Introduction

Minting and Gautby Parish Council is committed to promoting the protection, safety and welfare of children and vulnerable adults in the Community.

Policy Purpose

This document outlines Minting and Gautby Parish Council’s policy on identifying and responding to concerns regarding the safeguarding and protection of children and vulnerable adults. This Policy applies to all staff, councillors, volunteers or anyone working for or on behalf of Minting and Gautby Parish Council. This policy provides guidance for those who may come across concerns of this nature within the context of their work for Minting and Gautby Parish Council. The policy seeks to promote effective multi-agency working in light of the Children Act 2004.

Lead Officer

Minting and Gautby Parish Council will appoint on an annual basis a lead safeguarding officer or member. The appointment will be made at the annual meeting of the Council and this member must access relevant training (e.g. online) as soon as possible after appointment if not already trained

Please refer to Appendix 3 for details of the rules and duties of the Lead Officer.

Child

If you believe a child is in immediate danger call 999 and inform the police.

If there is no immediate danger to the child, or if you need some advice or information, you can contact the Children Services Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782111.

Outside normal office hours you can contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 01522 782333

If there is no immediate danger you may also seek advice from the Council’s Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Whenever you report a concern please keep a written record of what you have reported and why and inform the Council’s Lead Safeguarding Officer at the earliest possible opportunity by writing an  Incident Report

Vulnerable Adult

If you believe an adult is in immediate danger call 999 and inform the police.

If you think someone is being abused or you think their safety is at risk, then it is important to tell someone.

If you’re worried about an adult and think they may be a victim of neglect, abuse or cruelty, please call the LCC Customer Service Centre (CSC) on 01522 782155

Outside normal office hours you can contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 01522 782333.

If there is no immediate danger you may also seek advice from the Council’s Lead Safeguarding Officer.

General guidance:

Knowing when and how to share information is not always easy, but it is important to get it right. Families need to feel reassured that their confidentiality is respected. In most cases you will only share information about them with their consent, but there may be circumstances when you need to override this.

If you are not sure, but in your view there is a risk of abuse to someone, you should speak to the Council’s Lead Safeguarding Officer.

The seven golden rules for information sharing:

< >Remember that the Data Protection Act is not a barrier to sharing information, but provides a framework to ensure that personal information about living persons is shared appropriately. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contentsBe open and honest with the person (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so. Seek advice if you are in any doubt, without disclosing the identity of the person where possible. Share with consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to share confidential information. You may still share information without consent if, in your judgement, that lack of consent can be overridden in the child’s/adults/public interest. You will need to base your judgement on the needs of the child/adult facts of the case. Consider safety and well-being: base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the person and others who may be affected by their actions. Necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure: ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those people who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely. Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose. Is there a legitimate purpose for sharing information? Does the information enable a person to be identified? Is the information confidential? If so, do you have consent to share? Is there a statutory duty or court order to share the information? If consent refused/there are good reasons not to seek consent Is there sufficient public interest to share information? If the decision is to share, are you sharing the right information in the right way? Have you properly recorded your decision? Sexual abuse, organised abuse or fabricated illness or injury (FII). It isn’t possible to contact parents without causing undue delay in making a referral. The risk of destroying evidence. Possibility of increased risk of domestic violence. Possibility of the family moving to avoid professional scrutiny.

Minting and Gautby Parish Council adopts safer recruitment practices for all employees, including agency employees, students and volunteers.

The key features of safer recruitment include:

< >Advertising the postApplication /shortlisting/ interviewReferencesSafer selectionDBS checks (where necessary)Induction 

In the first instance if you have a concern about anyone, either a volunteer or member of staff then you should contact the Lead Officer for Safeguarding within Minting and Gautby Parish Council.

If the concern is about the 'Lead Officer' themselves, you should refer the matter using the contacts listed in the above section entitled:

What to do if you are worried about a child or vulnerable adult?

If the Lead Officer considers that the alleged member of staff or volunteer has:

< >behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a childcommitted a criminal offence against or related to a child; orbehaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she would pose a risk of harm if they work regularly or closely with children'Managing Allegations of abuse made against persons who work with children and young people'

From time to time the Council or one of its members or employees may be concerned about a child but the issues are not of a safeguarding nature.

As in all cases the matter should be referred to the Council’s lead officer for safeguarding who will consider what action to take.

The Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse protocol has established procedures to help known as an Early Help Assessment (EHA).

The EHA process has been designed to help practitioners assess needs at an early stage and then work with the child / young person, their family and other practitioners and agencies to meet these needs. As such, it is designed for use when:

< >You are worried about how well a child / young person is progressing. You might be worried about their health, development, welfare, behaviour, progress in learning or any other aspect of their wellbeing A child / young person or their parent / carer raises a concern with you The child’s or young person’s needs are unclear, or broader than your service can address alone The child or young person would benefit from an assessment to help a practitioner understand their needs better.
The Council’s lead officer should arrange a consultation with and Early Help Advisor, call Children's Services CSC on 01522 782111.