The role of value-based leadership in multi-agency safeguarding responses to child sexual exploitation

Abstract

YesThis chapter examines the development of value-based leadership (VBL) within multi-agency safeguarding and how complex problems are identified and managed as a collective. Theories of VBL have been chosen to help identify how common components associated with this form of leadership can inform leadership practices in a multi-agency partnership environment. To bridge the gap between VBL and multi-agency safeguarding, a case study relating to a multi-agency response to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is presented, with links to evolving leadership structures, practices, and processes. The case study exemplifies the benefits of flattening traditional hierarchical leadership structures, alongside the importance of allowing the voices of all involved to be heard and listened to. The need to balance collective decision making, with accountability across and within organisations, is also focused upon. Subsequently, the chapter considers the role of VBL in complex safeguarding situations and offers novel empirical contributions to best practice in social work.The full-text of this book chapter will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo in September 2026