Safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults

Introduction and aims

  1. Agile Collective aims to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults from harm.

  2. Agile Collective will ensure that:

    • all employees and contractors involved in working with children, young people and vulnerable adults implement good working practices to ensure a safe and healthy environment;
    • all employees and contractors are aware of safeguarding issues both in the context of organised activities and within the home and community;
    • standard procedures are in place to protect the children, young people and vulnerable adults, first and foremost when suspected abuse or actual abuse is reported and that all employees, contractors and volunteers providing services for children, young people and vulnerable adults understand these procedures;
    • when abuse is reported it is recognised that the child, young person or vulnerable adult is potentially at risk and safety is paramount.

  3. Agile Collective recognises that in providing services there is a need to provide and maintain a high degree of physical and emotional wellbeing for children, young people and vulnerable adults. Therefore the following procedures will be implemented through employees and contractors:

    • make sure staff and contractors are aware of the Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy and Procedures;
    • make sure that staff and contractors, can effectively report concerns about children, young people or vulnerable adults at risk;
    • operate sound recruitment and selection procedures for employees and contractors to ensure suitability for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults;
    • identify and enable appropriate training to take place for employees and contractors who work with children, young people and adults;
    • demonstrate best practice in ensuring the safety of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Duties

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults

  1. Agile Collective has a duty to ensure that, when staff are discharging their functions, they have regard for the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and the well-being of vulnerable adults.
  2. All staff should be aware of their responsibilities and how to act in ways that protect themselves from allegations of abuse.
  3. Agile Collective has a duty to have a designated team (the People Circle) to be involved in the management and oversight of individual cases.

Roles and responsibilities

The People Circle has responsibility for:

The People Circle will ensure that the Policy and Procedures are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure compliance with safeguarding legislation.

Additional responsibilities

  1. The People Circle is responsible for ensuring that recruitment procedures for posts with direct access to children, young people or vulnerable adults are in line with this policy and that appropriate training is provided. The People Circle is also responsible for the implementation of safeguarding training, ensuring that the appraisal process reflects the needs of the Policy, and for the reporting of child deaths.
  2. All Agile Collective members are responsible for ensuring that staff and contractors have the appropriate training. Guidance on who should receive training and at what level is set out in these Policy and Procedures and further guidance is available from People Circle.
  3. Agile Collective members are also responsible for adhering to the appraisal process and being aware of the policy on recruiting people with a criminal record.
  4. All staff should be encouraged to undertake relevant safeguarding training for children and/or vulnerable adults.
  5. All members of staff and contractors are responsible for carrying out their duties in a way that safeguards and promotes the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. They must bring matters of concern about safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults to the attention of the People Circle.

Recruitment, criminal record checks, disclosure and barring

Criminal record checks

Training

  1. The People Circle is responsible for ensuring that members of staff in relevant posts have the appropriate level of training for their role.
  2. All new members of staff in relevant posts will be briefed on their responsibilities towards children, young people and vulnerable adults during their induction

Raising concerns about children, young people or vulnerable adults

You may become concerned about the safety or welfare of a child, young person or vulnerable adult in a number of ways:

Procedure for dealing with concerns

Emergencies

Where an immediate police or medical response is required – e.g. if the child or vulnerable adult is in immediate danger of harm/injury – you should contact the emergency services and inform the People Circle at the earliest opportunity once it is safe to do so.

Responding to verbal allegation of abuse

The person who receives the information concerning actual/suspected case of abuse should:

Do not:

Confidentiality

All members of staff must comply with the “Agile Collective Data Security Policy”.

Procedure for allegations of abuse involving an employee

Suspected abuse or bullying by employees

Should an allegation of abuse be made against an employee, the Disciplinary Procedures will be followed and appropriate action taken.

See also

Oxfordshire safeguarding boards

Training courses

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