Our Policies
Child Protection and Safeguarding
Reviewed on:05/05/2021
Reviewed by: Charlotte Linsell
Next Review: 05/05/2022
The Alt Prov acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working to provide a safe environment for all members.
A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any provision, club, sports, activity/holiday camp.
Key principles of The Alt Prov Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy are that: The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration.
- All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.
- All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
- Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents or carer is essential.
- All Alt Prov members of staff will take relevant action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcome.
We acknowledge that every child or young person who plays or participates in our sessions should be able to participate in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and all forms of abuse.
The Alt Prov recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult and representative involved in our organisation.
The Alt Prov has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying.
It is noted and accepted that The Alt Prov Child Protection regulation applies to everyone in our sessions, whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This includes those who are a volunteer, staff members, external companies, match officials etc.
We will ensure that senior Alt Prov Staff follow the Child Protection and Safeguarding policy and best practice guidelines for recruiting volunteers and will:
- Develop a role profile
- Request identification documents
- As a minimum meet and interview the applicant(s)
- Request and follow up with two references before appointing
- Require a DBS Enhanced Disclosure.
All current Alt Prov staff with direct access to children and young people will be required to complete a DBS Enhanced Disclosure via UCheck or other organisations.
If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of The Alt Prov, an investigation will be led by a member of The Alt Prov management team.
It is noted and accepted that Alt Prov will consider the relevance and significance of the information obtained via UCheck Enhanced DBS Disclosure and that all decisions will be made in the best interests of children and young people.
It is accepted that The Alt Prov aims to prevent people with a history of relevant and significant offending from having contact with children or young people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children or young people.
Incidents or allegations
In the event of an incident or allegation regarding a member of staff or representative of The Alt Prov, the following action will be taken;
Details of the allegation will be given to Rebecca Sherwood (DSL) (a completed and signed incident report form will be required – it will also need to be uploaded onto CPOMS) If not present send to Brian Murphy or Ryan White.
The member of staff/representative of the company will be suspended with immediate affect whilst an investigation is pending.
A meeting will be held between SLT, a member of The Alt Prov Management and the person against whom the allegation has been made. This will provide the person against whom the allegation has been made with the opportunity to answer the alleged incident.
The results of the meeting will be reviewed and either the person against whom the allegation has been made will return to work or Ryan White or Brian Murphy (or member of management team if not present) will forward their details onto the relevant referral authority.
If an Alt Prov member of staff or representative is concerned for the welfare or safe keeping of a child in their care, the following action will be taken;
In all cases of concern (chronic neglect, emotional abuse)
Contact the DSL (Brian Murphy or Ryan White if not present) who is in charge of child protection, to discuss your concerns discreetly.
Record the details of your concern on paper so that a clear record of events leading to your suspicions is made and clearly sign the record.
In all cases of concern the DSL, Ryan White or Brian Murphy will seek advice from the Local Authority.
Dependent on the advice provided from the Local Authority, the DSL, Ryan White or Brian Murphy will then monitor the situation on an ongoing basis and escalate the problem if necessary.
All decisions made will be recorded.
In urgent situations (where the same day action is required e.g., physical abuse or an allegation of recent sexual abuse)
Ensure the young person is safe whilst you are taking action (e.g., seeking medical attention)
Report the situation to the DSL, (then Ryan White or Brian Murphy) immediately who will take up the issue with the Police or Social Services or the relevant referral authority.
Record the date and time of events leading to the report as soon as possible and clearly sign the record. Where possible ensure a witness is with you throughout this process and signs your record of events.
In all situations where a child appears to be suffering harm to either their emotional or physical health or development the Local Authority has a duty under the Children Act to carry out an assessment of the child’s needs and an assessment if whether the child needs protection.
The DSL, (then Brian Murphy, or Ryan White or) will refer all reportable or urgent child protection issues arising in a Alt Prov session to the Local Social Services team or the Police Child Protection team if Social Services cannot be reached.
Record keeping of allegations
In line with Data Protection guidance, we will keep records based on the following:
- Ensure the records are adequate, relevant and not excessive for the purpose(s) for which they are held
accurate and up to date
- only kept for as long as is necessary
- know the reason why you’re keeping records about children and/or adults (for
example, because they relate to child protection concerns)
- assess how long we need to keep the records for
- have a plan for how and when the records will be destroyed.
To keep personal information secure:
- compile and label files carefully
- keep files containing sensitive or confidential data secure and allow access on a
‘need to know’ basis
- keep a log so you can see who has accessed the confidential files, when, and
the titles of the files they have used.
- All documents kept electronically can be only accessed by the appropriate people and on password protected devices.
Use of the CPOMS system should be implemented where available.
Any records about the children and/or adults that take part in our services or activities will be told of what records we hold, why we need to hold them and who we might share their information with (for example as part of a multi-agency child protection team) (Information Commissioner’s Office, 2020). If you are keeping records for child protection reasons, you don’t necessarily need to get consent from the adults and/or children concerned.
Parents, Guardians and Carers of children attending The Alt Prov sessions;
When dropping off their child or collecting their child from a Alt Prov session, we ask all mobile phones and cameras are kept out of sight of children and are not used within the venue where the session is running.
Use of Mobile Phones and Cameras for staff;
No personal mobile phones or cameras are to be in use at any time during the running of a Alt Prov session. No personal mobile phones or cameras are to be visible at any time during the running of a Alt Prov session.
Details of the allegation will be given to the DSL (then Ryan White or Brian Murphy) (a completed and signed incident report form will be required). The member of staff/representative of the company will be suspended with immediate affect whilst an investigation is pending.
A meeting will be held SLT, a member of The Alt Prov Management and the person against whom the allegation has been made. This will provide the person against whom the allegation has been made with the opportunity to answer the alleged incident.
The results of the meeting will be reviewed and either the person against whom the allegation has been made will return to work or DSL (then Ryan White or Brian Murphy) will forward their details onto the relevant referral authority.
In the event of an emergency (a child or fellow member of staff seeks help from emergency services), it is deemed acceptable for a mobile phone to be used during a Alt Prov session
If your mobile phone is visible during any time of running a Alt Prov session or the taking of photographs of children is strictly prohibited and will result in a disciplinary or instant dismissal and possible prosecution by law.