Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
Some key points:
A child-centred approach is supported by:
Safeguarding children is defined as:
Children have said that they need:
Early help:
Practitioners should develop their understanding of types of abuse. In particular, they should be alert to the potential need for early help for a child who:
Effective sharing of information between practitioners and local organisation and agencies is essential for early identification of need, assessment and service provision to keep children safe.
The Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) do not prevent the sharing of information for the purposes of keeping children safe.
Some key points:
The Care Act 2014 makes provisions relating to care and support for adults; support for carers; safeguarding adults from abuse or neglect; care standards; Health Education England; Health Research Authority; integrating care and support with health services; and for connected purposes.
The ‘Safeguarding’ chapter provides guidance on sections 42 to 46 of the Care Act 2014 and covers:
The safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
Adult safeguarding is defined as:
The aims of adult safeguarding are to:
In order to achieve these aims, it is necessary to:
Six key principles underpin all adult safeguarding work.
Empowerment: People being supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent.
Prevention: It is better to take action before harm occurs.
Proportionality: The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.
Protection: Support and representation for those in greatest need.
Partnership: Local solutions through services working with their communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse.
Accountability: Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.
Making safeguarding personal In addition to these principles, it is also important that all safeguarding partners take a broad community approach to establishing safeguarding arrangements. It is vital that all organisations recognise that adult safeguarding arrangements are there to protect individuals. We all have different preferences, histories, circumstances and life-styles, so it is unhelpful to prescribe a process that must be followed whenever a concern is raised; and the case study below helps illustrate this.
Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland
Some key points:
Modern slavery encompasses:
Human trafficking consists of 3 basic components:
All three components must be present in an adult trafficking case. In a child trafficking case the ‘means’ component is not required as they are not able to give informed consent to engage in criminal or other exploitative activity, and they cannot give consent to be abused or trafficked.
Specified public authorities in England and Wales have a statutory Duty to Notify the Home Office when they encounter potential victims.
First Responder Organisations are authorised to refer potential victims into the National Referral Mechanism. These include:
The following people may be particularly susceptible to modern slavery:
Safeguarding and protecting people for charity trustees.
What to do to protect people who come into contact with your charity through its work from abuse or mistreatment of any kind.
All trustees should make sure their charity:
If your charity works with children or adults at risk, either online or in person, you should:
You must follow relevant legislation and guidance.
If you have an incident or allegation of abuse you should:
If there is an immediate risk of harm, a crime is taking place or you need support right away, call the police on 999
In a non-emergency, call 111
If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use textphone service 18000 or text 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergency SMS service
More reporting tools and information are available on the Bedfordshire Police website
If you're concerned about the welfare of a child (0 to 18 years old), call the Luton Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) team.
Call: 01582 547653
Out of hours: 0300 3008123
mash@luton.gov.uk
Safeguarding adults means protecting adults who are ‘at risk’ from abuse or neglect.
If the person you are concerned about has a care and support need and is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect and they are unable to protect themselves from either the risk or the abuse then they are likely to be an ‘adult at risk’.
Even if you are not sure about the criteria you should contact Luton Adult Safeguarding for advice and guidance.
Tel: 01582 547730
Email: adultsafeguarding@luton.gov.uk
A referral should made to the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) when it is alleged (or there is a concern) that a person who works or volunteers with children has:
- behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child and/or;
- possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child and/or;
- behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she may pose a risk of harm to children; and/or
- behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children.
Should you wish to discuss the allegation or concern with the LADO service you are encouraged to do so. Contact by telephone on 01582 548069.
Safeguarding Bedfordshire is an online resource provided by the Safeguarding Children Partnerships in Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton.
A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Physical abuse includes being hit, slapped, pushed or restrained; being denied food or water; not being helped to go to the bathroom when you need to; misuse of your medicines.
NHS (Physical abuse - adults)
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) 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 through the use of technology.
Department for Education
Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) is developmentally inappropriate sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people which is harmful or abusive. Peer-on-peer sexual abuse is a form of HSB where sexual abuse takes place between children of a similar age or stage of development. Child-on-child sexual abuse is a form of HSB that takes place between children of any age or stage of development. Problematic sexual behaviour (PSB) is developmentally inappropriate or socially unexpected sexualised behaviour which doesn’t have an overt element of victimisation or abuse.
NSPCC
Inflicting harm on a child or young person and also failing to protect them from harm. Children and young people may be abused by someone they know in a family or in an institutional or community setting or, more rarely, by someone they don't know (for example through the internet). Some indicators of abuse and neglect may be indicators of current or past abuse and neglect.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Modern slavery is defined as the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. It is a crime under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and includes holding a person in a position of slavery, servitude forced or compulsory labour, or facilitating their travel with the intention of exploiting them soon after.
GOV.UK
Radicalisation means someone is being encouraged to develop extreme views or beliefs in support of terrorist groups and activities. The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism as using or threatening certain actions to influence the government or to intimidate the public to advance a political, religious, racial or ideological cause. Using firearms or explosives is terrorism regardless of whether the action is designed to influence the government or intimidate the public. Planning, assisting and collecting information on how to commit terrorist acts are all crimes under British terrorism legislation.
Crown Prosecution Service
Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises 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. The practice has no health benefits for girls and women and cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
World Health Organisation
Domestic abuse is defined by legislation as between two ‘personally connected’ people (eg. have been/are in a relationship or are relatives) aged 16 and over where behaviour takes places that is abusive. Abusive behaviour may include physical or sexual abuse; violent or threatening behaviour; controlling or coercive behaviour; economic abuse (eg. has a substantial adverse effect on the ability to acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or obtain goods or services); psychological, emotional or other abuse. This may be a single incident or multiple incidents. This may take place directly towards the person or could be directed at anoher person eg. their child.
Domestic Abuse Act 2021
Child Criminal Exploitation is common in county lines and occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual. Child Criminal Exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.
GOV.UK
Self-harm is when you hurt yourself as a way of dealing with very difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations and experiences. Some people have described self-harm as a way to: express something that is hard to put into words; turn invisible thoughts or feelings into something visible; change emotional pain into physical pain; reduce overwhelming emotional feelings or thoughts; have a sense of being in control; escape traumatic memories; have something in life that they can rely on; punish themselves for their feelings and experiences; stop feeling numb, disconnected or dissociated; create a reason to physically care for themselves; and express suicidal feelings and thoughts without taking their own life.
Mind
Suicidal feelings can mean having abstract thoughts about ending your life or feeling that people would be better off without you. Or it can mean thinking about methods of suicide or making clear plans to take your own life.
Mind
Unequal treatment based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation (known as ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010). Verbal abuse, derogatory remarks or inappropriate use of language related to a protected characteristic. Denying access to communication aids, not allowing access to an interpreter, signer or lip-reader Harassment or deliberate exclusion on the grounds of a protected characteristic. Denying basic rights to healthcare, education, employment and criminal justice relating to a protected characteristic. Substandard service provision relating to a protected characteristic.
Social Care Institute for Excellence
Spiritual abuse is a form of emotional and psychological abuse. It is characterised by a systematic pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour in a religious context. Spiritual abuse can have a deeply damaging impact on those who experience it. This abuse may include: manipulation and exploitation, enforced accountability, censorship of decision making, requirements for secrecy and silence, coercion to conform, control through the use of sacred texts or teaching, requirement of obedience to the abuser, the suggestion that the abuser has a ‘divine’ position, isolation as a means of punishment, and superiority and elitism’.
University of Chester
