FarmED Safeguarding Policy

Purpose and scope:

FarmED welcomes visitors of all ages and abilities.  FarmED has a responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all users of our building and site be they staff, volunteers, visitors or contractors, regardless of age or physical ability.
The purpose of this policy statement is: 

• to protect children and young people who receive FarmED’s services from harm.
• to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of FarmED, including paid staff, volunteers, agency staff and students.
Legal Framework:
This policy has been drawn up based on legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation is available from www.nspcc.org.uk/learning.​

We believe that:

• Children, young people, adults and staff should never experience abuse of any kind
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• Welfare is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take
• Regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, all have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse 
• Some are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues 
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

​Our Objective is to:

• Provide an environment which is safe and welcoming for children, young adults and vulnerable adults and which protects them from all forms of harm.
• Make sure that all staff, volunteers, seasonal workers, and students are aware of the need to protect children, young adults and vulnerable adults and know how to reduce the risks to them.
• Respect the rights of all children, young adults and vulnerable adults.

We will seek to keep children and vulnerable adults safe by:

• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training.
• Adopting safeguarding procedures for all staff and volunteers which minimise the opportunity for abuse and establish appropriate treatment of children and young vulnerable adults.
• Ensuring that all members of staff and volunteers understand they have a duty to report concerns of abuse and know the procedures for doing so.
• Ensuring any accompanying adults (parents, careers, school teachers, etc) are aware of their own responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.
• Developing and following a Safeguarding Action plan.
• Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
• Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place.
• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.

Recruitment Process:

• Advertisements for job roles at the Company will specify clearly whether the work involves regulated activity/work together with the basis of that work.
• For these roles, offers of employment will be made conditional on the receipt of a satisfactory disclosure checks. These will be conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales.
• The check will confirm that the applicant is suitable to carry out the role and has not been barred from performing this work.
• If the background check reveals that an applicant is not suitable, the offer of employment will be withdrawn by the Company and the applicant will not be employed.

Existing employees:

• Existing employees may be required to provide a satisfactory disclosure check where their work becomes a regulated activity/work or the Company requires them to start carrying out regulated activity/work. Existing employees cannot conduct any regulated activity/work until they have undertaken a satisfactory disclosure check.
• The disclosure check will be conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales.
• The check will confirm that the employee is suitable to carry out the work and has not been barred from performing this.
• If existing employees become added to the children and adults barred lists by either disclosure body, the Company will consider the options for redeployment into any available job roles that do not involve regulated activity/work. All employees who are added to the barred lists are required to inform their line manager of their inclusion on the list at the earliest opportunity. A failure to do so may be deemed a disciplinary matter to be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure.
• In both cases, if this is not possible, the Company may need to consider dismissal of the employee on the basis of the statutory ban imposed by the disclosure. The Company may be unable to continue to employ the employee in any capacity if the continued association with the employee cannot be maintained, causes reputational damage to the employer or other reasons that harm its position in the marketplace.

What is abuse?

• Given the risk of abuse to children and service users, all employees are required to be alert at all times to the possibility of abuse towards children or service users.
• Abuse may be a single incident or something that occurs over a long period of time. It can take many forms including, but not limited to:
• financial or material abuse
• physical abuse
• mental abuse
• neglect and failures to act
• sexual abuse
• threats of abuse or harm
• controlling or intimidating conduct
• self-neglect
• domestic abuse
• poor practices within an organisation providing care
• modern slavery.
• The abuse may come from employees, personal assistants, service users, relatives, neighbours, social workers, providers of support services etc.

Reporting and investigating abuse

• The Company will treat all complaints, allegations or suspicions of abuse with the utmost seriousness. Training will be provided, as appropriate, to ensure that staff are aware of the warning signs of abuse and the correct reporting procedure to follow if they suspect abuse is, or has, taken place.
• Employees that suspect abuse is occurring should refer the matter to their line manager immediately, with as much detail as possible. The line manager will need to be informed of the names of the people involved (if known), what type of abuse is or may be occurring, and the dates and times this occurred (if known). An official written report of the alleged act may be requested at this stage as part of the evidence gathering procedure.
• Employees may be asked to refrain from discussing alleged abuse with fellow colleagues, other than those specified by their line manager, to avoid the spread of potentially harmful misinformation and to protect the validity of any investigation. 
• The allegations will be investigated fully and all such reports are taken seriously. The investigation will be conducted in a discrete and timely manner, and will involve the collation of evidence typically derived from witness statements and surveillance footage where possible.
• If it is suspected that a criminal act may have been committed, the Company will report the situation to the police.  
• Employees suspected of abuse will be suspended on full pay pending a full investigation of the complaints. It should be noted that this suspension is not an indication of the employee’s guilt, but rather a necessity given the circumstances. The Company appreciates the impact prolonged suspension can have on an employee’s reputation, even when allegations are later found to be incorrect, and does not take the decision to suspend lightly.
• The Company may be under a duty to disclose allegations of abuse to the Disclosure and Barring Service as appropriate. The organisation may also consider it necessary to inform the police of allegations under investigation.

Disciplinary action

• If the investigation reveals that abuse has happened, or is happening, the Company will set up a disciplinary hearing for the employee concerned. Abuse of service users is regarded by the Company as an act of gross misconduct and the allegation could result in summary dismissal, in line with the Company’s disciplinary procedure.
• Employees will have the chance to appeal any disciplinary action that is taken against them.

Duty of disclosure

• The Company is legally required to send information to the Disclosure and Barring Service if a decision is taken to dismiss an employee or remove them from working in regulated activity/work.
• The Company may also be required to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service if the Company suspends an employee, or an employee resigns in suspicious circumstances, as the referral duty criteria may already be met at that stage.

 Other

• All key staff to undergo and clear Disclosure and Barring Service Checks (DBS)
• All key staff to hold Emergency First Aid qualification.

Contact:
Designated Lead For Safeguarding
Name: Sally Pullen
Job role: FarmED Operations Manager
Email: sally@farm-ed.co.uk
Mobile: 07976 108907

This policy statement came into force on: 1/10/2019
We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.