Safeguarding Referral Policy

Updated January 2022

Summary

Action First Assessments Ltd acknowledges the duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and is committed to ensuring safeguarding practice that reflects statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice requirements. All children and vulnerable adults, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.

This policy applies to all internal staff at Action First AssessmentsLtd as well as temporary workers and candidates. We are committed to ensuring that their work is consistent with safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. All candidates placed by us are expected to take all reasonable steps to ensure they are alert to possible child abuse and neglect, and to familiarise themselves with arrangements for safeguarding children in the organisations where they are placed.

Safeguarding Aims and Objectives

This policy is designed to meet the above principles by ensuring that:

Those who are known to be unsuitable do not gain access to children or vulnerable adults.
Those who become unsuitable are detected at the earliest stage and prevented from continuing to work with children and vulnerable adults.
Those who intend to do harm are prevented at every possible stage from entering the workforce.
Clear procedures will be implemented where child protection issues arise.
All necessary checks are made on staff, temporary workers, candidates and contractors.
We keep up to date with developments on safeguarding best practice, reporting and auditing our safeguarding activities annually and reviewing and updating our policies and practices at least every 12 months.
Those who are identified as being at risk of abuse are afforded every practicable protection by ourselves and our temporary workers/candidates.
We will report any concerns regarding any individual, or any potential safeguarding situation that it becomes aware of as soon as practicable to the appropriate authority.
Those we discover are being abused are afforded the relevant protection and assistance by the relevant bodies as soon as practicably possible.
At an individual and collective level, employees are involved in ensuring Safeguarding is embedded across our services to ensure a whole organisation approach so that individuals are adequately covered by this policy

Recruitment and Selection Process

Action First AssessmentsLtd are also committed to protecting children and vulnerable adults through a careful recruitment and selection process, a whistle blowing policy and guidance on appropriate behaviour. Our rigorous procedures ensure that any candidate found to have a history of unacceptable conduct or practice, will not be placed.

As part of our safeguarding policy we will:

Promote and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults.
Ensure all candidates undergo a full compliance process.
Ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and is provided with appropriate learning opportunities to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns relating to children and vulnerable adults.
Ensure appropriate action is taken in the event of incidents/concerns of abuse and support provided to the individual/s who raise or disclose the concern.
Ensure that confidential, detailed and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns are maintained and securely stored.
Prevent the engagement of unsuitable individuals.
Ensure robust safeguarding arrangements and procedures are in operation.
This policy will be widely promoted and is mandatory for everyone. Failure to comply with this policy and the company’s safeguarding procedures will be addressed without delay and may result in disciplinary action.

Legislation

The principal pieces of legislation governing this policy are:

Working together to safeguard Children 2018
Care Act 2014 • The Children Act 1989/2002
The Adoption and Children Act 2002
The Children act 2004
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006 (2015)
Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (Inc. the ‘Prevent Duty’)
Modern Slavery Act 2015
Mental Capacity Act 2005
Human Rights Act 1998

Definitions

‘Safeguarding’ – is about embedding practices throughout the organisation to ensure the protection of children and/or vulnerable adults wherever possible. In contrast, child and adult protection is about responding to circumstances that arise.

Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Emotional abuse
Neglect

‘Child’ – is used to define anyone under the age of 18 (Children Act, 1989).

‘Young people’ are children who are 16 to 17 years old.

‘Age of consent’ (the legal age to have sex) in the UK is 16 years old*.

‘Vulnerable adult’ is a person who has attained the age of 18 and for a range of reasons may be, either temporarily or permanently and in different situations, potentially vulnerable.

This may include a person who:

Is elderly and frail
Has a mental illness including dementia
Has a physical or sensory disability
Has a learning disability
Has a severe physical illness
Is a substance misuser
Is homeless

Action First Assessments Ltd conducts the following safeguarding checks and has sight of all original documents before supplying a candidate into an education work establishment.

Face to face interview
Proof of identify
5 years written professional references
Enhanced DBS disclosure
Proof of address using DBS list of acceptable documents
Proof of National Insurance number
Right to work in the UK
Full 5-year employment history with no gaps
Original qualifications
Visa requirements (where applicable)

All candidates are required to apply for an Enhanced DBS certificate through ourselves, which is renewed every 12 months, unless their certificate is registered with the Update Service. In this case an online check will be carried out every 12 weeks.

Responsibilities

All staff, temporary workers and candidates placed on assignment are responsible for supporting safe behaviour and have responsibility to follow the guidance laid out in this policy and related policies, and to pass on any welfare concerns using the required procedures. We expect all staff, temporary workers, candidates and contractors to promote good practice by being an excellent role model; contributing to discussions about safeguarding; and to positively involving people in developing safe practices.

All staff, temporary workers, candidates and contractors should:

Read, understand, accept and act in accordance with this policy.
Be vigilant and follow professional codes of conduct to maintain professional boundaries.
Report any concerns or disclosures related to the protection and safety of children and vulnerable adults.
Help educate learners, including children, young people and adults in matters of keeping safe, and acting as a good role model.

Reporting and barring referrals

The process outlined below details the stages involved in raising and reporting safeguarding concerns at Action First Assessments Ltd.

If anyone is concerned that a child or vulnerable adult is at risk of being abused or neglected, they should not ignore their suspicions and should not assume that someone else will take action to protect that person.
If an employee, temporary worker or candidate of Action First Assessments Ltd has concerns that a child, young person or adult is at risk of harm or abuse, they should notify immediately a Safeguarding Officer whilst working at client’s premises and their line manager and/or Action First Assessments Ltd Consultant or Director.
Action First Assessments Ltd should immediately liaise with the client involved with regards to reporting to the local safeguarding lead and the local Social Services department as per the local policies and procedures for their area, also with regards to informing the local Police.
In hours the central safeguarding team will offer advice and additional support, and locally the Designated Professional will be available for advice and support.
Out of hours Staff may contact the Social Services Emergency Duty team, in the case of an emergency staff may consider contacting the Police.

LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer)

In accordance with Working Together (2018), where an organisation has received an allegation that a volunteer or member of staff who works with children has:

Behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;
Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child; or
Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children
A referral should be sent to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) within one working day, giving as much detail as possible.

Duty to make a referral to the DBS

Where there is evidence that anyone has harmed, or poses a risk of harm, to a child or vulnerable adult, there is a legal duty on Action First Assessments Ltd to report that person to the Disclosure and Barring Service using their guidance, available here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-barring-referrals-to-the-dbs. The DBS has statutory authority to bar a person from working in regulated activity with children and/or vulnerable adults in the UK.

Referral to the DBS will also be made if the person resigns prior to an investigation being carried out or reaching its conclusion. If the accused person resigns, or ceases to provide their services, this should not prevent an allegation being followed up in accordance with this guidance.

Action First Assessments Ltd will not make any compromise/settlement agreement in the case of a person deemed unsuitable to work with children. Any such agreement which contained a condition of not referring the case to the DBS would constitute a criminal offence.

Anyone who is concerned about a child’s or vulnerable adult’s welfare or who believe that a child or vulnerable adult may be at risk of abuse should pass any information to the DBS or other appropriate authority as soon as possible and no longer than 24 hours after the initial concern.

Whistleblowing

All staff, temporary workers, candidates and contractors should bring matters of concern to the attention of Action First Assessments Ltd and concerns can be reported directly to the LADO. Once you have shared your concerns you should submit them in writing giving names, date and places where appropriate. No action will be taken against you if the concern proves to be unfounded but was raised in good faith. All staff, workers, candidates and contractors should be aware of their duty to raise concerns, where they exist, about the attitude or actions of colleagues. Include concern raised and not acted upon by the safeguarding leads. Allegations that are made frivolously, maliciously or for personal gain will lead to termination.

Once a disclosure against anyone has been made, we will consider whether the allegation should be reported to the LADO. Only after notifying and consulting with the LADO (or, in the most serious cases, the police) will Action First Assessments Ltd undertake an investigation.

Summary

Action First Assessments Ltd make clients and candidates aware of the Safeguarding Policy through the following means:

During face to face candidate’s registration, all candidates are briefed
Clients should be notified and are able to request our Safeguarding Policy at any time
Our Safeguarding Policy is available on our website
All staff, temporary workers, candidates and contractors must be aware that they have a professional duty to share information with other recruitment firms in order to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. The public interest in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults may override confidentiality interests.

By: Bob Nealon & Vanita Dodia