Safeguarding policy, procedures, protocols and practice

1. Foreword
2. Executive summary
3. Policy statement
4. Effective information sharing
5. Scope of policy
6. Approach to implementing the policy
7. Working Together: key partnerships and organisations
8. Supporting documents
9. Policy enquiries
10. Policy information: version control

1. Foreword

At a time when the safeguarding of children and adults with care and support needs has never been a greater concern, a review of the Wyre Forest District Council Safeguarding Policy was required to ensure its arrangements safeguard children and adults with care and support needs from harm and abuse.

We are therefore pleased to introduce this revised Safeguarding Policy, which aims to outline the responsibilities of the Council, and how they dovetail with other agencies, to safeguard children and adults with care and support needs from harm and abuse.

We believe that everyone has the right to be safe from harm, deserve the opportunity to fulfil their full potential and to have their rights and choices protected, and as such this Safeguarding Policy is the Council’s commitment to this.

Ian Miller
Chief Executive
Wyre Forest District Council

2. Executive summary

In recent years safeguarding duties placed on district councils have been extended beyond safeguarding children and adults with care and support needs to encompass domestic abuse and violence, child sexual exploitation, honour based abuse and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and Prevent (the Government’s Counter Terrorism Strategy).

More recently responsibilities have been further extended to ensure district councils have policies, procedures and practices in place to champion e-safety and that processes are in place for disseminating learning from domestic homicide reviews, serious case reviews and other reviews of this nature.

This Safeguarding Policy aims to ensure that a consistent approach to safeguarding exists across all Council policies. It outlines key roles and responsibilities of individual officers and elected members to embed safeguarding policies, practices and procedures, reflecting the additional requirements of these additional responsibilities.

In carrying out these duties the Council works in partnership with other agencies with a role to play in relation to the welfare of its residents, aiming to ensure they are protected against abuse, neglect and exploitation.

3. Policy statement

Wyre Forest District Council is committed to working in partnership with others to safeguard its residents from all forms of abuse, neglect or exploitation. The Council will raise awareness of safeguarding issues to ensure that the needs and interests of children, young people and adults with care and support needs are incumbent in decision making processes and through service provision.

This Policy aims to ensure that an overarching approach to safeguarding is embedded within all Council services and that staff, elected members, volunteers and those delivering contracts on behalf of the Council understand their role and responsibilities in supporting all residents to live a life free from abuse, exploitation and intimidation.

The Council will create an environment where staff, volunteers and elected members are adequately trained and encouraged to think of safeguarding as being their responsibility. Understanding the need for them to play a full and active part in the delivery of the Council’s response. External training providers will be used to deliver training where necessary.

The Council will ensure that its Safeguarding Policy complies with all relevant legislation, a summary of which is listed in Annex I: Legislative Framework, and as such we will review our policies, procedures, protocols and practices as appropriate.

4. Effective information sharing

The Government has streamlined and simplified its approach to information sharing. In March 2015, it published a comprehensive package of information sharing guidance. The guidance includes:

• Her Majesty’s Government ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ statutory guidance, which spells out the legislative requirements and expectations on individual services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and provides a clear framework for Local Safeguarding Children Boards to monitor the effectiveness of local services.
• Information Sharing: Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services to children, young people, parents and carers specifically for all frontline practitioners and senior managers working in child and/or family services who have to make decisions about sharing personal information on a case-by-case basis. This simplifies current legislation and guidance into six overarching principles and dispels common information sharing myths.

When there is a reasonable cause to believe that a person or persons may be suffering or may be at risk of suffering significant harm, consideration will always be given to referring these concerns to Worcestershire Safeguarding and/or the Police.

Information about children, young people, families and adults with care and support needs will be shared appropriately, and always in accordance with the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership Information Sharing Agreement and the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board Information Sharing Agreement.

The Council’s mechanisms for information sharing in relation to reporting disclosures; a disclosure is the act or process of revealing, uncovering or the sharing of information, can be found in Annex A: Flow Chart for Reporting Disclosures and Annex B: Disclosure Form respectively.

5. Scope of policy - children and adults

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people

This encompasses the protection and welfare of children under the age of 18 (including unborn babies). It also incorporates the additional aims of preventing the impairment of children’s health and development; ensuring they grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.

Safeguarding adults

This encompasses the protection from harm or neglect of a person aged 18 and over who may need community care services due to a disability, age or illness, who cannot take care of, or protect themselves from significant harm or exploitation. Adults with care and support needs should be supported in maintaining control over their lives and to make informed choices without coercion.

Further Information on types of abuse including Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Domestic Abuse and Violence can be found at Annex G: Types of Abuse of Children and Adults with care and support needs. Details of the lead agency, relevant protocols and Council lead officers appointed to drive and champion these issues throughout the Council can be found at Annex F: Essential Contacts, Lead Agencies and Protocols.

6. Approach to implementing the policy

Whilst other partnerships and organisations, as referred to in section 7 of this Policy, have roles in co-ordinating and ensuring the effectiveness of the Council’s work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults with care and support needs, they are not accountable for the Council’s operational work. The Council retains its own lines of accountability for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults with care and support needs through its own service delivery and provision.
All staff, volunteers and elected members are to ensure they familiarise themselves and comply with the Council’s Safeguarding Policy and associated procedural documents. See Annex D: Wyre Forest District Council Staff and Elected Members Roles and Responsibilities.

All staff, volunteers and elected members must participate in relevant training to recognise the varying forms of abuse and report any concerns, incidents or allegations to the Council’s Named Safeguarding Officer in line with the relevant procedures.

It is the responsibility of staff and elected members to consider safeguarding implications in their decision-making processes, including the procurement of services.

All external organisations and contractors providing services to the Council are required to comply with the Council’s Safeguarding Policy as a minimum standard. Where relevant they should have their own safeguarding policy and procedures in place.

Whilst safeguarding is the responsibility of all Council staff, volunteers, elected members and contractors, there are several safeguarding roles within the Council with specific responsibilities briefly set out below:

The Council’s compliance with Local Government Association (published in February 2009) safeguarding checklist can be found in Annex E: The Role of District Councils in Safeguarding Checklist.

7. Working Together: key partners and organisations

The Council will work with other agencies to prevent the abuse of its residents in all its forms.

Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership

Working Together (2018) introduced a requirement for new multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to replace Local Safeguarding Children Boards. The responsibility for ensuring implementation rests with the three named Safeguarding Partners. These partners have a shared and equal duty to make arrangements to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in the local area.

In Worcestershire the three Safeguarding Partners are:

• Chief Executive of Worcestershire County Council
• Chief Constable of West Mercia Police
• Accountable Officer for Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

The Safeguarding Partners work together as an Executive Group coming together with a wider group of relevant partners known as the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP).

The WSCP has a wide range of responsibilities, including the development and review of procedures to protect children; the provision of training for staff and volunteers who work with children; reviewing the death of all children to find out what lessons can be learnt to safeguard other children and raising public awareness of safeguarding.

Further information on the roles and responsibilities of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership can be found on their website.

Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board

The main purpose of Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) is to promote wellbeing and reduce the risk of harm for people with care and support needs. It works at a strategic level to monitor the effectiveness of the safeguarding work carried out by all of the partner members and partner agencies.

The Board, which was established in 2003, includes membership from the County Council, NHS, Police, Worcestershire Voices, a carer’s representative and the voluntary sector.

The Care Act 2014 places a duty on the Council to cooperate with the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board.

Further information on the roles and responsibilities of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Board can be found on their website.

North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 placed a duty on local authorities and the Police to form a local partnership and cooperate in the development and implementation of a strategy for tackling crime and disorder in the area. This local partnership is known as the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership, of which the Council is a member. The Partnership brings together the existing work to reduce crime and improve community safety and acts as the formal body to meet the requirements of the Act.

It is also a statutory requirement for the Partnership to undertake a multi-agency Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) following a domestic homicide to identify what needs to change to reduce the risk of further incidents.

Worcestershire County Council

Worcestershire County Council is the lead agency for Children’s Services, via Worcestershire Children First and Safeguarding Adults. Adult Social Care is an important part of this role.

To report an adult safeguarding concern, call 01905 768053. For safeguarding advice phone the Adult Safeguarding Team on 01905 843189 (note this number does not accept referrals). Professionals can complete an online form to report concerns about abuse or neglect

Worcestershire Children First

Worcestershire Children First is the company responsible for delivering children’s services across the county of Worcestershire. These services include children’s social care, education, early help and fostering. The company is 100% owned by Worcestershire County Council and delivers its children’s services on behalf of the local authority working with partners across the county to ensure children, young people and families receive the best possible service.

The Family Front Door, Initial Contact and Referral Team is the central point for all referrals for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years and living in Worcestershire where there is safeguarding, or child protection concerns for them. This team receives referrals from professionals, members of the community, family members, children and young people directly. Please contact the Family Front Door directly telephone 01905 822666

If you have an immediate concern about the safety and welfare of a child, please phone the Family Front Door. If you have a child protection concern outside of normal office hours, please contact the out of hours emergency duty team (EDT) telephone 01905 768020

Worcestershire’s Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO)

All organisations providing services to children and young people must ensure that their staff and volunteers are safe to do so. Most adults who work with children and young people act professionally and aim to provide a safe environment for the children and young people in their care, however, it must be recognised that there are adults who will deliberately seek out, create or exploit opportunities to abuse children. The allegations' process is managed by Worcestershire’s Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO) as part of the Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Service.

West Mercia Police

West Mercia Police has an essential role in protecting children and adults with care and support needs from abuse and are under a legal duty to carry out their functions ‘having regard to’ (taking account of) the need to protect and promote the welfare of children.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 states that police and crime commissioners (formally police authorities) and the chief officer of each police force in England must make sure that they protect and promote the welfare of children. This means that, while officers from the child abuse investigation unit (CAIU) have a critical role to play in child safeguarding, it is not just down to them, it is a basic part of the duties of all police officers.

As well as their duty to investigate criminal offences, West Mercia Police have emergency powers to enter premises and make sure they can provide immediate protection for children and adults with care and support needs believed to be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.

The contact details for these agencies and organisations can be found in Annex F: Essential Contacts, Lead Agencies and Protocols.

8. Supporting documents

1. Wyre Forest District Council Flow Chart for Reporting Disclosures
2. Wyre Forest District Council Disclosure Form
3. Escalating a Concern
4. Wyre Forest District Council Staff and Elected Members Roles and Responsibilities
5. The Role of District Councils in Safeguarding Checklist
6. Essential Contacts, Lead Agencies, and Protocols
7. Types of Abuse of Children and Adults with care and support needs
8. Glossary of Terms
9. Legislative Framework

9. Policy enquiries

For queries regarding this policy please contact:

Kathryn Underhill
Community and Strategic Projects Manager
Wyre Forest District Council,
The Depot,
Green Street,
Kidderminster,
Worcestershire,
DY10 1HA

01562 732956
Email: kathryn.underhill@wyreforestdc.gov.uk

10. Policy information

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