so we link to each council's official site rather than reprinting numbers we cannot keep verified.