Children and young People Safeguarding Policy and Procedures 

Approval date	November  2023
Date of next policy review	November 2026

 

CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION 3 
• DEFINITIONS 3 
• POLICY 3 
• PROCEDURES 4  
  • Recruitment, induction and training of staff 4
  • The role of the Nominated Safeguarding Person (NSP) 5
  • Age Limits 6
  • Protection of children and young people during volunteering, events and activities 6
  • Co-ordination with other organisations 8
  • Reporting concerns and responding to allegations and suspicions 8
  • The duty to refer and the role of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) 9

APPENDIX A CONTACTS 10
APPENDIX B TYPES OF ABUSE 12
APPENDIX C CONDUCT GUIDELINES 13

INTRODUCTION

Habitats & Heritage (H&H) is a charity that acts for the natural and historic environment in South West London. It currently operates in the London Boroughs of Richmond, Hounslow, Kingston, Merton, Ealing and Wandsworth. This policy has been written to ensure that children and young people are given appropriate and safe treatment in all circumstances if they are in involved in Habitats and Heritage’s (H&H’s) work, events and activities.  It should be read alongside the H & H Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy, H&H Health and Safety Policy Statement and the H&H Data Protection and Confidentiality Policy.

H&H acknowledges its duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people and is committed to ensuring that its safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities and government guidance using the legal and social care framework detailed in the following:

• London Safeguarding Children Procedures and Practice Guidance (https://www.londonsafeguardingchildrenprocedures.co.uk/) updated every 6 months;
• Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to interagency working together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children Department of Education (http://www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk/)  last updated 2022; and
• Children Acts 1989 and 2004.

H&H’s work with children and young people includes running volunteering sessions for young people aged 14-18 and organising events and activities at which children are present with parents, teachers or carers. H&H believes that all members of the community, including children and young people, should be encouraged to care about and be involved in conserving and enhancing the environment and therefore encourages their participation.

DEFINITIONS

The Children Act 1989 defines a child as being up to the age of 18, and up to 25 for those who have special needs.

The expression “staff” in this document includes all employees, contractors and volunteers including trustees.

 POLICY            

 In order to ensure that children and young People are adequately protected H&H will ensure that:

• The welfare of children and young people is the paramount consideration.
• It has a Nominated Safeguarding Person (NSP) who will be responsible for ensuring that procedures are carried out and that all staff are aware of the policy and procedures;
• It has a Nominated Safeguarding Trustee (NST) to take lead responsibility for safeguarding children and young people at a governance level;
• The NSP and NST undertake appropriate training at least once every two years;
• All staff will be subject to rigorous recruitment procedures, which reflect H&H’s commitment to and responsibilities for child protection and safeguarding;
• All staff receive appropriate induction and training so that they are aware of their responsibility to ensure the safeguarding of children and young people, their duty to behave appropriately when in contact with them and their duty to report any concerns about the way in which children and young people are treated;
• All staff have read and understood this document and know how to contact the NSP and NST to raise a concern;
• It establishes procedures that minimise the risk of harm or abuse in relation to H&H’s work, events and activities;
• It produces risk assessments of all events and activities;
• It consults the organisations with which H&H works that have children, and young people as the focus of their work to ensure suitable and co-ordinated procedures are in place when it undertakes joint projects with these organisations;
• It establishes procedures for reporting suspected abuse either to the NSP or to the NST; and
• All suspicions or allegations of harm or abuse reported to H&H are taken seriously and shared with the appropriate agencies as soon as possible.

This policy will be reviewed every 3 years or more frequently if H & H’s work with Children and Young People increases.

PROCEDURES

The procedures listed here set out the way in which the H&H Safeguarding Children and Young People policy will be put into action.

1. The role of the Nominated Safeguarding Person (NSP)

The NSP takes the lead responsibility for protection of children and young people, including support and training of other staff and information sharing with other agencies.

The NSP will:

• Develop and update H&H’s safeguarding policies and procedures ensuring staff are made aware of their responsibilities, and participants in H&H activities know how to make a complaint or raise a concern;
• Provide support and advice to all members of staff regarding safeguarding concerns;
• Ensure all staff have appropriate child protection and safeguarding training, and maintain training records;
• Ensure that H & H’s rules regarding the use of the internet, social media, mobile phones and any other modern technology tools within the workplace are compatible with its safeguarding policies;
• Refer suspected abuse/neglect of children or young people to the appropriate local safeguarding team. (NB. Urgent concerns must be reported directly by other members of staff even if the NSP is not available);
• Report allegations made against members of staff to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) of the relevant local authority. This is known as “the duty to refer”; and
• Ensure that confidential records are kept of any concerns about a child or young person and of any conversation with or referral to statutory agencies;
• Review records every time a report is submitted to check for patterns and take action to address arising concerns.

2. Recruitment, induction and training of staff 

All reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that unsuitable individuals are not recruited to H&H’s staff, including:

• H&H’s commitment to safeguarding and child protection will be stated in all job and volunteer recruitment adverts;
• A written application form must be completed by applicants to all posts, including volunteers and this will include a question on any past convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings as well as any pending cases;
• Any convictions disclosed will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the NSP and NST;
• An awareness of safeguarding and child protection will be part of all job and role descriptions and the interview;
• Prior to appointment two references will be taken and proof of ID will be required;
• Disclosure and Barring Service checks will be required for all roles working with children and will be renewable every three years;
• All new staff must read and understand the policy and procedures as part of their induction process;
• All staff will receive appropriate child protection and safeguarding training. At the end of their training all staff will have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities with regard to safeguarding issues, including the duty to behave appropriately towards children, identification of the signs of abuse (see Appendix B for Types of Abuse) and confidence about the steps they need to take to report any concerns;
• Supervision and support of all staff will include monitoring of safeguarding practice and reviews of progress;
• Breach of the procedures may lead to disciplinary action.

3. Age Limits

Under 14s

H&H does not recruit unaccompanied volunteers under the age of 14 or accept bookings from unaccompanied children and young people under 14 onto its own events and activities. These include conservation sessions, training events at its office, networking events, such as its Friends of Parks Forum, field trips to parks and open spaces, and organised nature walks.

During events and activities aimed at families, H&H expects that children under the age of 14 will be accompanied by an identified responsible adult and will make this clear in its publicity.

14-17 year olds

Young people aged 14 -17 may volunteer at H&H unaccompanied or participate in events and activities if a permission form from a parent or guardian is completed. The permission form will include emergency contact numbers, and any medical information including allergies. Personal information will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

4. Protection of children and young people during volunteering, events and activities

 Risk assessment and risk management

Risk assessment must be part of planning any events and activities and should take into account all issues, but particularly any risks relating to the protection of children and young people. Risk management should be an ongoing part of the event planning. Risk assessment and risk management should be undertaken by the event manager in consultation with the NSP where relevant.

The principle of risk assessment is to consider the:

• practical details;
• things that can go wrong;
• likelihood of these things going wrong; and
• impact of these things going wrong.

Once this is done the project manager undertaking the assessment should:

• identify measures to reduce the risk;
• decide what to do if things go wrong; and
• allocate roles to monitor and manage safeguarding.

In relation to work and activities involving children and young people it is particularly important to ensure that staff are appropriately trained and qualified to ensure the safe provision of services, use of equipment, activities undertaken etc.

H&H must also ensure that its insurance policy is up to date, relevant to the activities it is delivering with children and young people and that the level of cover is adequate.

Conduct

Good practice guidelines are contained in Appendix C.  Wherever possible H&H will encourage an open environment, avoiding private or unobserved situations and ideally staff should not be alone with a child at any time.

 Photography

Members of H&H staff should not take or use photographs which identify individual children or young people without permission of their parent, carer or other responsible adult.

If H&H wishes to take photos of young volunteers aged 14-17 this should be recorded and consented to in the permission form signed by their parent, carer or other responsible adult.

Contacting children and young people

If a member of H&H staff needs to contact a child or young person outside of an H&H event or activity they must first ask the permission of the NSP and make them aware of the content of the communication. They must then record this in a communication record folder and copy in the NSP in correspondence.

If a young volunteer may need to be contacted outside volunteering hours this must be recorded and consented to in the permission form signed by their parent, carer or other responsible adult.

Staff must not share personal information, such as a personal email, address, or mobile phone number with any child or young person.

Staff must not accept or invite children or young people to become friends or contacts on social networking sites.  Staff are encouraged to ensure that their social media accounts do not contain any inappropriate content.

Outreach and home visits

When a member of staff visits another organisation (e.g. a school) supervision of children and young people present will remain the responsibility of the organisation being visited. At least one member of staff from that organisation should accompany the member of H&H staff at all times.

Any concerns that a member of H&H staff has about safeguarding issues whilst visiting another organisation should be reported to the NSP in that setting. The staff member should discuss the matter with H&H’s NSP who will undertake the necessary reporting to the other organisation’s NSP. Any incident will also be recorded in H&H’s records.

Members of H&H staff may visit families in their home to carry out a home energy visit.  Staff must always visit a client’s home in groups of not less than two. Any safeguarding concerns must be reported to the NSP.

Alcohol, drugs, vapes and cigarettes

No alcohol, drugs, vapes or cigarettes are permitted or tolerated during events and activities where H&H staff are in contact with children and young people.

 Accidents or injuries

If a child or young person is injured, whilst at a H&H event or activity or in the office a record will be made of the injury in the accident book. This record should be counter-signed by the parent, carer or other identified responsible adult with responsibility for the injured individual.

If a child or young person arrives at H&H’s premises or at an event or activity with an obvious physical injury a record will be made of this in the accident book and the parent, carer or other identified responsible adult must be contacted. The NSP or NST should also be contacted by telephone to explain the situation before the session commences.

5. Co-ordination with other organisations

Whenever H&H undertakes a project with another organisation the H&H project manager will ensure that appropriate safeguarding arrangements are in place and that each organisation understands its respective responsibilities. 

6. Reporting concerns and responding to allegations and suspicions

The NSP will normally be the first point of contact for any questions about H&H’s policy and procedures and for the reporting of concerns about a child or young person. If the NSP cannot be contacted the NST should be contacted instead.  Contact details for H&H’s NSP, NST and the London Boroughs in which H&H works regularly are shown in Appendix A.

Every member of staff is responsible for recognizing and reporting an allegation of abuse. It is not the responsibility of the member of staff or NSP to investigate the allegation or to decide whether or not child abuse has taken place.

Any concerns will be clearly recorded by the NSP but it is not the NSP’s job to investigate any concern or issue raised. It is his or her role to record the information accurately and to refer this to the appropriate safeguarding authority.

The NSP’s record and the process that was gone through will be recorded in H&H’s records Personal information will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

To ensure that this information is as helpful as possible the staff member should make a detailed record at the time of the disclosure/concern. However, he or she should not delay reporting the concern to the NSP verbally.  The written record should include the following:

• The child’s name, age and date of birth;
• The child’s home address and telephone number;
• Whether or not the person making the report is expressing their own concerns or those of someone else;
• The nature of the allegation, including dates, time and special factors and other relevant information using direct quotes where possible to make sure language does not become distorted;
• A description of any visible bruising or other injuries and/or any indirect signs such as behavioural changes;
• Details of witnesses to the incident/s;
• The child’s account, if it can be given, of what has happened;
• Whether the parents have been contacted and, if so, what was said; and
• Whether anyone else was consulted and, if so, relevant details.

The NST must be informed of any referral made.

H&H will fully support and protect any member of staff who, in good faith, reports his or her concern that a colleague is, or maybe, abusing a child.

7. The Duty to Refer and the role of the LADO

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is employed by the local authority and should be alerted to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

• behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child;
• possibly committed a criminal offence against children, or related to a child; or
• behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates s/he is unsuitable to work with children.

Every member of staff has a “duty to refer”, including paid, unpaid, volunteer, casual, agency and self-employed workers.

If any member of staff has concerns about another staff member relating to child protection he or she is legally obliged to refer the case to the LADO, either via the NSP or directly if the NSP is not available. The ultimate duty to refer rests with the Board, as trustees are legally accountable for ensuring sufficient safeguarding practice is in place to ensure the safety and welfare of children engaged in H&H activities.

The LADO is involved from the initial phase of the allegation through to the conclusion of the case. The LADO will provide advice, guidance and help to determine whether the allegation sits within the scope of the procedures. The LADO helps co-ordinate information-sharing with the right people and will also monitor and track any investigation, with the aim of resolving it as quickly as possible. The LADO will attend local strategy meetings and chair managing allegation strategy meetings.

APPENDIX A: CONTACT DETAILS

H&H

H&H’s Nominated Safeguarding Person (NSP): Paul Jennings (07974 728 752

H&H Nominated Safeguarding Trustee (NST): Zoe Lawrence (07803 183268)

Contact details for local authorities where H&H works regularly 

****ALWAYS PHONE 999 IF THE CHILD IS IN IMMEDIATE DANGER ****

London Boroughs of Kingston and Richmond

The Kingston and Richmond Local Safeguarding Children Partnership has oversight of all child protection and safeguarding activity in the London Boroughs of Kingston and Richmond and offers training and support. https://kingstonandrichmondsafeguardingchildrenpartnership.org.uk

Single Point of Access (SPA) – If you have concerns about a child contact the specialist team:

020 8547 5008 Monday to Thursday 8am – 5.15pm or Friday 8am-5pm

020 8770 5000 Out of Hours

London Borough of Ealing

Ealing Safeguarding Children Partnership

https://www.ealingfamiliesdirectory.org.uk/kb5/ealing/directory/escb.page?escbchannel=0

Telephone: 0208 825 8000

 London Borough of Hounslow

 The Hounslow Safeguarding Children Partnership protects and promotes the welfare of children and young people in London Borough of Hounslow.

https://www.hscb.org.uk

Telephone:  020 8583 6600 Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm

0208 583 2222 Out of Hours duty social worker

London Borough of Merton

 Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership

https://www.mertonscp.org.uk/

020 8545 4226 Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm

020 8770 5000 Out of Hours

 London Borough of Wandsworth

 Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Partnership

https://wscp.org.uk

Telephone: 020 8871 6622 Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm

020 8871 6000 Out of hours

APPENDIX B: TYPES OF ABUSE

Child Abuse is generally divided into four categories

1. 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 feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes ill health to, a child whom they are looking after. A person might do this because they enjoy or need the attention they get through having a sick child.

Physical abuse, as well as being a result of an act of commission can also be caused through omission or the failure to act to protect. 

2. Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve making a child feel or believe that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person.

3. Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of, or consents to, what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative acts such as rape, buggery or oral sex or non-penetrative acts such as fondling.

Sexual abuse may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Boys and girls can be sexually abused by males and/or females, by adults and by other young people. This includes people from all different walks of life. 

4. 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. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, failing to protect a child from physical harm or danger, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

APPENDIX C: GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES 

This appendix contains further guidance on good practice in conduct for H&H staff dealing with children and young people.

Interpersonal dealings

Staff should:

• never physically or verbally punish any child or young person;
• never humiliate or frighten any child or young person;
• respect children and young people at all times and strive to be sensitive to their feelings;
• set an example of appropriate behaviour. Children learn by example and staff should avoid using sarcasm or discrimination, direct criticism, labelling and unnecessary competition or comparison;
• always work in an open environment avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication;
• never spend a disproportionate amount of time alone with a child or young person away from others and never show any sign of favouritism;
• dress appropriately;
• recognise the boundaries between personal and professional life and be aware of the need to balance a caring and supportive relationship with children and young people with appropriate professional distance;

• try to make children and young people aware of the meaning and importance of professional boundaries and how they impact on the relationship;
• never sharing personal contact details with children and young people or accepting contact requests on social media platforms;
• in the event of a disclosure never promise confidentiality and explain that you may need to share information with other people in order to keep the young person safe.

 Physical contact

Staff should:

• maintain a safe and appropriate distance and only touch a child or young person when this is absolutely necessary in relation to the particular activity;
• seek agreement of the child or young person prior to any physical contact;
• making sure disabled participants are informed of and comfortable with any necessary physical contact;
• (as far as possible) never be alone in a room with a child or young person and never make any physical contact when nobody else is present;
• never accompany a child into a toilet;
• never offer a child or young person a lift in either a personal or organisational vehicle; and
• if a child is obviously distressed try to comfort them in the presence of another member of staff and contact the parent or carer immediately;
• if a child or young person seeks to make physical contact with a staff member move away from the situation, ensure others are present and submit a record to the NSP as soon as possible. Report the incident to the parent or carer in non-emotional language.