What is a LADO in Safeguarding?

So what is a LADO? A LADO, or Local Authority Designated Officer, is the person in each local authority responsible for overseeing concerns and allegations that an adult who works with children may have behaved in a way that puts them at risk. Every local authority in England has a LADO. They give advice, coordinate the response, and make sure allegations against staff and volunteers are handled fairly and consistently.

If you manage people who work with children, knowing when and how to involve the LADO is an important part of your safeguarding responsibilities. This guide explains what a LADO does, when to contact them, and what the referral process involves.

What does LADO stand for?

LADO stands for Local Authority Designated Officer. Some areas also call the role the designated officer, or place it within a wider managing allegations team. The statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education sets out the LADO’s responsibilities in full.

What does a LADO do in practice?

The LADO becomes involved whenever an allegation or concern arises that a person who works with children may have harmed a child, or may pose a risk to children. Their role covers five key areas:

• Providing advice and guidance to employers and organisations.
• Helping to decide whether an allegation meets the threshold for further action.
• Overseeing and coordinating case management, including with the police and children’s social care where needed.
• Monitoring cases to make sure they move forward fairly and without unnecessary delay.
• Keeping a strategic overview of patterns and trends across the local area.

Importantly, the LADO oversees the process. They do not carry out the investigation themselves. They are there to support employers, not to take over an organisation’s own responsibilities.

When should you contact a LADO?

Contact the LADO as soon as a concern or allegation arises that an adult working with children has, or may have:

• behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child;
• possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;
• behaved towards a child in a way that suggests they may pose a risk of harm; or
• behaved in a way that suggests they may not be suitable to work with children, including behaviour in their personal or online life.

That final point is sometimes called transferable risk. It covers situations where something in a person’s life outside work raises a question about their suitability to work with children.

If you are unsure whether a concern meets the threshold, call the LADO and ask. A same-day conversation is nearly always better than waiting. Employers are generally expected to contact the LADO within one working day of an allegation being made.

Both Keeping Children Safe in Education and Working Together to Safeguard Children set out these thresholds. Both documents are updated from time to time, so check the current versions. Our summary of the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education update is a useful starting point.

The LADO referral process: step by step

Each local authority has its own forms and contact details, but the LADO referral process generally follows the same steps:

1. Someone raises an allegation or concern, usually with the designated safeguarding lead or a senior manager.
2. The employer contacts the LADO, normally within one working day, to discuss what has come to light.
3. An initial discussion takes place to decide whether the concern meets the threshold. Not every concern leads to a full investigation.
4. Where the threshold is met, the LADO may bring together relevant partners, such as the police and children’s social care, to agree a coordinated plan.
5. The LADO monitors the case through to a conclusion.
6. The case reaches a recorded outcome. Common outcomes include substantiated, unsubstantiated, unfounded, false or malicious. Each outcome guides what happens next for both the child and the member of staff.

Throughout, the aim is to keep children safe while treating the person subject to the allegation fairly.

Who is responsible for making a LADO referral?

In a school, the designated safeguarding lead or headteacher usually makes the referral. Where the allegation concerns the headteacher, the chair of governors normally takes on that responsibility instead. In other organisations, the safeguarding lead or a senior manager typically handles it.

Whoever holds the role needs to know the threshold and act quickly. Our guides to the designated safeguarding lead and who is responsible for safeguarding in a school explain how these responsibilities fit together.

Making sure your organisation is ready

Allegations against staff are rare. But they are high-stakes, and many organisations feel unprepared when one arises. A clear procedure, a trained DSL, and staff who know how to raise a concern all make a real difference when it matters.

If you want to check that your arrangements for managing allegations are clear and compliant, our consultants can include this as part of a safeguarding audit or review. We also provide designated safeguarding lead training that covers managing allegations and working with the LADO.

Frequently asked questions

Want your team confident about managing allegations and working with the LADO? Book a safeguarding audit or review or talk to our team.