Safeguarding Policy

1. Policy Statement
   ukactive is passionate about safeguarding and the protection of people. We provide support and guidance to all staff regarding their duty to protect children, vulnerable adults, and service users from harm. Appropriate action will be taken if any breaches or offences are reported. The severity of the breach and/or offence will determine the level of the action taken.  
2. Scope
   This policy applies to all employees, Board members, Committee members, and contractors who work for, or are associated to, ukactive.
3. Related policies
   This policy should be read in conjunction with the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Inappropriate Behaviour, and Employee Disciplinary policies.
4. Purpose
   1. The purpose of this policy is to protect children and vulnerable people from harm and to promote their welfare, by providing all employees, contractors, and volunteers with information about the safeguarding position adopted by ukactive.
   2. The policy is particularly important in the regulated activity/work that ukactive does with children and service users.
   3. In England and Wales this is referred to as regulated activity and in Scotland this is referred to as regulated work. In this policy this will be referred to as regulated activity/work. 
   4. ukactive has a responsibility to promote the welfare of children, vulnerable people, and service users and to keep them safe.
   5. ukactive complies with all the legal obligations placed upon it by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (England and Wales) and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (Scotland).
   6. The policy covers the arrangements for safeguarding during the recruitment and selection process for ukactive people, and safeguarding issues that arise during employment in circumstances where children or service users are placed at risk, or where they could have been placed at risk.
5. Recruitment process
   1. Advertisements for roles at ukactive will specify clearly whether the work involves regulated  activity/work together with the basis of that work.
   2. Offers of employment or contracts for services will be made conditional on the receipt of satisfactory references. Where necessary additional checks will be conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales (DBS) and Disclosure Scotland in Scotland (DBS). ukactive will cover the cost for any required checks to be undertaken.
   3. There are two types of checks that could be carried out depending on your role and what duties you are expected to undertake.
      1. A Basic DBS check is required for ukactive people working on a project where they may be in the vicinity of children and/or vulnerable people. Following the check, a certificate will be issued that contains details of convictions and conditional cautions that are unspent under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA 1974).
      2. An Enhanced DBS check is required for ukactive people working with children or vulnerable adults in certain circumstances, e.g. proximity on projects, where direct interaction is taking place. Following the check, a certificate will be issued that contains some of the basic check information and may also contain non-conviction information supplied by relevant police forces, if it is deemed relevant and ought to be contained in the certificate.
   4. Overall, these checks will confirm whether the applicant is suitable to carry out the role when working with children and vulnerable people 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 ukactive, and the applicant will not be employed.
6. Existing employees
   1. Existing employees may be required to provide a satisfactory disclosure check where their work becomes a regulated activity/work or ukactive 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. ukactive will cover the cost for any required checks to be undertaken.
   2. The disclosure check will be conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales and Disclosure Scotland in Scotland.
   3. The check will confirm that the employee is suitable to carry out the work and has not been barred from performing this.
   4. If employees are unable to provide a satisfactory disclosure check, or refuse to undertake a disclosure check, ukactive will consider the options for redeployment into any available job roles that do not involve regulated activity/work.
   5. If existing employees become added to the children and adults barred lists by either disclosure body, ukactive 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 Employee Disciplinary Policy.
   6. In both cases, if this is not possible, ukactive may need to consider dismissal of the employee based on the statutory ban imposed by the disclosure. ukactive 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.
7. What is abuse?
   1. All employees are required to be alert at all times to the possibility of abuse towards children, vulnerable people, or service users.
   2. Abuse may be a single incident or something that occurs over an extended period. 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.
   3. The abuse may come from employees, personal assistants, service users, relatives, neighbours, social workers, teachers, providers of support services etc.
8. Reporting and investigating abuse
   1. ukactive 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.
   2. The training provided is accredited by the CPD Certification Service and is available on an  online training platform accessible to all employees.
      • All staff are required to annually conduct level 1 training for adult and child safeguarding. The course is designed for employees who work in the organisation, but who do not directly encounter vulnerable adults, children, or service users, to provide a basic overview.  
      • Employees who have obtained a Basic or Enhanced DBS are annually required to conduct the Level 2 training for adult and child safeguarding. The course is designed for employees who encounter vulnerable adults, children, and service users, and provides and deeper understanding of this area.  
      • Level 3 child safeguarding training is required annually for the safeguarding leads at ukactive (HR Manager and Director of Business Operations), alongside the level 2 adult safeguarding training.
   3. 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.
   4. 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.
   5. The allegations will be investigated fully, led by HR and the Director of Business Operations. 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.
   6. If it is suspected that a criminal act may have been committed, ukactive will report the situation to the police.
   7. 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. ukactive 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. Any allegations relating to Board or Board committee members will be dealt with under ukactive’ s Board Code of Conduct Policy, and any allegations relating to contractors or temporary staff will be dealt with in conjunction with the contracted agency by which they are employed.
   8. ukactive may be under a duty to disclose allegations of abuse to the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland as appropriate. The organisation may also consider it necessary to inform the police of allegations under investigation.
   9. All reported incidents will be logged on the ukactive Safeguarding tracker.
9. Third party engagement
   1. Where a ukactive person is required to work on a project which engages with children, vulnerable adults, and service users, they must ensure that they obtain the Safeguarding Policy from the company (host) before engagement.
   2. If any signs of abuse are displayed towards children, vulnerable people and service users, the employee must report the incident to the appropriate parties in line with the host’s Safeguarding Policy. Once reported, ukactive HR and the Director of Business Operations should also be informed.
   3. The incident will be logged on the ukactive Safeguarding tracker. 

10. Maintaining records
    • ukactive will ensure that all details associated with allegations of abuse are recorded clearly and accurately. The records will be maintained securely in line with the ukactive Data Protection Policy.
11. Disciplinary action
    • If the investigation reveals that abuse has happened, or is happening, ukactive will proceed with a disciplinary hearing for the employee concerned. Abuse of service users is regarded by ukactive as an act of gross misconduct and the allegation could result in summary dismissal, in line with the Employee Disciplinary Policy.
    • Employees will have the chance to appeal any disciplinary action that is taken against them.
12. Duty of disclosure
    • ukactive is legally required to send information to the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland if a decision is taken to dismiss an employee or remove them from working in regulated activity/work.
    • ukactive may also be required to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland if an employee is suspended, or an employee resigns in suspicious circumstances, as the referral duty criteria may already be met at that stage.
13. Additional support and guidance
    • Employees who wish for further information on safeguarding are encouraged to contact your line manager or HR.  

Safeguarding providers

ukactive aligns itself, but is not limited to, the safeguarding principles of the below providers: 

• The NSPCC 

• NHS England Safeguarding  

• HM Government legislation relevant to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.  

• Sport England 

• Social Care Institute for Excellence