Ensuring Your Project Activities are Safe Sally Proudlove Child Protection in Sport Unit

Mission: To build the capacity of sport to safeguard children and young people in and through sport to enable sport to lead the way in keeping children safe from harm.

All organisations providing services for children, parents or families, or work with children, should have in place Safeguarding & Promoting Children’s Welfare Culture of listening to and consulting with children Effective recruitment, selection & contractual procedures including safeguarding checks Clear lines of accountability Senior board lead on safeguarding Arrangements to share information with other organisations Effective support, supervision and training for staff/volunteers Clear safeguarding policies including how to respond to concerns in line with LSCB requirements Designated safeguarding lead (with support) Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013) Section 2.4

Duty of care Legal Duty of Care – focus on health and safety Moral Duty of Care – responsibility for safety and welfare. The duty upon an organisation to take all reasonable to ensure that individuals will be safe to participate in activities for which it is responsible There is a higher duty of care owed to children and young people

Question……. At what point does your duty of care begin?

1. Safeguarding plan 2. Recruitment guidelines 3. Codes of conduct 4. Registration and consent 5. Event manager/coordinator 6. Event safeguarding lead 7. Reporting procedures 8. Advice and support 9. Additional vulnerabilities 10. Travel and overnight stays

Case studies

Slide 10 Legislative change Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 created the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) created new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) and replaced existing barring lists with single, independent system. Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Combined the CRB and ISA into the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Redefined regulated activity Single disclosure of checks Continuously updated service

Regulated Activity (RA) before 10 September 2012 Permitted but did not legally require sports organisations to undertake enhanced CRB checks (including barring status) as part of safe recruitment practice. Roles that never met eligibility criteria for checks

Regulated Activity (RA) from 10 September 2012 Revised RA def’n. Eligible for DBS check and a barred list check which - a legal requirement. Permits DBS checking of those formerly in (but now not in) RA - but not a barred list check Checks for both groups can be for work with children, adults at risk or both Roles that never met eligibility criteria for checks

Criminal Records Checks: What hasn’t changed? Organisations’ wider safeguarding responsibilities Duty to refer concerns Illegal to seek RA work if barred Illegal to knowingly employ a barred person in RA Still a body (now DBS) assessing risk and making barring decisions

Criminal Records Checks: What has changed? Revised definition of Regulated Activity (frequency, intensity of contact and supervision) Revised (reduced) eligibility criteria (under 16s excluded, number of roles/titles reduced) Two tiers of checks (with or without Barred List status) Applicant only disclosure Online status check service

All clear so far?

Online Disclosure Status Checking Scheme Annual service requiring individual’s subscription (within two weeks of issue of DBS disclosure) Free for volunteers Provides option for individual to give any eligible employer ability to check status of DBS disclosure Status check undertaken electronically Outcome describes changes (or not) to disclosure – not what new information is Changes prompt organisation to undertake new DBS check Organisations need to decide to require use of scheme, not to use scheme, or optional for staff/volunteers.

Child Protection in Sport Unit