SAFEGUARDING POLICY

1.                  Policy Statement

Caseys Schoolwear acknowledges that:

·         all children and vulnerable adults have the right to protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation

·         safeguarding children and vulnerable adults is everybody’s responsibility

·         doing nothing is not acceptable

·         working in partnership with relevant agencies, in conjunction with local safeguarding procedures, has demonstrable results.

2.                  Scope, roles and responsibilities Scope

This policy applies to all children and vulnerable adults in the communities we work

and live in and come into contact through the services we provide.

It supports the safeguarding processes of local authorities in whose areas we work.

The policy and its accompanying procedure and guidelines outline the responsibilities of Caseys Schoolwear employees in relation to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

Roles and Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of all colleagues to support the organisation’s commitment to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults and attend training as required. It is the responsibility of Caseys Schoolwear, owners and all managers to ensure compliance and the effectiveness of the procedure accompanying this policy.

Owners are responsible for maintaining, updating and delivering appropriate procedures to deliver policy objectives, and that these are available and understood by all staff.

It is the responsibility of managers all front-line colleagues to ensure that they understand the importance of this policy and related procedures and receive training at induction and in their on-going personal training plan.

Failure to report suspected harm or abuse in line with the procedure that accompanies this Policy may be regarded as colluding with the harm or abuse and be in breach of the code of conduct.

All colleagues working with children or vulnerable adults are responsible for familiarising themselves with this policy and its associated procedures.

Definitions

Safeguarding is the right of every child and vulnerable individual we come into contact with while providing our services to be protected from any form of abuse. Abuse occurs when the child’s or vulnerable adult’s rights are not respected.

Abuse is any behaviour towards a person that deliberately or unknowingly causes them harm, endangers life or violates their rights. It includes not only physical, emotional and psychological ill treatment but also neglect (including self-neglect), financial or sexual abuse, and the impairment of physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. It concerns the misuse of power, control and /or authority and can be perpetrated by an individual, a group or an organisation.

A child is anyone who has not yet reached their 18^th birthday. An adult is anyone aged 18 or above.  A vulnerable adult is someone of 18 years or over ‘who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness’ and ‘who is or maybe unable to take care of him or herself or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation’ (No Secrets’ Guidance 2000).

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a statutory framework to empower and protect vulnerable people who are not able to make their own decisions. It makes it clear who can take decisions, in which situations, and how they should go about this.

The definition of abuse includes Domestic Abuse and forced marriage. Domestic Violence is ‘any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who are, or have been intimate partners or between family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.  Forced marriage is one in which one or both spouses do not consent to the marriage and some element of duress is involved, including the use of physical and emotional pressure. Forced marriage is not sanctioned within any culture or religion.

3.                  Principles

·         The welfare of the child or vulnerable adult is the paramount consideration.

·         We will not tolerate abuse in any circumstances. Doing nothing is not an option.

·         All children and vulnerable adults, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, ethnic origin, religious beliefs and sexual identity have a right to protection from abuse.

·         Adults have the right to be in control of their life, make decisions, be treated with respect and consideration and have their confidentiality respected.

·         All children and vulnerable adults have a right to intervention, support and/or information which could make life better and/or safer for them and be involved in decisions that are made about them.

·         We will promote the empowerment, wellbeing, security and safety of children and adults at risk of abuse consistent with their rights, mental capacity and personal choices.

·         We aim to minimise the risk of abuse by being sensitive to cultural, gender and individual needs in our service delivery.

·         We will maintain a culture and standards that prevent the development of poor care and support practices.

·         Caseys Schoolwear recognises that inter-agency co-operation is essential if children and vulnerable adults are to be protected effectively from abuse. We will work closely in partnership with key agencies and professionals, sharing information and developing appropriate strategies to respond to the needs of our customers and clients.

·         All colleagues will be aware of, and comply with, local guidelines in relation to reporting concerns about children or vulnerable adults at risk. Where no such local procedures exist externally, we will provide our own.

·         We will report every instance of disclosed or suspected abuse to the appropriate social services contact in line with each Local Authority safeguarding procedures alerting the police or other emergency services as required. Where appropriate, we will report concerns to the Disclosure Barring Service or the Care Quality Commission.

·         Caseys Schoolwear actively encourages and supports reporting of concerns and will protect colleagues disclosing malpractice from the risk of victimisation provided the disclosure is made in good faith.

·         We comply with relevant legislation and regulation, including:

-      Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) regulations

-      Care Quality Commission (CQC) Registration regulations

-      Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

-      Mental Capacity Act 2005

-      Safeguarding vulnerable groups Act 2006

-      Guidelines in “No Secrets” publication

·         We will review new legislation as it arises and continually review our procedures in line with good practice.

Safeguarding children

Caseys Schoolwear recruitment and selection procedure requires references, proof of identity and CRB disclosure and 2 yearly re-checks for every colleague who works directly with children.

Our employment policies prevent barred persons from being employed in any position that involves working with children.

All colleagues will work within the procedures that accompany this policy and all front-line colleagues will receive training on this policy at induction and in their on-going personal development training.

Training includes the recognition of potential child sexual exploitation, online grooming and missing persons protocols.

The procedures that deliver this policy complement local authority safeguarding procedures and will ensure that all colleagues engaged in delivering our services:

·         Are alert to the possibility of abuse of a child

·         Know how to recognise abuse

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