Safeguarding

Benefice Policy Statement on Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults

Every person has a value and dignity, which comes directly from the creation of people in God’s image. Among other things this implies a duty to value all people as bearing the image of God and therefore to protect them from harm.

We commit ourselves to nurture, protect and safeguard all our members, particularly children, young people and vulnerable adults.

We recognise that safeguarding is the responsibility of the whole church.

We undertake to exercise proper care in the selection, appointment, training and support of those working with children or vulnerable adults.

We will respond without delay to concerns or allegations that a child or vulnerable adult may have been harmed, cooperating fully in any investigation.

We will challenge any abuse of power by anyone in a position of trust.

We will seek to offer pastoral care to anyone who has suffered abuse.

We will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child, young person or vulnerable adult.

If you have a safeguarding concern, please contact

Katie Heslop, Safeguarding Officer. Tel: 07462 170117
Email: katie@heslops.co.uk

or contact the Salisbury Diocesan Safeguarding Team via:

safeguarding@salisbury.anglican.org or 01722 438651.

POLICY AND PROCEDURES OF THE BENEFICE of ST ALDHELM FOR SAFEGUARDING AND SAFER RECRUITMENT

A. Policy Statement

We commit ourselves to the nurture, protection, and general welfare of all, especially children and adults at risk of harm. In so doing, we will work, in partnership, as appropriate, with parents, carers, statutory agencies and other organisations.
It is the responsibility of each one of us to protect children and adults at risk of harm from all forms of abuse and to report any disclosures of abuse in addition to suspicions or concerns.
In order to achieve this, we are committed to supporting, resourcing and training those who work with children and adults at risk of harm. We will provide appropriate supervision, recognise mutual accountability and commit to an annual review of our safeguarding policy, procedures and practices.

The Benefice of St Aldhelms has adopted the above principles; all volunteers and staff are presented with a copy and expected to follow the procedures and guidelines as set out in this document.

B. Statutory Compliance

The standards in this policy build on and incorporate legislation and government expectations for children and adults at risk of harm. This includes HM Government ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)’ and new safeguarding duties under the Care Act 2014. The guidance is for statutory agencies and voluntary organisations alike and covers all the expectations of government in relation to safeguarding children in England.

NOTE: In most instances, the Benefice of St Aldhelms activities which are covered by this policy relate to work conducted with children and young people (under 18 years of age). In some instances, this work includes young adults at risk of harm. Throughout this document, unless otherwise stated, all statements referring to children and those working with children are applied to young adults at risk of harm when young adults at risk of harm are participating in activities provided by The Benefice of St Aldhelms.

Adopt a policy statement on safeguarding the welfare of children and young adults at risk of harm – The policy statement included in this document has been adopted following approval by the trustees of The Benefice of St Aldhelms. It is reviewed annually and is available on request for public scrutiny.
Plan the work of the Benefice of St Aldhelms so as to minimise situations where the abuse of children may occur – We have established and will maintain and review clear procedures to fulfil this policy. They are set out in detail in this document and are under constant review, with any updates necessary given in writing at least annually.
Introduce a system whereby children may talk with an independent person – Our procedures discourage the formation of exclusive relationships, and our activities are organised in such a way that children have access to a number of people. We are, though, committed to listening to children and giving them the opportunity to talk about any worries or concerns that they may have.
Apply agreed procedures for protecting children to all paid staff and volunteers – We have established minimum procedures for all workers and training and comprehensive procedures for workers in direct contact with children. All workers receive a copy of the policy statement.
Give all staff and volunteers clear roles – All paid staff have a written job description and all volunteers are given a clear written role profile
Use supervision as a means of creating a safeguarding culture across the organisation – All workers plan and review their work with the person to whom they are accountable.
Treat all would-be paid staff and volunteers as job applicants for any position involving contact with children – We have comprehensive application and selection procedures for all workers.
Gain at least two references from people who have experience of the applicant’s paid work or volunteering with children – We require a reference from at least two people (church leaders or equivalent for each applicant), seeking information which includes character and relationship assessment. This includes applicants who work with children annually for short periods. We inform referees if work involves direct contact with children.
We appreciate that some of our volunteers are young adults wanting to begin work with children, and therefore it may not be possible to gain references which relate to relevant experience. However, young leaders may be able to get a good character reference from a teacher etc.
Explore all applicants’ experience of working or contact with children in an interview before appointment – All staff, and volunteers for leadership positions, are interviewed prior to appointment.
General team members on short-term placements are not normally interviewed (but see (11) below).
Find out whether an applicant has any conviction for criminal offences against children.
All workers are required to sign a declaration disclosing a criminal conviction or caution. Annual short-term volunteers with children are required to do so annually. This includes, subject to certain exceptions, disclosing convictions which for other purposes are ‘spent’, as posts involving direct work with children are exempt from the provision of section 4(ii) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions Order 1975).
Make paid and voluntary appointments conditional on the successful completion of a probationary period. While the short-term nature of some volunteer work makes probationary periods inappropriate, we are aware that many volunteers will have limited experience. Appropriate support is provided for each circumstance. In practice, this may mean sharing of responsibility, rather than having unsupervised responsibility, for children. Team leaders have the authority to ask team members to leave an event if it is in the best interests of the children.
We have a system of specific and general induction for staff, leading into an initial six-month work review, and an on-going review process. The on-going review process applies to all workers with children and adults at risk of harm.
Issue guidelines on how to deal with a disclosure and/or concern of abuse.
Comprehensive guidelines are established and reviewed annually. They are held by the Trustees. Responsibility for ensuring they are implemented and reviewed lies with the designated trustee for safeguarding.
Train paid staff and volunteers, their line managers or supervisors, and policy makers.
We ensure that training is provided regarding the safe care of children, including increasing understanding of the prevalence of abuse, along with the signs, symptoms and indicators of abuse.

C. Safer Recruitment

Note: Throughout this section Enhanced Disclosures are only undertaken in respect of the adults at risk of harm (vulnerable adults) workforce, when it is known that individuals will be entering into Regulated Activity with such adults.

All those who seek employment with The Benefice of St Aldhelms as paid staff or volunteers and whose work is likely to involve face to face activity with children are required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). For those who are expected to engage in regulated activity, a barring list check is also made.
Some staff in key managerial positions (where there is a responsibility for the selection or supervision of those working with children) are also required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure.
Those with criminal convictions, cautions, cases pending, reprimands or bindovers are not necessarily unable to take up positions with The Benefice of St Aldhelms, which abides by its policy on ‘Employing People with a Criminal Record’.
The Benefice of St Aldhelms undertakes all its DBS checks through the Diocese of Salisbury.
Verification of identity and processing of applications by prospective trustees is carried out by a specifically the Designated Trustee for Safeguarding (currently Caroline Powell).
All employees are required to apply for Enhanced Disclosures with barring list check on appointment and every three years thereafter.
Other personnel whose work involves contact with children or in supervisory or selection roles of those working with children are also required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure at the time of appointment.
Job applicants are advised of the need for an Enhanced Disclosure before an application is submitted.

Volunteers

All volunteers who are expected to undertake face to face activity with children are required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure on appointment and every three years thereafter. For those who are expected to engage in regulated activity, a barring list check is also made.

Update Service

Where an individual has registered a disclosure certificate with the DBS update service, The Benefice of St Aldhelms will accept registered disclosure certificates that comply with the following criteria:
- The disclosure is for the ‘Child Workforce’ category and
- It is an ‘Enhanced Disclosure’ and
- There is a barred list check if the individual is expected to be in regulated activity
Where the online disclosure check contains information about cautions, convictions, reprimands or warnings or other relevant information the procedure below on handling disclosure information will be followed.

Handling Disclosure Information

If a Disclosure contains information about cautions, convictions, reprimands or warnings or other relevant information, advice on how to proceed is sought by the Safeguarding Officer.
Information recorded on the Disclosure may be shared only with those directly involved in the particular employment decision.
Information recorded on the Disclosure is only shared if it is likely to affect the employment decision, which is then made in accordance with The Benefice of St Aldhelms policy on Employing People with a Criminal Record.
If additional information is received from a police force, action follows the procedure outlined in the letter and is not shared with the applicant or anyone other than those making the employment decision, and only with those people if the police letter received does not forbid it.
The date and disclosure number of all checks are recorded in The Benefice of St Aldhelms DBS system.
In extreme circumstances, when a disclosure check has not been successfully completed prior to the start of an event, and the individual is not registered with the update service, a risk assessment must be completed to determine what role, if any, that individual may take in the event. That risk assessment must be signed off by the Designated Trustee for Safeguarding.

Renewal of Disclosures

Disclosures are normally renewed on a rolling three-year basis, unless there is a significant change in an applicant’s circumstances
For disclosures that are registered with the update service these will also be checked on a rolling 3-year basis.

D. Code of Conduct

Event leaders and team members

All those working with children and adults at risk of harm on behalf of The Benefice of St Aldhelms will treat them with respect and dignity, which should be reflected in attitude, behavior and speech across all elements of the event’s programme
The Benefice of St Aldhelms acknowledges that it has a duty of care for a child or adult at risk of harm booking onto a Wave event.
Teams of event workers (volunteers and/or staff) on mixed gender events will include male and female members, and organisation of activities within the events will reflect this balance wherever possible.
Teams will aim to work in groups and in public areas so that contact between participants and team is in sight of others.
Teams will avoid forming exclusive relationships or those which could be seen as showing favouritism to individual participants.
Wherever a team member finds themselves involved in a potentially lengthy counselling situation, they should seek to involve another member of the team at an early stage. Promises of confidentiality will be avoided and items shared with leaders or adults with relevant experience.
It is normally inappropriate for adults to initiate physical contact with participants, and team members should be cautious of contact initiated by participants, except in exceptional circumstances such as the need for medical attention or to prevent harm.
The use of any corporal punishment is strictly prohibited i.e. any form of physical discipline is not acceptable.
Any physical contact with children in the area of incident management will be purely in terms of an intervention which prevents the child exercising violent, or other inappropriate, behaviour and/or from hurting themselves or others. Minimal force will be used, for the minimum time necessary, and witnessed by another team member where possible.
If it is necessary to send a child or adult at risk of harm home from an event early, they will either be collected by a parent/guardian/carer or accompanied home so that the responsibility for their welfare is clearly transferred, unless other arrangements are agreed with the child’s parents/carers ideally in writing e.g. email.
On residential events, the Designated Safeguarding Lead is responsible for establishing and recording the detailed protocol regarding any access required to children’s sleeping accommodation by team members. They will take into consideration the commitment to the protection and general welfare of children, the specific features of the event’s setting and the whole of this Code of Conduct.
Team leaders and members are in a ‘relationship of trust’ with participants and must take care that an abuse of that trust does not occur. Any behaviour which might allow a sexual relationship to develop between a person in a position of trust and the individual(s) in their care must be avoided.
This relationship of trust is also in place outside the actual event in any communication between team and participants, whether in person, by letter, email, telephone, text messaging, social media apps or any other means. Any communication or direct contact with a child will therefore be characterised by transparency and integrity and must operate within The Wave’s policy on safeguarding children.
Team members will not communicate outside of the event with participants other than as directed by the event leader and be consistent with The Wave’s data protection requirements. Such communication would be occasional postal contact, such as a post card/ Christmas card and would never take the form of spiritual mentoring.

Guests

All guests are expected to comply with the event’s behaviour policy. These expectations must be clearly communicated to all guests at the outset of the event.
- The behaviour policy is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all guests and team members and should be set by the event leaders, in consultation with the designated safeguarding lead, having considered this policy and the leaders’ handbook and having undertaken a risk

Visitors

At no time is an ad-hoc volunteer (e.g. parent, visitor) to be given unsupervised responsibility for a group of children. They are asked to sign a visitors’ register.
Any volunteers or visitors staying on site more than 24 hours or staying overnight will be required to complete a support team form online and complete a DBS check as per DBS regulations. Leaders are responsible for the safety and well-being of visitors.

F: Processing of personal data

Information and personal data relating to safeguarding matters will be gathered, recorded and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018, and The Wave’s Data Protection Policy and Privacy Notice.

G: Responsibilities

The Trustees of the Benefice of St Aldhelms are responsible for the approval of The Benefice of St Aldhelms Safeguarding Policy.

A named individual (currently Katie Heslop is the Designated Person for Safeguarding.

The Benefice of St Aldhelms Safeguarding Officer (currently Katie Heslop) is responsible for reporting notifiable cases to the Charity Commission.

APPENDIX A

Definitions of abuse (England)

Children

1. Abuse and neglect

Definitions of abuse

The four definitions of abuse below operate in England based on the government guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)’.

What is abuse and neglect?

Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger for example, via the internet. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children.

Physical abuse

Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.

It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

Neglect

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or
ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Adults

Adult at risk of harm – A person who is aged 18 or over and who has care and support needs as defined by the Care Act 2014.

The Safeguarding duties apply to an adult who;

has need for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) and;
is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect.

Organisations should always promote the adult’s wellbeing in their safeguarding arrangements. People have complex lives and being safe is only one of the things they want for themselves. Professionals should work with the adult to establish what being safe means to them and how that can be best achieved. Professional and other staff should not be advocating ‘safety’ measures that do not take account of individual well-being, as defined in Section 1 of the Care Act (www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted and www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-statutory-guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance). This section considers the different types and patterns of abuse and neglect and the different circumstances in which they may take place. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list but an illustrative guide as to the sort of behaviour which could give rise to a safeguarding concern:

Physical abuse – including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate physical sanctions.
Domestic violence – including psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional abuse; so called ‘honour’ based violence.
Sexual abuse – including rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, indecent exposure and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting.
Psychological abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or supportive networks.
Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult’s financial affairs or arrangements, including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.
Modern slavery – encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.
Discriminatory abuse – including forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment; because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
Organisational abuse – including neglect and poor care practice within an Institution or specific care setting such as a hospital or care home, for example, or in relation to care provided in one’s own home. This may range from one-off incidents to on-going ill-treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.
Neglect and acts of omission – including ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.
Self-neglect – this covers a wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding. Incidents of abuse may be one-off or multiple, and affect one person or more