Providers must have up-to-date safeguarding policies and procedures.
1.1 Safeguarding policy
To safeguard children and young people providers must ensure their safeguarding policy sets out clearly safeguarding expectation for members of the organisation, staff, volunteers, proprietor, children and their families. The policy must also set out clearly how the following will be identified and managed in line with current DSCP procedures:
Additional information about key safeguarding areas can also be found in Keeping Children Safe in Education (Annex B) and the NSPCC website - types of abuse.
Providers must include information on reporting concerns about children in the policy, covering:
- information on potential indicators of abuse or neglect and how to recognise and respond to concerns
- a named safeguarding lead and deputy that all staff are aware lead on safeguarding and with relevant concerns
- how individual staff and volunteers who are concerned that a child has or may have been abused, are required to report this immediately to the safeguarding lead or deputy and consider with them a referral to the relevant locality team or Family Support and Advice Line. In the case a child is in immediate danger, staff understand the requirement to phone the police.
Please refer to the DSCP guidelines on safeguarding referrals.
The policy should include information on recording, storing and sharing of information, explaining:
The policy must detail how you will ensure effective inter-agency working around safeguarding including compliance with:
Providers will have a policy or section within their safeguarding policy on online safety that includes:
- use of personal/organisations IT system and/or mobile phones
- taking, storing and destructing photographs and videos of children
- expectations regarding an individual’s behaviour, conduct and interaction when using all social media. This includes contact with parents and children who use the providers services
- appropriate lines of intervention, response and protection following any internet safety incident
- how to ensure the leadership team and relevant staff:
- are aware of and understand the system for online safety is in place
- manage them effectively
- understand how to escalate concerns when identified
- for schools, colleges or educational providers; how to review the effectiveness of filtering and monitoring system, to limit children’s exposure of online risk from your IT system
Refer to the DSCP online safety guidance and support for parents to keep children safe online government guidance .
1.2. Safer recruitment policy
Providers must ensure their safeguarding policy:
- is in line with the DSCP guidance on safer recruitment practices
- details the recruitment process for paid staff, volunteers and agency staff, which should include as a minimum:
- planning
- advertising
- scrutinising
- shortlisting
- references
- interviews
- DBS (including online search) and other suitability checks
- how the governments criteria for DBS checks and risk assessments for convictions or concerns is complied with
- outlines expectations that staff responsible for recruitment undertake safer recruitment training
- explains that at least one member of interview panels must undertake safer recruitment training. See the DSCP training offer
- requires all staff/volunteers working in regulated activity to be DBS checked. See Disclosure and Barring Service guidance for further information and definition of regulated activity
- covers expectations regarding induction and supervision
- references staff records (see section 2)
To manage a positive DBS disclosure (stating a criminal conviction or caution), providers will ensure:
- your policy includes the process of dealing with convictions, relevant ‘soft’ information and third-party information
- a risk assessment is undertaken on all convictions, concerns, soft information and third-party information. The provider will share the risk assessment with Dorset’s LADO who will advise as appropriate.
1.3. Managing allegations policy
Providers must ensure you have clear internal procedures and policies for managing allegations against staff and volunteers and that this is known by and operated by everyone in your organisation, either as part of your safeguarding policy or as a standalone policy.
These should:
- be aligned with DSCP managing allegations procedures
- include the name and contact details of the designated senior manager to whom an allegation or concern should be reported and deputy in their absence
- describe the process if the designated senior manager or deputy is the subject of the allegation or concern
- contain managing confidentiality, providing support, how to respond to an allegation or concern, disciplinary process, record keeping, monitoring progress and learning lessons process
- include a process to manage appropriately and promptly and record any low level concern that arises in respect of a member of the provider’s staff, their volunteers and sub-contractors
- include a named officer who will report all allegations to the Local Authority Safeguarding Officer (LADO) as appropriate and continue to liaise as appropriate, in accordance with the DSCP procedures
Where there are any convictions, concerns or relevant information on DBS checks, providers must ensure these are reported to Dorset’s LADO by completing the managing allegations referral form.
Our standard contract requires providers to immediately notify Dorset Council’s commissioning and/or referring teams when they become aware of any allegations, concerns or safeguarding information which in provider’s view, deems their staff/ volunteers may be unsuitable to work with children or young people.
The requirement to have a managing allegation policy includes providers working alone for example self-employed or sole-traders. Information on how to report concerns pertaining to yourself should be promoted prominently to children, young people and their parents/cares. For example, stating the contact details of the LADO.
1.4. Whistleblowing policy
Providers recognise the importance of raising concerns at work in the public interest or ‘whistleblowing’ and must have a clear guidance for ‘whistleblowing’. See the DSCP guidance on whistleblowing.
1.5. Code of conduct
Providers should have an effectively implemented code of conduct which covers staff behaviour policy. The list isn’t exhaustive, but it should include:
- acceptable use of technologies (including the use of mobile devices)
- how to respond to low level of concern
- staff/children relationships
- communications including the use of social media