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Safeguarding

1. INTRODUCTION

The Parochial Church Council is responsible for the safety of children, young people and vulnerable adults on church premises and in church sponsored activities elsewhere. We have complied with the duty to have due regard to section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016.

Our Parochial Church Council has a legal and moral duty to the children, young people and vulnerable adults in our parish; we also have a duty to our youth leaders (when there are youth leaders in post). A person working regularly with young people will be asked to make a declaration relating to any previous criminal convictions (a criminal record will not necessarily disqualify them: it depends on the type of offence against children). These recommendations apply to those who are involved in activities such as choirs as well as youth clubs and Sunday School.

A DBS check should be carried out for anyone who has substantial opportunity for unsupervised access to children, young people and vulnerable adults. This DBS will be carried out by St Paul’s and St John’s, Tottenham, DBS officer alongside the parish’s evidence checker. The checking system is automatically part of the parish’s recruitment process.

Safeguarding means protecting people's health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect (definition from CQC website). Church officers have a professional, legal, moral and Christian duty to protect all vulnerable individuals, regardless of age (birth to death) from harm, abuse or neglect and to work with other organisations and authorities to safeguard these individuals.

This policy and procedure describe how to recognise people who may be subject to abuse (defined as including harm or neglect in this procedure) and know what action to take when presented with evidence of abuse. Please refer to the Church of England policy on Promoting a Safer Church for more information.

Click here to see the Church of England document Promoting a Safer Church

Promoting a Safer Church:
This Safeguarding of children and adults’ policy should be used in collaboration/conjunction with the:
House of Bishops’ Policies ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ (2017) (See Appendix 4)

‘Protecting All God’s Children’ (2010) (See Appendix 6)

Principles of the House of Bishops’ Policy for Safeguarding Children (See Appendix 7)

Promoting a Safer Church:

Every person has a value and dignity which comes directly from the creation of male and female in God’s own image and likeness. Christians see this potential as fulfilled by God’s re-creation of us in Christ. Among other things this implies a duty to value all people as bearing the image of God and therefore to protect them from harm.

Principles we are committed to:

● The care, nurture of, and respectful pastoral ministry with, all children and all adults
● The safeguarding and protection of all children, young people and adults when they are vulnerable
● The establishing of safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment where there is a culture

of ‘informed vigilance’ as to the dangers of abuse.

Diocesan Safeguarding Policy ‘Promoting a Safer Diocese’ (2018).
The Church of England safeguarding policy statement is based on five foundations and offers six overarching policy commitments:

• Promoting a safer environment and culture

• Safely recruiting and supporting all those with any responsibility related to children, young people and
vulnerable adults within the Church

• Responding promptly to every safeguarding concern or allegation

• Caring pastorally for victims/survivors of abuse and other affected persons

• Caring pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns or allegations of abuse and other affected
persons

• Responding to those that may pose a present risk to others.

In agreement with the House of Bishops, this policy applies to all Church Bodies* and Church Officers†. Full understanding of, and adherence to, this policy should lead to a deepening in the understanding of, and respect for the rights of children, young people and vulnerable adults as people of faith in the life of the Church.

2. TYPES OF ABUSE

  1. Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any other person or persons. It can be
    deliberate or unintentional and can occur in any setting. It can take many forms including the following:

• Physical abuse - including hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medication, restraint, or
inappropriate sanctions.

• Sexual abuse - including rape and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult has not consented, could not consent (e.g. because of alcohol, drugs or lack of mental capacity) or was pressured into consenting, including grooming, internet grooming and pornography and child sexual exploitation (see Child sexual exploitation | Haringey Council)

• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons (seeHaringey Safeguarding Children Partnership - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (haringeyscp.org.uk)

• Psychological abuse - including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation or withdrawal from services or supportive networks, bullying in schools, the workplace, online or elsewhere.

• Financial or material abuse - including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adults’ financial affairs or arrangements, including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions and benefits

• Discriminatory abuse - including forms of harassment, slurs or dissimilar treatment because of race, gender, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion (Equalities Act 2010)

• Neglect and acts of omissions - includes ignoring medical or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating

• Self-Neglect - including a wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding

• Domestic Abuse - including psychological (coercion or control), physical, sexual, financial, emotional abuse; so called honour based violence; FGM, forced marriage

• Modern slavery – including slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment gov.uk/government/collections/modern-slavery

• Radicalisation - involving vulnerable people in terrorist activities

• Organisational abuse - Including neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting such as a hospital or care home, or in relation to care provided in one’s own home, for example. This may range from one off incidents to on-going ill-treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation This list is not exhaustive and there may be other types of abuse taking place in society.

  1. The following people may be at risk of being abused:

• People with care and support needs, regardless of age e.g.

o Those with learning or physical disability
o Those with mental health disabilities including dementia
o Elderly, frail individuals (including those in care homes)
o Those who are visually impaired, or profoundly deaf
o Adults who are temporarily ill
o Patients where the main carer is a substance misuser
o Children

• Those who are subject to discrimination or maltreatment due to issues related to age, culture or race (including honour crimes, forced marriage, FGM)

• Anyone at risk of various vulnerabilities related to drugs and alcohol

• Those who are subject to or at risk of child sexual exploitation

• Those who are subject to or at risk of radicalisation

• People in abusive relationships or those at risk or subject to domestic abuse / violence

The above list is not exhaustive.

3. WHO CARRIES OUT THE ABUSE?

  1. The person who is responsible for the abuse is often well known to the person abused. It is not always intentional. They could be:

• a relative
• a paid carer or volunteer
• a friend or group of friends, neighbour or boyfriend/ girlfriend
• another resident or service user
• a health care worker, social care or other worker
• an employer
• an occasional visitor or someone who is providing a service
• someone who deliberately exploits vulnerable people

4. SIGNS THAT MAY INDICATE A CONCERN

Detecting whether there is abuse can be difficult and signs and symptoms that appear to indicate abuse or neglect may have an innocent and rational reason behind them. Abuse may not necessarily take the form of inflicting obvious physical harm as it can also be caused by many other factors such as neglect, discrimination, deception, fraud, emotional or psychological harm. All church officers and church members have a duty to report concerns following a review of the circumstances or where they believe abuse is taking place. The following are examples of abuse/neglect that may present, or be apparent, in a church or community:

• Physical signs or actions indicating abuse such as bruising, scratches, friction burns, pushing, grabbing, inappropriate smacking or verbal abuse (usually a child)
• Requests for dressings or treatments for wounds in unusual places
• Multiple injuries at different stages of healing
• Injuries in unusual places, e.g. neck, armpit, behind ears, soles of feet
• Bite marks, scalds, fingertip bruising
• Injuries blamed on siblings
• Age or condition of injuries inconsistent with account given by adult if the abused person is a child
• Prescribed and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines being given inappropriately or in excessive amounts-frequent requests for a repeat. Conversely, medicines which are intended to be taken regularly may be omitted, resulting in a worsening medical condition.
• Inappropriate medicines being given by the carer/parent, for example, a church officer or church member may overhear that a parent has administered their own medicines to a child or is giving antihistamines regularly to sedate a child
• Continually ignoring advice to refer to either a doctor or hospital
• The child/vulnerable adult seems to always have different symptoms of varying illnesses
• Lack of concern for the person at risk, and possibly even aggression towards them
• A vulnerable person being openly humiliated or intimidated
• Evidence of inappropriate sexual relationship between child and adult
• Requests for treatment for genital infections or urinary tract infections, and other signs, such as love bites
• Evidence of malnutrition and inadequate clothing
• Evidence of substance or alcohol misuse, especially in those who care for others, such as parents of young children
• Poor hygiene
• Child/vulnerable adult appearing withdrawn
• Intoxicated carer who is unaware of the presence and actions of the person under their care.
• Evidence of self-harm
• Inappropriate verbal or physical abuse in church or community settings
• A person with learning difficulties/ mental illness asking to purchase items which they seem unlikely to use or on behalf of other people
• A young person asking to purchase items which seem to be unsuitable for their age group or very expensive items People may also provide you with a statement or direct evidence of abuse, or may ask for help, such as discussing their own or a relative’s FGM or their fear of a relative.

5. WHAT TO DO IF ABUSE OR NEGLECT IS IDENTIFIED OR SUSPECTED

  1. If the vulnerable person is in immediate danger contact the police on 999.

  2. Church officers are not expected to investigate situations of potential abuse, but must report it straight away to the parish safeguarding officer, children’s champion, diocesan safeguarding clerk or relevant safeguarding authorities to minimise risks to children and vulnerable adults.

  3. Local Authorities have their own specific guidance and lists of contacts and these should ALWAYS be referred to: Contact the Safeguarding Adults team (Adult Social Services):

▪ Telephone: 020 8489 1400
▪ Email: safeguardingadultduty@haringey.gov.uk Please use the local authority safeguarding alert form: safeguarding_alert_form_july_2023_0.doc (live.com) Information that would be helpful:
▪ Why you are concerned
▪ The name, age and address of the adult at risk
▪ If anyone lives with them
▪ If they're getting help from any organisation
▪ Who may be doing the abuse

Don't delay in reporting abuse if you're not sure about some of these details.

Ensure that all church officers know how to access the relevant Local Authority Safeguarding webpages for
adults and children. These documents are available on Local Authority or Council websites and often also on the London Diocese website.

These safeguarding documents contain contact details for named local safeguarding leads. The action plans are graded into different actions according to the type of abuse and also the level of potential or actual harm (for example low, significant, very significant, critical).

  1. For concerns relating to radicalisation, see Haringey Prevent | Haringey Council

Haringey Prevent Strategy

Haringey’s Prevent strategy aims to reduce the risk of radicalisation.
It also focuses on protecting communities and supporting people who may be at risk of being recruited or radicalised by extremists.

There’s no specific type of person who is vulnerable to radicalisation. Prevent relies on community support to identify and protect people.

Haringey’s Prevent priorities are:
Making sure people at risk of supporting terrorism are identified early and offered help and guidance training and supporting staff in key services so they can recognise when someone may be at risk and respond appropriately raising community awareness of Prevent issues and increasing confidence in the local approach providing advice and support about travel to conflict zones applying the Prevent strategy equally to all forms of terrorist ideology

More information
Find out more about the Prevent programme on the Home Office Prevent websiteExternal link.

You can also:

read the Haringey community safety strategy
find your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team on the Met Police website External link

check the current UK threat level on the MI5 website

• Share - get advice or share your concern with external agencies e.g. children’s social care, local
adult safeguarding team or with the national police Prevent line (0800 011 3764)

It is advisable that the person (or their parents/guardian) of a Prevent referral is made aware of the referral and the concerns. Call 999 where a person poses an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others.

  1. If you suspect or have evidence of Child Sexual Exploitation and child safeguarding concerns please contact Haringey children social services, or the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
    Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership - Haringey Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (haringeyscp.org.uk) MASH enables the sharing of information so that risks to children can be identified early. It links services such as schools, GPs, police, ambulance and social care. Contact numbers and further information will be on Haringey Council website if it is appropriate to contact them-but usually church officers would contact Haringey social services or the police in the first instance.

  2. If you suspect Modern Slavery, the Modern Slavery Helpline (08000 121 700) provides confidential advice and support whether you are sure or not that someone is a victim.

If you suspect mistreatment of workers, report your concerns to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) (0800 432 0804) or by email intelligence@glaa.gsi.gov.uk

  1. For situations where a church officer or member of the congregation is suspected or identified as causing abuse, contact the Parish Safeguarding Officer at safeguarding@sspjtottenham.co.uk, telephone: 02039359608 or the Diocesan Safeguarding clerk at michelle.burns@london.anglican.org, telephone: 02038375082, in addition to any other actions required to fulfil professional and/or legal requirements as described in points 5.1-5.6 and Section 6 below.

6.CONSIDERATIONS WHEN REPORTING CONCERNS

  1. Was a crime committed, for example sexual intercourse in under 13s, or under 16s with one partner being much older, or FGM to a young girl? If so, the police should be informed (on phone number 101 if not urgent or 999 (point 5.1) as well as social services. For FGM, it is a criminal offence to:

• perform FGM (including taking a child abroad for FGM)
• help a girl perform FGM on herself in or outside the UK
• help anyone perform FGM in the UK
• help anyone perform FGM outside the UK on a UK national or resident
• fail to protect a girl for whom you're responsible from FGM

  1. You do not need to be absolutely certain of abuse to speak to your parish safeguarding officer or Diocesan safeguarding clerk or to call your local children’s or adult safeguarding team. Information is usually gathered from many sources, and your report may form one part of a bigger picture.
  1. Obtain consent before disclosure of personal information if possible (e.g. disclosure to social services or safeguarding team). Discuss your concerns with the person and/or their representative and seek their consent, explaining that one possible outcome may be an enquiry led by the local council social care team, who will support the person who has been abused.

Where the person is not willing or able to freely give their consent (possibly because they do not have capacity) The Mental Capacity Act of 2005 (MCA) provides a statutory framework for people who lack capacity to make decisions or take actions for themselves, and others may have to make those decisions on their behalf. When they do this, they should not deprive the person who lacks capacity of their liberty, unless it is essential to do so in the person’s best interests and for their own safety.

Consent to share information about their circumstances, you will need to consider the following:

• Are there any children or adults at risk, or is there a potential risk to other people?
• To what extent is the person able to make a particular decision or take a particular action for themselves to protect themselves at the time the decision or action needs to be taken?
• If the person or other people are at risk of harm if you do not report your concerns, it is your duty of care to report.

If you must report the abuse/neglect without consent, inform the person who has been abused that you must do this and explain why, if appropriate.

If the person does not consent to information sharing you may also consider the following factors with them in supporting them to make an informed decision.

• How severe/serious is the harm/potential harm caused?
• What is the impact/potential impact on the person’s independence, health and wellbeing?
• Is the abuse likely to be repeated or escalate?
• Is there evidence that the person may be subject to intimidation, threats or coercion?

If you remain unsure as to what action to take you should discuss this with the London Diocese Safeguarding team (michelle.burns@london.anglican.org, telephone: 02038375082).

  1. Any suspicions should not be discussed with the alleged perpetrator
  2. Consideration should be given to both the individual confidentiality
  3. Consider whether other people are in danger
  4. Consider who is involved or suspected — a healthcare professional, carer, relative or friend, and how areyou going to proceed.
  5. Consider whether this has been previously reported and who else might be aware of the situation, for example, other professionals.
  6. Consider whether there is robust evidence, or whether it is word-of-mouth (different actions may be necessary)
  7. How long has the abuse been going on?
  8. If in doubt as to whether you should report an incident or suspicions of abuse, telephone the Diocesan Safeguarding team or the local authority adult or child safeguarding lead and discuss the incident with them.

7.RECORD KEEPING

  1. Suspicions of suspected abuse or neglect should always be fully documented
  2. Where abuse is identified or suspected, record the following (or as much information as possible if full information is not known):

• The name and address of the abused/neglected person, as well as their age and ethnicity
• The nature of their vulnerability (age, disability etc.)
• Whether the family has been informed, if appropriate
• Description of events including when (date and time) and where the incident took place and
the nature of your concerns
• The name of the person who reported the concerns, and relationship to person, if applicable
• Contact details for that person’s GP, if known
• Any details known about the alleged perpetrator
• Signposting details, if applicable.

The rationale for reporting should also be recorded, as this will help to provide any evidence that any disclosure of confidential information was done to safeguard the vulnerable person, and that the Parish safeguarding officer or other parish officers were fulfilling their duty.

  1. If a verbal report was made by phone to the Diocesan safeguarding clerk or team or to the local authority children and adult safeguarding team, a written report of your concerns will usually be required following a report via phone.

This report (containing the information above) will normally be requested within 2 working days of the call.

  1. If a decision to NOT report is made, then this too needs to be fully documented.

  2. Document any feedback from the local authority child or adult safeguarding team.

8.TRAINING

  1. Every 3 years, all parish/church officers must complete/renew training - see linked PDF document on this page for details

  2. All training can be accessed via Home | Safeguarding: Training Portal (cofeportal.org)

  1. Prevent has e-learning on radicalisation at: https://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/edu/screen1.html
  2. Domestic abuse training is available at: https://uksaysnomore.org/learn/domestic-abuse/
  3. Church officers should also know where to signpost vulnerable individuals to for help and a list of local organisations may be useful

To see supporting document and The Parish of ST PAUL’S & ST JOHN’S, TOTTENHAM SAFEGUARDING POLICY STATEMENT 2024 please open the PDF link on this page

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