1) Introduction
Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Equine Assisted Learning Limited is committed to working in partnership with other agencies
to protect children (including unborn babies) and adults from abuse and neglect, including radicalisation. This includes those experiencing domestic abuse, stalking, female genital mutilation and modern slavery. Protecting adults and children may require the sharing of information with statutory agencies where there is a suspicion of risk to the public.
Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Equine Assisted Learning Limited recognises its first priority should always be to ensure the
safety, well-being and protection of unborn babies, children, and adults within programmes and to the wider public. That it is the role of all staff and volunteers to act on any allegation, suspicion or evidence of abuse, neglect or radicalisation, and report their concerns to a responsible person, director &/or agency as determined within this policy and related procedures.
2) Purpose & Principles
The purpose of this policy is to outline the duty and responsibility of staff, volunteers and directors working on behalf of Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Equine Assisted Learning Limited in relation to safeguarding beneficiaries, their families and members of the public.
The procedures set out what action staff, volunteers and directors must take where abuse, neglect and radicalisation is suspected or known about.
Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone. Stable Routes CIC has
suitable arrangements to ensure that beneficiaries are safeguarded against the risk of abuse by means of a) taking reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse, b) prevent it before it occurs and c) responding appropriately to any allegation, suspicion or evidence of abuse.
Making Safeguarding Personal is about engaging with people about the outcomes they want and then ascertaining the extent to which those outcomes are realised. It seeks to achieve: • a personalised approach that enables safeguarding to be done with, not to, people
• practice that focuses on achieving meaningful improvement to people’s circumstances rather than just on ‘investigation’ and ‘conclusion’
• an approach that enables people to know what difference has been made.
Everyone has the right to live free from abuse and neglect and to be treated as an individual and with respect and dignity. We recognise our duty to safeguard the people we work with from abuse. We will ensure all our staff, volunteers and sub-contractors are safely recruited and suitably trained. They will know how to recognise abuse, prevent it from happening and act on any allegation or information received.
3) Roles & Responsibilities in relation to Safeguarding
a) Directors
Directors must ensure that there they designate a Safeguarding Lead and ensure that this role receives appropriate supervision and oversight. Directors should ensure that they approve the policy and its procedures on an annual basis and that it is updated in accordance with legislation and commissioning arrangements. The Directors must ensure that Stable Routes CIC has a clear process for staff / volunteer safeguarding induction,
mandatory training, reporting, recording, escalation of safeguarding and any concerns and allegations against staff / volunteers.
b) Designated Safeguarding Lead
Name of Safeguarding Lead : Isobel Mannings
Contact details : 07825202017
Staff (paid or unpaid) and volunteers working in the voluntary and community sector have a vital role to play in delivering services and activities to a range of people in varied settings, therefore it is essential that Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routed Ltd designate a safeguarding
lead.
The safeguarding lead is responsible for developing a policy and procedures which is accessible to staff and volunteers, that the policy is reviewed and updated on an at least an annual basis. They are responsible for ensuring that staff, volunteers and directors have access to safeguarding procedures at induction and suitable mandatory training and
supervision (where appropriate) for their role and that this is recorded with a refresher at least every three years. The safeguarding lead will have a sound knowledge of safeguarding issues and will be the person that staff, volunteers and directors discuss concerns with and agree a process for recording, reporting and escalating these concerns within the responsible agencies.
The safeguarding lead must ensure that all safeguarding activity is recorded and reported to the appropriate agency responsible for safeguarding to demonstrate compliance with Section 11 Children Act (2004), Care Act (2014), Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015), Serious Crime Act (2015), Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004) and Regulation 13 of the Health and Social Care Act (2008) (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014; safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment.
c) Staff & Volunteers
It is all staff and volunteers duty to attend safeguarding induction and training as set out by the Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Ltd and to ensure they have evidence that they completed the training. It is the role and responsibility of all staff and volunteers to be aware of the safeguarding policy and procedures and to act on any allegation, suspicion or evidence of abuse, neglect or radicalisation, and to report these concerns to the designated
safeguarding lead as described within the Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes ltd procedures. It is their duty to record the concern and action taken, reporting this to the designated safeguarding lead. Where a safeguarding concern is not acted upon or taken seriously by another agency or person then the staff / volunteer must escalate their concerns to the designated Safeguarding Lead.
4) Definitions of Adult & Child Safeguarding
Adult safeguarding
Means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisation’s working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while at the same time making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard in their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action. This must recognise that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances Care Act Statutory Guidance (2014, p230).
Adult at risk (vulnerable adult)
The safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
• has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority are 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 and neglect.
Child safeguarding
Is the action we take to promote the welfare of children aged under the age of 18 years and including unborn babies, protect them from harm and is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as:
• protecting children from maltreatment;
• preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes (Working Together HMGov 2015).
5) Definitions of Abuse & Radicalisation
Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any other person(s) or group of people. Abuse may be a single or repeated act’s.
Types of Abuse as defined by Care Act Guidance (2014)
• Physical abuse – including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate physical sanctions.
• 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 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.
• Neglect (specific to a child) 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. (Working Together 2015)
• 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.
Further definitions of abuse and neglect can be found in the multi-agency procedures relating to the specific safeguarding domain.
Domestic Abuse is ‘Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse:
• psychological
• physical
• sexual
• financial
• emotional
Controlling behaviour is: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.
Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.”*
*This definition includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage, and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.’ (Home Office 2013).
Honour Based Violence is a crime or incident, which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or community’.
This definition is supported by further explanatory text:
“Honour Based Violence” is a fundamental abuse of Human Rights. There is no honour in the commission of murder, rape, kidnap and the many other acts, behaviour and conduct which make up “violence in the name of so-called honour”.
It is a collection of practices, which are used to control behaviour within families or other social groups to protect perceived cultural and religious beliefs and/or honour. Such violence can occur when perpetrators perceive that a relative has shamed the family and / or community by breaking their honour code.
Women are predominantly (but not exclusively) the victims of ‘so called honour based violence’, which is used to assert male power in order to control female autonomy and sexuality. Honour Based Violence can be distinguished from other forms of violence, as it is often committed with some degree of approval and/or collusion from family and/or community members (ACPO & CPS, 2013).
Forced Marriage is a marriage conducted without the valid consent of one or both parties where duress is a factor. Forced marriage is a violation of human rights and is contrary to UK law (HM Gov, 2000).
A forced marriage is a marriage in which one or both spouses do not (or in the case of some adults with learning or physical disabilities, cannot) consent to the marriage and duress is involved. Duress can include physical, psychological, financial, sexual and emotional pressure. (HM Government 2008).
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It has no health benefits and harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and hence interferes with the natural function of girls’ and women’s bodies. The practice causes severe pain and has several immediate and long-term health consequences, including difficulties in childbirth also causing dangers to the child (HMGov 2014).
Stalking a pattern of unwanted, fixated and obsessive behaviour which is intrusive and causes fear of violence or serious alarm or distress (Paladin 2018).
Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism (HMGov, 2011).
Prevent the Government’s countering terrorism strategy is known as CONTEST (2018). Prevent is part of CONTEST. The purpose of Prevent is at its heart to safeguard and support vulnerable people to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent work also extends
to supporting the rehabilitation and disengagement of those already involved in terrorism. Prevent works in a similar way to programmes designed to safeguard people from gangs, drug abuse, and physical and sexual abuse. Success means an enhanced response to tackle the causes of radicalisation, in communities and online; continued effective support to those who are vulnerable to radicalisation; and disengagement from terrorist activities by those already engaged in or supporters of terrorism.
Prevent objectives
• Tackle the causes of radicalisation and respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism. • Safeguard and support those most at risk of radicalisation through early intervention, identifying them and offering support.
• Enable those who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.
6) Safer Recruitment including disclosure and barring service
Safer recruitment is designed to protect individuals’ welfare where they come in to contact with professionals. The overall purpose is to help identify and deter or reject individuals who are deemed to be at risk of abusing others. This includes the recruitment process using pre employment checks to safeguard beneficiaries and Stable Routes CIC. These checks are embedded at the stages of application, interview, references, identify and corroborate gaps in vocation or employment. Stable Routes CIC comply with the
Independent Safeguarding Authority vetting and barring regulations and ensure that all staff and volunteers engaged in regulated activity are appropriately Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checked on engagement and then every five years.
7) Allegations process
Should an allegation be made about a member of staff or volunteer, the Safeguarding Lead will ensure that the alleged victim and other vulnerable people are immediately protected whilst an investigation takes place. Bradford City Council will also be immediately made aware of any allegation so that they can support the investigation and reporting process.
8) Information sharing, record keeping and confidentiality
Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Ltd will ensure that any records made in relation to a disclosure, suspicion or allegation and referral are kept confidentially and in a secure place. Electronic communications such as emails must be sent and stored securely.
“The most important consideration is whether sharing information is likely to support the safeguarding and protection of a child.
Necessary and proportionate
When taking decisions about what information to share, you should consider how much information you need to release. Not sharing more data than is necessary to be of use is a key element of the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, and you should consider the impact of disclosing information on the information subject and any third parties. Information must be proportionate to the need and level of risk.
Relevant
Only information that is relevant to the purposes should be shared with those who need it. This allows others to do their job effectively and make informed decisions.
Adequate
Information should be adequate for its purpose. Information should be of the right quality to ensure that it can be understood and relied upon.
Accurate
Information should be accurate and up to date and should clearly distinguish between fact and opinion. If the information is historical then this should be explained.
Timely
Information should be shared in a timely fashion to reduce the risk of missed opportunities to offer support and protection to a child. Timeliness is key in emergency situations and it may not be appropriate to seek consent for information sharing if it could cause delays and therefore place a child or young person at increased risk of harm. Practitioners should ensure that sufficient information is shared, as well as consider the urgency with which to share it.
Secure
Wherever possible, information should be shared in an appropriate, secure way. Practitioners must always follow their organisation’s policy on security for handling personal information. Record
Information sharing decisions should be recorded, whether or not the decision is taken to share. If the decision is to share, reasons should be cited including what information has been shared and with whom, in line with organisational procedures. If the decision is not to share, it is good practice to record the reasons for this decision and discuss them with the requester. In line with each organisation’s own retention policy, the information should not be kept any longer than is necessary. In some rare circumstances, this may be indefinitely, but if this is the case, there should be a review process scheduled at regular intervals to ensure data is not retained where it
is unnecessary to do so.” Information Sharing HMGovernment 2018.
9) Allegations against staff, contractors, students or volunteers Procedure
The process outlined below details the stages involved in raising and reporting safeguarding concerns at Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Ltd.
1. Communicate your concerns of any allegation made against employee, student, contractor, or volunteer that concerns neglect, abuse (also domestic abuse) of another person and/or unprofessional behaviour to a director of Stable Routes CIC/Ltd. The director will record the details of the allegation including name/dates/job and ascertain the affected person’s views and wishes.
2. Seek medical attention for the vulnerable person if needed.
3. Discuss allegation with parents/carers/staff of child or with vulnerable person on the same day.
4. Obtain permission to make referral if safe and appropriate. It is the director’s responsibility to take initial action to protect service users and others who may be at risk.
5. Inform appropriate people internally and externally as indicated by nature of allegation. If this is an obvious criminal act contact the police via 101 and report.
6. If needed seek further advice from the local authority
7. Complete the Local Authority Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Incident Report Form if required and submit to the local authority within 24 hours of making a contact.
8. Ensure that feedback from the Local Authority is received and their response recorded and acted upon.
13. Conflict resolution and complaints
Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Ltd is aware of the local government policy on resolution of professional disagreements in work relating to the safety of children and if necessary this will be escalated by a director of Stable Routes CIC and Stable Routes Equine Assisted Learnings Limited.
Reviewed and updated on 7/1/2024 by Isobel Mannings
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