Multi-Agency Safeguarding as a form of Public Entrepreneurship.

Principles associated with entrepreneurship are no longer confined to the business or private sector. Rather, they are beginning to seep into the public sector, with increasing complex societal problems requiring innovative solutions. This has resulted in the boundaries between the private and public sector becoming blurred. Within England and Wales, legislation and policy changes have required safeguarding practices and processes to become collaborative, and stakeholders from across the public, private and third (voluntary) sector to develop multi agency ways of working. The development of public entrepreneurship and multi-agency safeguarding have occurred alongside one another, however, links between the two are limited. This chapter, therefore, critically discusses how innovation, risk taking and proactivity, factors often associated with public entrepreneurship, have influenced the establishment of multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH) in England and Wales. Through this lens, the importance of collaborative working practices needing to be designed, implemented, and continually adapted to reflect changing landscapes is highlighted. Learning materials at the end of the chapter aim to extend the debates raised and enable the reader to reflect on the relationship between public entrepreneurship and multi-agency working in contexts that are familiar to them.