Safeguarding Statement

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Purpose of the policy and scope of this policy statement
  3. Legal framework
  4. Definitions
  5. Policy Responsibilities
  6. Implementation Stages
  7. Training and support for employees, contractors and consultants
  8. Professional boundaries
  9. Guidance for employees, contractors and consultants who become aware of concerns
  10. Safeguarding risks around photos and videos
  11. Concerns for welfare or safety of Child
  12. Reporting form procedure
  13. Making contact with an external agency
  14. Managing information
  15. Preventing radicalisation
  16. Communicating and reviewing the policy
  17. Policy review
  18. Contact details

Please ensure that all written correspondence relating to Safeguarding or welfare concerns are emailed to: rachael@jamup.net

  1. Introduction:

Spectrum Tailored Technologies makes a positive contribution to a strong and safe community and recognises the right of every individual to stay safe.

Spectrum Tailored Technologies encounters children who may be at risk through its app development work, which typically takes place in the form of focus group meetings, interviews and written correspondence.

  1. Purpose of the policy and scope of the policy statement

Spectrum Tailored Technologies believe everyone has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them. We will ensure we give equal priority to keeping all children and young people safe regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We recognise that some individuals are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of discrimination, previous experience, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

Spectrum Tailored Technologies will meet our commitment to keeping children and young people safe by:

  • Listening and respecting them
  • Appointing a nominated designated safeguarding officer and a member of the trustee board who takes lead responsibility for safeguarding at the highest level in the organisation.
  • Writing detailed safeguarding and child protection procedures.
  • Making sure all staff and volunteers understand and follow the safeguarding and child protection procedures.
  • Ensuring children, young people and their families know about the organisations safeguarding and protection policies and what to do if they have a concern.
  • Building a safeguarding culture where staff, volunteers as well as children know how they are expected to behave and feel comfortable about sharing concerns.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

  • to protect children and young people who receive Spectrum Tailored Technologies services from harm.
  • to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Spectrum Tailored Technologies, including senior managers and the board of trustees, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

  1. Legal Framework

This policy as been drawn up based on legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from:

https://nspcc.org.uk/childprotection

  1. Definitions

Safeguarding is about embedding practices throughout the organisation to ensure the protection of children wherever possible. In contrast, child protection is about responding to circumstances that arise.

Abuse is a selfish act of oppression and injustice, exploitation and manipulation of power by those in a position of authority. This can be caused by those inflicting harm or those who fail to act to prevent harm. Abuse is not restricted to any socio-economic group, gender or culture.

It includes the following:

  • Physical abuse
  • Domestic violence or abuse
  • Sexual abuse
  • Psychological or emotional abuse
  • Financial or material abuse
  • Modern slavery
  • Discriminatory abuse
  • Organisational or institutional abuse
  • Neglect or acts of omission
  • Self-neglect

Definition of a child

A child is any person under the age of 18 (as defined in the United Nations convention on the Rights of a Child).

  1. Policy Responsibilities

5.1 All employees and contractors (paid or unpaid):

All employees and contractors (paid or unpaid) 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 employees and contractors (paid or unpaid) to promote good practice by being an excellent role model, contribute to discussions about safeguarding and to positively involve people in developing safe practices.

5.2 The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) have responsibility to ensure:

  • The policy is in place and appropriate
  • The policy is accessible, implemented, monitored and reviewed
  • Liaison with and support for the Designated Safeguarding Officer
  • Sufficient resources (time and money) are allocated to ensure that the policy can be effectively implemented.

5.3 The Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) has the following responsibilities:

  • Promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults
  • Ensure employees and contractors (paid and unpaid) have access to appropriate training/information
  • Receive employees concerns about safeguarding and respond seriously, swiftly, and appropriately
  • Maintains Single Central Record of all employees, contractors and volunteers DBS status and Safeguarding training
  • Maintain an up-to-date Register of Risk, which includes the Safeguarding Incident Log
  • Keep up to date with national and local arrangements for safeguarding and DBS
  • Develop and maintain effective links with relevant agencies
  • Take forward concerns about responses.

5.4 The Safeguarding Team Leads have the following responsibilities:

  • Works in conjunction with the DSO and deputises in the DSO’s absence, with support from SLT
  • Reviewing with the DSO the information to aid clarification of risk as low/medium/high
  • Acknowledges receipt and responds to incoming enquiries and incident forms
  • Makes outbound calls to support those reporting an incident e.g., Specialists or clients
  • Escalates to DSO Medium and High -risk Incident Reports
  • Develops Safeguarding resources and delivers Safeguarding training to staff and contractors
  • Ensure that all employees and contractors understand their safeguarding responsibilities, policies and procedures
  • Act as a point of contact for safeguarding concerns within their teams
  • Supports the Safeguarding and welfare concern audits
  • Supports dissemination of lessons learnt objectives.
  1. Implementation Stages

6.1 Safe Recruitment

 Spectrum Tailored Technologies ensures safe recruitment through the following processes:

  • Job or role descriptions for all roles involving contact with children contain reference to safeguarding responsibilities.
  • Shortlisting is based on formal application processes and not on provision of CVs.
  • Interviews are conducted according to equal opportunity principles and interview questions are based on the relevant job description and person specification.
  • DBS checks will be conducted for specific roles for all employees (paid or unpaid), consultants and contractors working with children.
  • Spectrum Tailored Technologies will accept existing DBS Disclosures from other authorities or organisations providing the applicant has a suitable DBS Certificate and they are subscribed to a DBS Update Service.
  • It is a criminal offence for individuals barred by the DBS to work or apply to work with children.
  • If a new employee starts work before DBS clearance is given, then no unsupervised contact with children is permitted until the DBS clearance is confirmed.

6.2 Disclosure and Barring Gap Management

The organisation commits resources to providing DBS check on employees (paid or unpaid) and whose roles involve contact (e.g. in-person or by phone, email, webchat, video call or other mechanism) with children.

In order to avoid DBS gaps, the organisation will maintain and review a list of roles across the organisation which involve contact with children.

Risk assessments will be carried out on any member of the staff team:

  • for whom we have not yet received a completed DBS application and until such time as BiH have received a completed DBS. Any member of BiH employees without a completed DBS we have verified, must be supervised if in contact with a BiH User
  • who has a gap in their employment history
  • for whom we have a declaration on a completed DBS.

All DBS risk assessments must be completed by HR or the DSO, these will need to be completed prior to the first day of employment, before they have access to BiH user data or commence any duties with children. Employees who are considered as being too high risk to enter employment with Spectrum Tailored Technologies will be informed at the earliest opportunity and before their planned start date. 

Risk assessments are conducted sensitively and only those conducting the risk assessment (HR and DSO) will have access to them, they will also be stored and destroyed in line with our GDPR Policy. Neither HR nor the DSO will share information from the risk assessment with their proposed line Manager, only that the job offer has been withdrawn.

In addition to checks on recruitment for roles involving contact with children, the following processes are in place:

  • A 3 year rolling programme of DBS re-checking is in place for holders of all identified posts.
  • Existing employees (paid or unpaid) who transfer from a role which does not require a DBS check to one which involves contact with children will be subject to a DBS check.

6.3 Service delivery contracting and sub-contracting

  • There will be systematic checking of safeguarding arrangements of organisations contracted to supply services to Spectrum Tailored Technologies that might include contact with children or vulnerable adults
  • Contracts and memorandums of agreement for such arrangements will include clear minimum requirements, arrangements for safeguarding and non-compliance procedures
  • As part of the Quality Assurance (QA) process, evidence of an employee’s / contractor’s DBS and mandatory training will be required.
  1. Training and support for employees, contractors and consultants

Spectrum Tailored Technologies commits resources for induction, training of employees and contractors (paid and unpaid) and consultants, and effective communications and support mechanisms in relation to Safeguarding.

7.1 Induction and Training

All employees, contractors and consultants who, through their role, are in contact with children will complete safeguarding training at an appropriate level.

7.2 Support

We recognise that involvement in situations where there is risk or actual harm can be stressful for employees concerned. The mechanisms in place to support employees include:

  • Debriefing support for paid and unpaid employees so that they can reflect on the issues they have dealt with.
  • Signposting to further support as appropriate; e.g., access to counselling.
  • Employees, contractors and consultants who have initiated protection concerns will be contacted by the DSO within 5 working days.
  1. Professional boundaries

Professional boundaries are what define the limits of a relationship between a service or support provider (including, non-medical helpers) and a client. They are a set of standards we agree to uphold that allows this necessary and often close relationship to exist while ensuring the correct detachment is kept in place. Spectrum Tailored Technologies expects employees to protect the professional integrity of themselves and the organisation. Breaching professional boundaries and / or organisational policies could result in disciplinary procedures. 

  1. Guidance for employees, contractors and consultants who become aware of concerns

If an employee or contractor is notified, or becomes aware through the declaration, indication or disclosure (behaviourally, verbally or in writing) of an individual, that a child is being, or has been, abused or is at risk from themselves or others, the employee or contractor must: 

  • React calmly.
  • Reassure the person they were right to disclose the matter.
  • Take what is said seriously. Be clear that they cannot keep secrets and that they must pass the information on if they think a child has been or is being harmed or is at risk of harm in some way.
  • Keep questions to an absolute minimum to ensure a clear and accurate understanding of what is being said.
  • Only ask questions if they need to clarify what they are being told. They must not ask about explicit details as it is up to the external agency to investigate fully.
  • Clarify the facts about what happened only and avoid asking leading questions.

10 Safeguarding risks around videos and photos

Spectrum Tailored Technologies recognises that

  • sharing photographs and films of our activities can help us celebrate the successes and achievements of our children and young people, provide a record of our activities and raise awareness of our organisation
  • the welfare of the children and young people taking part in our activities is paramount
  • children, their parents and carers have a right to decide whether their images are taken and how these may be used, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation
  • consent to take images of children is only meaningful when children, their parents and carers understand how the images will be used and stored, and are fully aware of the potential risks associated with the use and distribution of these images
  • there are potential risks associated with sharing images of children online.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

  • always asking for written consent from a child and their parents or carers before taking and using a child’s image
  • always explaining what images will be used for, how they will be stored and what potential risks are associated with sharing images of children
  • making it clear that if a child or their family withdraw consent for an image to be shared, it may not be possible to delete images that have already been shared or published
  • changing the names of children whose images are being used in our published material whenever possible (and only using first names if we do need to identify them)
  • never publishing personal information about individual children and disguising any identifying information (for example the name of their school or a school uniform with a logo)
  • making sure children, their parents and carers understand how images of children will be securely stored and for how long (including how we will control access to the images and their associated information)
  • reducing the risk of images being copied and used inappropriately by:
  • only using images of children in appropriate clothing (including safety wear if necessary)
  • avoiding full face and body shots of children taking part in activities such as swimming where there may be a heightened risk of images being misused
  • using images that positively reflect young people’s involvement in the activity.

We will also develop a procedure for reporting the abuse or misuse of images of children as part of our child protection procedures. We will ensure everyone involved in our organisation knows the procedures to follow to keep children safe.

  1. Concerns for Welfare or safety of Child

11.1 The employees, contractors and consultants must make it clear that if they are concerned about the wellbeing or safety of any child then they will report the risk to Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Team, who may notify other services as appropriate in accordance with the Spectrum Tailored Technologies Terms and Conditions of Use and Safeguarding Policy.

11.2 Where an isolated concern for welfare is raised the user should always be encouraged to disclose this to the appropriate person themselves or consent gained for the Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Team to escalate externally on their behalf. If the Service User is under the age of 18, all welfare issues will be reported to the Safeguarding Team.

11.3 Where there are cumulative welfare concerns for a user, or a user is at increased risk of harm, consent is not required but the user must be informed that the concern is being reported to the Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Team and may be escalated externally if appropriate. Only where it is deemed unsafe or placing the user at more risk may the risk be reported to the Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Team without the users’ knowledge.

11.4 If there is a concern for the immediate safety of a child, a high risk of harm to the service user, or a risk of the service user harming others, this should be escalated to the appropriate 999 service and their emergency contact, and then reported to the Safeguarding Team once the risk has been addressed. In such high-risk situations the risk can be escalated externally with or without consent from the user, but the user should still be informed. Only where it is deemed unsafe or placing the user at more risk may the risk be escalated to the emergency services or the Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Team without the user’s knowledge. 

11.5 The Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Team may (where it is in the vital interest of the user or others) escalate cumulative welfare concerns, high risks of harm or immediate risks of harm by contacting the service user’s school, college or university, Student Support Team or Non-Medical Help Provider, the individual’s support provider or referring agency, their Local Authority Safeguarding Team, or the police or other emergency services as appropriate.

11.6 If the person who is disclosing abuse or harm is a child, they may not wish to take the matter further than the person they have informed. They may fear the effect this will have on their or another person’s family or may fear forms of retribution. The child must be helped to understand why the report must be made and what is likely to happen as a result. This discussion need not happen if on the balance of probabilities having the discussion could result in a worsening situation or further avoidable harm. If a child alleges that they or another child is a cause for concern, Safeguarding Procedures must be followed in respect of both parties. Spectrum Tailored Technologies will attempt to ensure their disclosure is handled confidentially, although no absolute guarantees will be offered.  

  1. Reporting form procedure

12.1 All child protection or safeguarding concerns must be recorded on a Spectrum Tailored Technologies Safeguarding Incident Form and emailed securely to rachael.malthouse@jamup.io

12.2 Where forms are unable to be submitted securely, to ensure delays do not occur, a report may be made by phone, and a signed or emailed copy must follow within one week (5 working days). 

12.3 All forms must be completed, reviewed, and relayed onwards if appropriate within 24 hours of having a concern or an incident occurring.

12.4 All forms will be reviewed by the Safeguarding Team within 24 hours (1 working day) of receipt.

12.5 These records may need to be disclosed to third parties such as childrens services, police, the courts and solicitors, so every care must be taken that they are clear, accurate and objective.

12.6 Employees and contractors should take care not to write speculative comments and stick to the facts given by the person raising the concern.

12.7 Employees’ opinions may in some circumstances be crucial, but they must be recorded as an opinion and evidence accompanied to support these opinions.

12.8 All fields should be completed and where information is non-applicable, ‘unknown’ or ‘unavailable’ must be clearly noted.

12.9 The person filling in the form is responsible for the contents and ensuring it is emailed securely to rachael@jamup.net 

  1. Making contact with an external agency

13.1 The decision whether to make a referral to an external agency will be based on the information provided in the Incident form and following review by the DSO and SLT if appropriate. Any other issues Spectrum Tailored Technologies is aware of in relation to the child should be taken into account, and any risks associated with not taking action should be assessed and documented. 

13.2 The referral to the appropriate services will be made by the DSO or a member of the Safeguarding Team under the guidance of the DSO or the Deputising DSO.

13.3 If appropriate, after discussing with a member of SLT and taking advice from the NSPCC helpline, it is the responsibility of the DSO to decide whether the parents/carers of the child be informed of the report, if they have not already been made aware of this. 

13.4 If the child has a known contact with an external agency, they must be informed of Spectrum Tailored Technologies ’s concerns. 

13.5 Once the referral has been made in writing, the DSO or Deputising DSO must ensure he/she has a written record that this has been received. This must be stored with the reporting form and any other paperwork relating to the case in line with agreed processes. 

13.6 If a referral is made outside the organisation, it is the responsibility of the DSO or, under the guidance of the DSO, the Safeguarding Team member to ensure that the referral has received appropriate attention from the external agency within 7 days. The DSO or the Safeguarding Team Member should confirm this and record the action on the form. 

  1. Managing information

14.1 Information will be gathered, recorded and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Policy and Access to Confidential Information Policy.

14.2 All employees must be aware that they have a professional duty to share information with other agencies to safeguard children. The public interest in safeguarding children may override confidentiality interests. However, information will be shared on a need-to-know basis only, as judged by the DSO.

14.3 All employees must be aware that they cannot promise service users or their families / carers that they will keep secrets.

14.4 All concerns and any discussions about the welfare of a child must be recorded and reported on a safeguarding incident form it must include whether further action is taken.

14.5 Safeguarding incident form and associated records will be logged on the safeguarding Incident Log (Register of Risk), with relevant documents / emails / records attached to the record, audited for any patterns or trends and lessons learnt objectives. This Log is held securely on the shared drive in a restricted folder. Any Hard copies must then be shredded.

14.6 Only the DSO, Safeguarding Team Members and appropriate members of SLT (including CEO) will have access to these records. Any other employees will need to request access from the DSO, which will only be granted only for a valid reason. 

14.7 Verbal discussions around any child protection or safeguarding case will be conducted confidentially and not in the open office. Verbal conversation should be recorded in written format and attached to the incident log case file.

14.8 Any information sent through the post around a child protection or safeguarding case will be marked ‘Confidential – addressee only’ for the attention off the Designated Safeguarding Officer.

14.9 Sensitive information sent in emails around a child protection or safeguarding case must be encrypted or, included in a password-protected document attached to the email.  

  1. Preventing Radicalisation

Under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, and as part of our safeguarding procedures, all employees and contractors working for and on behalf of Spectrum Tailored Technologies must have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. The Prevent Strategy is part of the Government’s overall counter-terrorism strategy, known as CONTEST. The specific aim of Prevent is to stop people becoming drawn into terrorism. The three specific strategic objectives under Prevent are:

  • Respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it
  • Prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
  • Work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.

The following list of behaviours may indicate an individual as at risk of radicalisation:

  • Expressing opinions that indicate a support for terrorism or violence and / or for the leaders of terrorist organisations
  • Possession of violent or extremist material either in hard copy or digital formats
  • Attempts to access violent extremist websites and associated password protected chat rooms
  • Possession of material relating to weapons and explosives
  • Possession of material relating to military training skills and techniques (outside of British Armed forces recruitment / careers material)
  • Social isolation from family, peers and social events, particularly if this is in conjunction with association with proscribed organisations or individuals known to hold extremist views

The above list is not exhaustive, and it should be noted that the behaviours listed above are not in themselves indicators of criminality or criminal intent. Prevent is about looking for signs that an individual may be at risk and benefit from some supportive intervention. 

There is evidence that radicalisation can be linked to a crisis of identity and uncertainty about belonging, which may be triggered by experiences of victimisation, racialism, or abuse, hence the importance of identifying clients who may be vulnerable due to issues and challenges within their personal and home life. Employees or contractors should not investigate concerns or allegations themselves but should report them immediately to the Spectrum Tailored Technologies DSO.

Employees and contractors need to act without delay by speaking with the designated person. Referral should follow Spectrum Tailored Technologies ’s existing safeguarding protocols.

  1. Communicating and reviewing the policy

Spectrum Tailored Technologies will ensure that this Safeguarding policy is readily available on their website.

  1. Policy review

This policy will be reviewed by the DSO and SLT at least every two years and when there are changes in legislation.

  1. Contact details:

Nominated Child Protection lead

Name: Rachael Malthouse

Phone/email: rachael.malthouse@jamup.io

Deputy Child Protection lead(s): Not appointed currently

Names(s): Not appointed currently

Phone / email: N/A

Trustee / Senior lead for safeguarding and child protection

Name: Rachael Malthouse

Phone/email: rachael.malthouse@jamup.io

NSPCC Helpline

0808 800 5000

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last review on 8th of January 2024.

Signed: Rachael Malthouse

Date: 8th January 2024

Date: 8th January 2024