Safeguarding information, guidance and contacts, including refugee-specific support. Local contacts are for Luton, Bedfordshire.
This page is still under development. We’re keen to hear what additional information you’d like to see, you can email us at admin@faces.org.uk.
Key guidance
Some key guidance documents are summarised below. These are intended as reminders and prompts and not to be used in place of the full guidance.
Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
Some key points:
- Promotes a child centred approach; keeping the child in focus when making decisions and working in partnership with them and their families.
- Promotes a coordinated approach – safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility; every individual and agency should play their full part.
A child-centred approach is supported by:
- The Children Act 1989; to give due regard to a child’s wishes
- The Equality Act 2018; to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity
- The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; protects the rights of children including rights to expression and receiving information.
Safeguarding children is defined as:
- Protecting children from maltreatment
- Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
- Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
Children have said that they need:
- vigilance: to have adults notice when things are troubling them;
- understanding and action: to understand what is happening; to be heard and understood; and to have that understanding acted upon;
- stability: to be able to develop an ongoing stable relationship of trust with those helping them;
- respect: to be treated with the expectation that they are competent rather than not;
- information and engagement: to be informed about and involved in procedures, decisions, concerns and plans;
- explanation: to be informed of the outcome of assessments and decisions and reasons when their views have not met with a positive response;
- support: to be provided with support in their own right as well as a member of their family;
- advocacy: to be provided with advocacy to assist them in putting forward their views; and
- protection: to be protected against all forms of abuse and discrimination and the right to special protection and help if a refugee.
Early help:
- is more effective in promoting welfare than reacting later
- can prevent further problems arising
- relies upon organisations and agencies working together to identify, assess, and provide targeted support
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:
- is disabled and has specific additional needs
- has special educational needs
- is a young carer
- is showing signs of being drawn into anti-social or criminal behaviour
- is frequently missing
- is at risk of modern slavery, trafficking or exploitation
- is at risk of being radicalised or exploited
- is in a family circumstance presenting challenges for the child, such as drug and alcohol misuse, adult mental health issues and domestic abuse
- is misusing drugs or alcohol
- has returned home to their family from care
- is a privately fostered child
- has a parent/carer in custody
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:
- All organisations should set out clearly the processes and principles for information sharing, including how information will be shared and with who.
- Practitioners should not assume that someone else will pass on information that they think may be critical to keeping a child safe.
- Consent is not necessary to share information for the purposes of safeguarding provided that there is a lawful basis to process any personal information required.
- The legal bases could be ‘legal obligation’ or ‘public task’ which includes the performance of a task in the public interest of the exercise of official authority.
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:
- adult safeguarding: what it is and why it matters
- abuse and neglect
- understanding what they are and spotting the signs
- reporting and responding to abuse and neglect
- carers and adult safeguarding
- adult safeguarding procedures
- local authority’s role and multi-agency working
- criminal offences and adult safeguarding
- safeguarding enquiries
- Safeguarding Adults Boards
- Safeguarding Adults Reviews
- information sharing, confidentiality and record keeping
- roles, responsibilities and training in local authorities, the NHS and other agencies
The safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
- has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs)
- is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect
- as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect
Adult safeguarding is defined as:
- Protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect
- People and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect
- People and organisations making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, having regard to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action
- Recognising that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances
The aims of adult safeguarding are to:
- prevent harm and reduce the risk of abuse or neglect to adults with care and support needs
- stop abuse or neglect wherever possible
- safeguard adults in a way that supports them in making choices and having control about how they want to live
- promote an approach that concentrates on improving life for the adults concerned
- raise public awareness so that communities as a whole, alongside professionals, play their part in preventing, identifying and responding to abuse and neglect
- provide information and support in accessible ways to help people understand the different types of abuse, how to stay safe and what to do to raise a concern about the safety or well-being of an adult
- address what has caused the abuse or neglect
In order to achieve these aims, it is necessary to:
- ensure that everyone, both individuals and organisations, are clear about their roles and responsibilities
- create strong multi-agency partnerships that provide timely and effective prevention of and responses to abuse or neglect
- support the development of a positive learning environment across these partnerships and at all levels within them to help break down cultures that are risk-averse and seek to scapegoat or blame practitioners
- enable access to mainstream community resources such as accessible leisure facilities, safe town centres and community groups that can reduce the social and physical isolation which in itself may increase the risk of abuse or neglect
- clarify how responses to safeguarding concerns deriving from the poor quality and inadequacy of service provision, including patient safety in the health sector, should be responded 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:
- Victims of modern slavery are forced, threatened or deceived into situations of subjugation, degradation and control.
- Practitioners should be trained to identify, protect, care and support victims of modern slavery.
- Multi-agency working is fundamental.
- Practitioners should utilise practical, trauma-informed methods of working based upon principles of dignity, compassion and respect; victim’s voices must always be heard, and their rights respected.
- Various indicators are detailed in the guidance and annexes.
Modern slavery encompasses:
- human trafficking
- slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour
Human trafficking consists of 3 basic components:
- action: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt
- means: threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability
- exploitation: eg. sexual exploitation, forced labour or domestic servitude, slavery, financial exploitation, removal of organs
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:
- police forces
- certain parts of the Home Office
- UK Visas and Immigration
- Border Force
- Immigration Enforcement
- National Crime Agency
- local authorities
- Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
- Salvation Army
- Migrant Help
- Medaille Trust
- Kalayaan
- Barnardo’s
- Unseen
- NSPCC (CTAC)
- BAWSO
- New Pathways
- Refugee Council
The following people may be particularly susceptible to modern slavery:
- young men and women
- pregnant women
- former victims of modern slavery
- people who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless
- people with drug and alcohol dependency issues
- people with underlying health factors eg. learning difficulties
- people who have previously experienced abuse
- people in particularly deprived/poor areas
- people struggling with debt
- people who have lost family or suffered family breakdown
- people with criminal networks
- immigrants with no source of income
- older people experiencing loneliness and financial hardship
- people who speak no or very little English and/or are illiterate in their own language
- overseas domestic workers
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:
has appropriate policies and procedures in place, which are followed by all trustees, volunteers and beneficiaries
checks that people are suitable to act in their roles
knows how to spot and handle concerns in a full and open manner
has a clear system of referring or reporting to relevant agencies as soon as concerns are suspected or identified
sets out risks and how they will be managed in a risk register which is regularly reviewed
follows statutory guidance, good practice guidance and legislation relevant to their charity: this guidance links to the main sources of information
is quick to respond to concerns and carry out appropriate investigations
does not ignore harm or downplays failures
has a balanced trustee board and does not let one trustee dominate its work – trustees should work together
makes sure protecting people from harm is central to its culture
has enough resources, including trained staff/volunteers/trustees for safeguarding and protecting people
conducts periodic reviews of safeguarding policies, procedures and practice
If your charity works with children or adults at risk, either online or in person, you should:
establish appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures that all trustees, staff and volunteers follow, which fit with the policies and procedures of your local authority safeguarding partnership or safeguarding children or adults board
make sure all staff and volunteers receive regular training on child protection or working with adults at risk
appoint a safeguarding lead to work with your local authority safeguarding partnerships or boards and/or create a plan for responding to concerns overseas
manage concerns, complaints, whistleblowing and allegations relating to child protection or adults at risk effectively
have clear policies when DBS checks are required, how you assess the level of check needed and how you handle the information
You must follow relevant legislation and guidance.
If you have an incident or allegation of abuse you should:
handle and record it in a secure and responsible way
follow your protecting people and safeguarding policies and procedures
act quickly, ensuring you stop or minimise any further harm or damage
report it to all relevant agencies and regulators when required
plan what to say to those involved with your charity and the media if appropriate
be as open and transparent as possible, so that you build the charity’s reputation for acting with integrity while protecting confidentiality appropriately
review what happened to understand how to stop it from happening again
Local info and contacts
Risks and prevalence
Statistics show that certain groups may be more at risk of different types of harm, which can be due to multiple factors. Belonging to a group ‘at risk’ does not necessarily mean that a person will experience that type of harm. The information below relates to people claiming asylum.
Mental health
Refugees and people claiming asylum are five times more likely to have mental health needs, and are less likely to receive support than general population.
Read more
Exploitation
Failures to identify, increased vulnerability at key transition points, inappropriate housing, financial insecurity, refusal, short move-on period, and lack of right to work support increase risk of exploitation.
Read more
Trafficking
Although official data doesn't capture the full picture, overlaps in ethnicity data beween trafficking and asylum statistics suggest a high-level of cross over.
Read more
Types of abuse
It’s important to remember that abuse can often involve multiple types happening at once. A person could be experiencing physical abuse, exploitation and spiritual abuse, for example. The definitons below are not intended to be comprehensive and the list is not exhaustive.
Information
For my organisation, staff or volunteers
Insights into hotels and barracks, hate crime, destitution and evictions and access to justice
At Risk: Exploitation and the UK Asylum System
Identity Crisis: How the age dispute process puts refugee children at risk
Mental health: Refugees and asylum seekers – statistics
Women seeking asylum: Safe from violence in the UK?
Taking care – Immigration support pledge and learning package for local authorities
Social care institute for excellence: Types and indicators of abuse
NSPCC: Child abuse and neglect
NHS: Abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults
WHO: Female genital mutilation
PACE: Signs of criminal exploitation
Mind: Types of mental health problems
Gov: Get help for radicalisation concerns
Spiritual abuse in Christian faith settings: Policy, definition and practice guidance
For people we support
Domestic Abuse Helpline (24 hour helpline): 0808 2000 247
The Bedfordshire Domestic and Sexual Abuse Partnership (victim support helpline): 0845 3030 900
Bedfordshire Sexual Abuse Helpline: 01582 733 592
Victim Support: 0808 168 911, victimsupport.org.uk
Survivors UK: Helpline for male victims of CSE, adult sexual assault and rape: 0845 122 1201, survivorsuk.org
NAPAC: Support for adults with a history of childhood abuse: 0808 801 0331, napac.org.uk
Other resources: guidance, toolkits, websites and printouts
General safeguarding
Refugees
Specific abuse and indicators
Best practice and self care
FACES posters and printouts
Session 1: Technical Overview
2.5 hours online
- Safeguarding essentials
- Asylum essentials
- Refugee experiences
- Responsibilities
- Barriers and challenges
Session 2: Contextual Learning
6 hours in person
- Fact-checking
- Organisational culture
- Types of abuse
- Inclusive practices
- Best practice and tools
Further Support: Implementing Change
Flexible for leadership
- Trustee responsibilities
- Conflict management
- Trauma informed approaches
- Principles of safeguarding
- Policy development
Safeguarding: Working with Refugees
2-3 hours online (self-paced)
- Key safeguarding concepts
- Types and signs of abuse
- Responsibilities
- Tools
- Bespoke case study learning
- Inclusive practices
Our other training options
- Identity and Inclusion
- Faith Sensitive Relationships and Sex Education
- Child Sexual Exploitation
- Prejudice and Safeguarding
- Safeguarding Refresher
Let's talk about our flexible training options
Send us a message about the kind of training you’re looking for and we’ll get back to you within a few days.