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As part of our communication and publicity policy, the Pemberton Community Association and associated groups (Pemberton Christmas Market and Santa Street tour) use video and photography to promote our events. These are used on our social media, website and leaflets. If you do not want you or your child(ren) in our publicity, please speak to one of our volunteers or contact us on 07305 978989.
Your privacy is important to us, and will always be respected. Any photographs will be removed and videos will not be used. Information you give to us, by joining our facebook page, subscribing to our website or by completing our questionnaires will not be supplied to any third party.
You can be assured we never share your details with anyone else without your permission.
1.1 The purpose of this Safeguarding Policy is to ensure that appropriate action is taken when a young person is suspected of either being abused or at risk of abuse.
1.2 The Pemberton Community Association Safeguarding Policy recognises that the safety and protection of young people is paramount and has priority over all other interests. The purpose of this policy is to protect any young people who attend our events, seek our help or volunteer with us.
1.3 This policy refers to all young people regardless of nationality, culture, or religion. If the young person has learning disabilities or is a care leaver, their needs may extend to their 21st birthday (Section 9 Young people Act 2004).
1.4 To support The Pemberton Community Association in meeting its statutory safeguarding obligations.
1.5 To meet the legal requirements of the activities that we provide,
2. Those Affected By This Policy
2.1 The following roles may be affected by this policy:
2.2 The following people may be affected by this policy:
3.1 The objective of The Pemberton Community Association is to have a coordinated approach to safeguarding and to ensure that The Pemberton Community Association procedures adhere to the the safeguarding of young and vulnerable Children and young people.
3.2 To ensure that the voice of the young person is heard and that a person-centred approach is always taken.
4.1 Statement of Intent:
The Pemberton Community Association recognises the vulnerability of young people and believes it is always unacceptable for a young person to experience abuse of any kind. It wholly supports the principle that the welfare of the young person is paramount and understands that young people can be under threat, and/or abused by parents/family, other children and young people, staff, volunteers, and others, and that everyone who works with young people has a responsibility for keeping them safe. The Pemberton Community Association will ensure that it works in partnership with other agencies, young people, and their families so that they receive the right help, at the right time and with everyone who comes into contact with them, understanding that they all have a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information, and taking prompt action. Additionally, The Pemberton Community Association believes that all young people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, culture, sexual orientation, disability, faith, or religious belief, have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.
4.2 Young people with additional complex needs:
The Pemberton Community Association recognises that disabled young people and those with additional complex needs are at increased risk of abuse. Furthermore, it understands that some young people have increased vulnerability because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, their communication needs, or other issues and that threats can take a variety of different forms including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, neglect, exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups, trafficking, online abuse, sexual exploitation, and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation. All necessary steps will be taken to ensure that the rights of all young people are respected and that opportunities for abuse to occur are minimised.
4.3 The Pemberton Community Association will seek to keep young people safe by:
4.4 Information Sharing and Confidentiality
Good communication is essential for any organisation. In The Pemberton Community Association, we assure individuals that, should they have concerns, they will be listened to and taken seriously. It is the responsibility of the Designated Safeguarding Officers to ensure that information is available to, and is exchanged between, all those involved in this organisation and its activities.
Young people have a right to information, especially any information that could make life safer for them. The Pemberton Community Association will act to ensure that they have information about how, and with whom, they can share their concerns, complaints, and anxieties. When sharing information, staff and volunteers will be sensitive to the level of understanding and maturity, as well as to the level of responsibility of the people with whom they are sharing.
We understand that some information is confidential and should only be shared on a strictly need-to-know basis.
4.5 Safer Recruitment
The Pemberton Community Association will adopt a consistent and thorough process of safe recruitment to ensure that those recruited are suitable. This includes ensuring that safer recruitment and selection procedures are adopted which deter, reject, or identify people who might abuse young people or are otherwise unsuitable to work with them.
4.6 Best Practice
The Pemberton Community Association will adhere to working with partner agencies to safeguard Children
4.7 Accountabilities and Responsibilities
Individual staff and volunteers have a responsibility to report and record any concerns, and not to make decisions themselves as to whether abuse has or has not occurred. Doing nothing is never an option. If we know or suspect that a young person is being abused, we will do something about it and ensure that our work is properly recorded.
4.8 The Management team and Safeguarding Officers will:
Volunteers at The Pemberton Community Association will:
The Designated Safeguarding Officers will:
5.1 Recognising Young people who May Need Early Help:
The Pemberton Community Association should ensure that staff and volunteers understand the requirement to be alert to the potential need for early help as stated in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018) for a young person who:
Additionally, staff and volunteers should be aware of any new or emerging threats which include online abuse, grooming, sexual exploitation, and radicalisation as well as having the ability to identify symptoms and triggers of abuse or neglect.
5.2 Local Procedures
All staff, including volunteers working with young people, will familiarise themselves with the safeguarding policies, procedures and guidelines and work within them. The Pemberton Community Association will ensure that all staff and volunteers within the organisation are aware and understand the safeguarding policies and reporting procedures.
5.3 Responding When a Young Person Discloses Abuse
Keep the following considerations in mind when talking to a young person who is disclosing abuse:
5.4 Reporting Concerns
5.5 Management of Allegations Against People in Positions of Trust
The Pemberton Community Association will deal with allegations against those who work or volunteer with young people in a systematic, robust, and comprehensive manner. The Pemberton Community Association will make a clear distinction between an allegation, a concern about the quality of support, or a complaint. An allegation may relate to a person who works with young people who has:
If an allegation arises it should:
5.6 Referral to DBS:
If The Pemberton Community Association removes an individual (paid worker or unpaid volunteer) from work activity with young people (or would have, had the person not resigned first) because the person poses a risk of harm to young people, it must make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service to consider whether to add the individual to the barred list. Where an individual is a registered practitioner such as a Registered Nurse, they should also be referred to their Registered Body, such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
5.7 Safeguarding young people with additional needs:
Research suggests that disabled young people are at increased risk of abuse, and that the presence of multiple disabilities appears to increase the risk of both abuse and neglect. A young person could be considered disabled if he or she has significant problems with communication, comprehension, vision, hearing, or physical functioning. A failure to recognise disabled young people’s rights can lead to abusive situations and practices.
Organisational culture, custom, and practice can contribute to institutional abuse or harm.
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5.8 Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
As a result of recent nationwide cases Child Sexual Abuse has become a national priority for health and social care. Staff and volunteers have a significant contribution to make in identifying young people at risk of sexual exploitation. Where there are concerns about the welfare of a young person, The Pemberton Community Association should:
5.9 Domestic Violence and Abuse
There is a strong link between domestic abuse and all types of significant harm to young people. Witnessing domestic violence is a form of emotional abuse to a young person which may result in long- lasting implications for their future wellbeing.
Staff and volunteers should follow local safeguarding reporting procedures if they are concerned that a young person is witnessing domestic violence, is at risk of being harmed or is being harmed because of domestic violence or abuse.
5.10 Contextual Safeguarding
The Pemberton Community Association should ensure that staff and volunteers have an awareness of Contextual Safeguarding. Pemberton Community Association will ensure that staff and volunteers understand that, as well as threats to the welfare of young people from within their families, young people may be vulnerable to abuse or exploitation from outside their families. These extra-familial threats might arise at school and other educational establishments, from within peer groups, or more widely from within the wider community and/or online. These threats can take a variety of different forms and young people can be vulnerable to multiple threats including, but not limited to, exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups such as county lines; trafficking; online abuse; sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism which can lead to radicalisation.
5.11 Whistleblowing
Safeguarding young people is complex and can frequently be under review. It is important to remember that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and a culture should be promoted where staff and volunteers are able to raise concerns and whistle-blow without fear.
5.12 Consent
Where The Pemberton Community Association needs to share special category personal data, Pemberton Community Association should be aware that the Data Protection Act 2018 includes ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a condition that allows practitioners to share information without consent. Information can be shared legally without consent if The Pemberton Community Association is unable to, or cannot be reasonably expected to gain consent from the individual, or if to gain consent could place a young person at risk.
6.1 Domestic Violence and Abuse
The UK’s cross-government definition of domestic abuse is:
Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence, or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This abuse can encompass but is not limited to:
Controlling behaviour is: A range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.
Coercive behaviour is: An act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. This definition, which is not a legal definition, includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage, and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.
6.2 Safeguarding
Safeguarding is a term which is broader than ‘child protection’ and relates to the action taken to promote the welfare of young people and protect them from harm. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Statutory guidance says that safeguarding means:
6.3 Child or Young Person
Under the Children’s Acts 1989 and 2004 respectively, a child (or young person) is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. The fact that a young person has reached 16 years of age, is living independently or is in further education, is a member of the armed forces, is in hospital, in prison or in a Young Offenders Institution does not change his or her status or entitlement to services or protection under the Children’s Act 1989
6.4 Staff
Employment context: A person working under the control or direction of another, under a contract of employment in return for a wage or salary.
6.5 Volunteer
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) defines a ‘volunteer’ as: “A person who is engaged in any activity which involves spending time, unpaid (except for travelling and other approved out of pocket expenses), doing something which aims to benefit someone (individuals or groups) other than, or in addition to close relatives.
6.6 Child Sexual Exploitation
Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur using technology.
6.7 Safeguarding Children Partners
Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) have now been replaced by “Safeguarding Children Partnerships.” Under the new legislation, three safeguarding partners (Local Authorities, Chief Officers of Police, and Clinical Commissioning Groups) must decide to work together with relevant agencies (as they consider appropriate) to safeguard and protect the welfare of children and young people in the area. The geographical footprint for the new arrangements is based on local authority areas. Every Local Authority, Clinical Commissioning Group and Police Force must be covered by a local safeguarding arrangement.
6.8 Contextual Safeguarding
Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to understanding, and responding to, young people’s experiences of significant harm beyond their families. It recognises that the different relationships that young people form in their neighbourhoods, schools and online can feature violence and abuse. Parents and carers have little influence over these contexts, and young people’s experiences of extra-familial abuse can undermine parent-child relationships.
6.9 GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information of individuals within the European Union (EU).
The GDPR forms part of the data protection regime in the UK, together with the new Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The main provisions of this applied like the GDPR, from 25 May 2018.
6.10 Special Category Personal Data:
Under GDPR, special categories of personal data mean data revealing health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, etc.
6.11 Raising concerns:
If at any point a staff member of volunteer has any concerns about the safety and or wellbeing of a young person, they should raise these with the Designated Safeguarding Officer to ensure that a risk assessment can be discussed, and any mitigation pulled together to ensure young people are kept safe.
Key Facts – Professionals
Professionals providing this service should be aware of the following:
Key Facts – Young people Affected by The Service
People affected by this service should be aware of the following:
As well as the information in the ‘Underpinning Knowledge’ section of the review sheet we recommend that you add to your understanding in this policy area by considering the following materials:
NSPCC Briefing on key changes: Working together to safeguard children 2018:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/news-opinion/revised-guidance-working-together-safeguard-children-2018/
Honour Based Violence:
https://safe.met.police.uk/crimes_of_honour/get_the_facts.html
Child maltreatment: when to suspect maltreatment in under 18s.Clinical guideline [cg89] NICE 2009:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg89
NSPCC: How safe are our children? The most comprehensive overview of child protection in the UK 2017:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/services-and-resources/research-and-resources/2017/how-safe-are-our-children-2017/
Child sexual exploitation Definition and a guide for practitioners, local leaders and decision makers working to protect children from child sexual exploitation: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/591903/CSE_Guidance_Core_Document