The welfare of a child and vulnerable adult is paramount. Abuse is a term to describe ways in which children and vulnerable adults are harmed, usually by adults and often by people they know and trust. It refers to the damage done to a child or vulnerable adult’s physical or mental health. New forms of abuse such as internet grooming, financial abuse of older people and the extreme difficulties faced by young asylum seekers, mean our policies and procedures need to be continually reviewed to keep abreast of these developments. Abuse can occur within or outside the family including a place of learning or training. Safeguarding, if it is to have an impact, must become the responsibility of everyone. All employees, directors, board members, partners and other stakeholders have a responsibility to actively make the environment a safe and secure place for all.

Results Consortium Limited (Results) is fully committed to providing a working and learning environment that is free from abuse and harm. It will strive to maintain a safe culture within all its work and learning environments by: clearly identifying and communicating the roles and responsibilities within the organization for safeguarding; having clear audited procedures in place; training staff in safeguarding procedures and by allocating sufficient resources to safeguarding; applying a zero tolerance to any form of abuse and harm. This policy is also designed to protect the staff of Results against false allegations

All children and vulnerable adults whatever age, culture, disability, gender, ethnic origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity have the right to protection from abuse. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

Results will clearly identify their Designated Person (DP), their location and contact details in formats that are easily accessible to all staff and learners. There will be a deputy in case of sickness, annual leave or in the event of an allegation made against the DP.

Results is committed to a policy in which:

• Recruitment procedures comply with safeguarding best practice and will be followed in the appointment of all staff. Where staff are required to have contact with children or vulnerable adults, Results will only recruit or appoint staff who are deemed suitable to work with children or vulnerable adults
• Results staff working with children and vulnerable adults will be issued with a copy of this policy. Any member of staff found in breach of the guidance will be subject to disciplinary procedures
• All new members of staff and learners who are under the age of 18 will have a Young Persons Risk Assessment carried out as per the Health and Safety Policy Statement
• As part of the initial advice and guidance session or induction session, all new learners will be shown the Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy. This will be followed by discussion and checking of understanding, and periodically reviewed at a formal review meeting. All new employees will be made aware of and issued with this policy as part of their induction, depending on their role
• All children and vulnerable adults within the organisation will be informed that their assessor or tutor will be their nominated contact point for any concerns they may have regarding safeguarding. In addition, they will be given details of the DP, and asked to report any concerns to their assessor or tutor, or DP
• The assessors and tutors must liaise with the DP or any relevant partner organisations with any concerns to ensure safeguarding
• Staff must keep a secure and up to date record of all children and vulnerable adults either working in or learning within the organisation. They should monitor their progress on a regular basis to check they are safe from abuse and harm whilst on programme.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Roles and responsibilities are as follows:

CEO

• Allocate required resources and time to provide adequate safeguarding measures
• Provide leadership in ensuring the safety of children and vulnerable adults
• Review, update and approve policy and procedures

Centre Co-ordinator

• Put in place a comprehensive training programme to ensure all staff have a competent understanding of safeguarding that is relevant to their role.

Designated Person (Designated Safeguarding Lead)

• Monitor policy and communicate changes to all staff and learners on programme
• Ensure publicity of position statement supplied with up to date information
• Manage the application of safeguarding procedures
• Act as the focal point for safeguarding
• Ensure all staff are competent to undertake their safeguarding duties
• Clearly communicate the safeguarding policy to all staff
• Liaise with partner agencies as required, including Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), via the Essex Coalition of Disabled People
• Where necessary, inform relevant agencies of concerns over safeguarding issues.

Staff

• Be aware of any children and vulnerable adults within their portfolio
• Comply with policy and procedures
• Promote a safe learning environment
• Ensure all learners and employers are aware of the safeguarding policy​
• Report any concerns to DP immediately.

GUIDANCE

Good Practice

• Always work in an open environment avoiding private or unobserved situations, encourage open communication
• Treat all children and vulnerable adults equally with respect and dignity
• Maintain a safe and appropriate distance
• Be aware of the effect your words or actions may have.

Practices to be avoided

• Spending excessive amounts of time alone with children and vulnerable adults away from others
• Straying from the specified task or assignment
• Being unnecessarily inquisitive
• Saying anything that may make a child or vulnerable adult feel uncomfortable, or that could be interpreted as aggressive, hostile or impatient
• Being drawn into personal conversations
• Sitting or standing too close
• Meeting other than at the prearranged venue
• Exchanging personal details
• Making contact via social internet contact sites.

Practices never to be sanctioned

You should never:

• Allow allegations made by a child or vulnerable adult to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon
• Promise a child or vulnerable adult that their confidences will be kept secret
• Allow children or vulnerable adults to use inappropriate language unchallenged
• Reduce a child or vulnerable adult to tears as a form of control
• Allow or engage in any form of touching or make suggestive comments to a child or vulnerable adult.

SUPPORT AND TRAINING

It is recognised that some disclosures might be upsetting and harrowing for some staff. Results will offer appropriate support and assistance as necessary to staff involved with safeguarding issues. Staff will also:

• Need to undertake the LSIS safeguarding level 1 and 2 as necessary
• Attend regular training updates as deemed necessary by the DP
• Keep a record of their CPD – Continuing Professional Development.

IMPLEMENTATON OF THE POLICY

Staff dealing with children and vulnerable adults are trained how to recognise and respond to a situation where abuse is reported and how to report this or any concerns. They should consider and act on 5 R’s:

1. Recognition
2. Response
3. Reporting
4. Recording
5. Referral

Recognition – signs and indicators of abuse may just cause concern, but it could be a direct disclosure from someone. A direct disclosure may be made to anyone within the organisation who is trusted by the individual.

Response – Appropriate response is vital. No report should ever be ignored. At this point the response is just to listen, stay calm, and not show shock or outrage at what is being disclosed. You may need to ask some questions, but these should never lead or probe, just gather enough information to ascertain if there is immediate danger or harm. Do not make any promises as to what will happen, and be clear that everything will be treated in confidence, but must be passed on to the appropriate DP.

Reporting – Immediately report your concerns or information to the DP. Once the report has been made, the responsibility will lie with the DP. You are within your rights to check that appropriate action has been taken, but confidentiality may mean that the DP may not be able to share this information with you. If for any reason you feel that the matter has not been taken forward, you can make a referral directly to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

Recording – You should record precisely what has been alleged, using the key words and phrases used by the individual. You can also record your own observations of the individual, as well as your interpretation of the facts. This record should be passed on in person to the DP, who will store it securely, where it is only accessible to those staff with safeguarding responsibilities.

Referral – The DP should gather enough information to make a referral, if appropriate by talking to the appropriate people outside the organisation.