Safeguarding policy

Date approved: December 2024
Review date: December 2025

Please be aware that this full policy may include acronyms or technical jargon used internally within Raven. If you have any questions, please contact us.

1. Purpose of the policy

1.1. This policy sets out Raven’s approach to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults to prevent harm, and reduce the risk of abuse or neglect, whilst promoting their welfare and wellbeing, whilst living in a Raven home or accessing their services.

1.2. Raven has a duty to report protection concerns to statutory agencies, and assist with their enquiries or investigations, although responsibility for any legal action linked to safeguarding falls to statutory agencies or Police.

1.3. This policy should be considered alongside Raven’s supporting Polices for Domestic Abuse, Modern Slavery, Hoarding and Cuckooing, as these matters all involve concerns for safety.

2. Scope of the policy

2.1. This policy applies to all staff, Board members and any volunteer working with or on behalf of Raven, who provide a service to our customers. This includes services which are provided to customers who do not live in Raven properties, such employment support, Parashoot or Raven Renewables

2.2. No single person can have a full picture of the needs and circumstance of a child or adult at risk, and if anyone is at risk they should receive the right help at the right time. Anyone at Raven who comes into contact with a customer at risk has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking appropriate, prompt action.

3. Detailed Policy Content

3.1. Raven will deliver effective safeguarding training to all customer facing staff, following statutory guidance & relevant legislation. Raven also requires customer facing contractors to have a Safeguarding policy, and where the contract requires significant work to happen inside the customer’s home (eg gas checks) we will provide safeguarding training to the contractor.

3.2. Raven recognises that it has a duty to protect customers and staff from all forms of abuse. Raven has a number of policies, procedures and guidance documents which can be used to manage allegations of abuse, dependent on both the victim and the perpetrator. For example: Incident/Accident Reporting (for staff) Disciplinary Policy (for staff) Anti-Social Behaviour Policy (for customers) and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (for customers) all of which have a safeguarding element. Raven may also use the challenging behaviour policy to manage future contact with customers where required.

3.3. Raven is signed up to the Surrey Safeguarding Protocols and have a duty to treat allegations of abuse seriously and to report this to the relevant statutory authorities. When dealing with concerns in other areas Raven will follow the relevant processes that apply.

3.4. Raven will investigate any allegations of abuse relating to a member of staff, volunteer or Board Member and will follow employment policies, which could include, but is not limited to, disciplinary action or a capability process. If, following an internal investigation, a member of staff, Board member or volunteer have been found to have perpetrated abuse, Raven will report this to the Police or relevant external statutory bodies.

3.5. When implementing this policy Raven will follow the practices, guidance and procedures relevant to the particular safeguarding concern. Examples of safeguarding concerns could be as follows (but are not limited to):

• Customer appears not understand what is being asked of them, or unable to retain information given to them and is distressed/agitated
• Customers living conditions are poor. Possibly cluttered or dirty and they seem to be unaware that this a problem
• Customers appearance is poor/appears frail/under nourished/dirty/struggles with mobility/evidence of recent or untreated injuries
• Concern relating to the tone, or language from a customer aimed at their child/children
• Concern relating to the tone, or language between adults in the home
• Concerns about drug use in the home or any items that could be used as a weapon
• Concerns that someone else may be controlling what happens or who the customer speaks to
• Concerns about other people in the property, particularly if unrelated to the customer

3.6. All staff will be expected to read and acknowledge their understanding of this policy annually.

3.7. Upon identification of a potential customer safeguarding issue, Raven’s Welfare Team will engage with that person or household and carry out an assessment. They will then make referrals to the appropriate agencies, or Raven teams, which may include referral to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub. We will also consider circumstances where families may not reach the criteria for safeguarding, but where interventions such as offering financial support or signposting to appropriate services may act to prevent deterioration and the need for statutory intervention. Welfare concerns of this nature will be considered and personalised service including referrals to external agencies for support will be made as appropriate.

3.8. Raven has a dedicated Safeguarding Lead, as required, who has an overview of all reported incidents. Raven has a dedicated Safeguarding e-mail; ravensafeguarding@ravenht.org.uk concerns can be logged, then triaged within one working day, for appropriate/relevant action

Where the risk to the individual, household or others is deemed to be significant and urgent, the member of staff should call 999 and report the issue to the emergency services.

The duty to safeguard is underpinned in legislation and the key legislation relating to safeguarding includes, but is not limited to;

• Care Act 2014
• Children’s Act 2004 and “Working Together to Safeguard Children” (Department of Education 2015)
• Equality Act 2010*
• Care and Support Statutory Guidance 2016
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Mental Health Act 2007
• Safeguarding Vulnerable People Act 2006, as amended by the Protection of Freedom Act 2012
• Modern Slavery Act 2015
• Counter Terrorism Act 2018 (as amended)
• General Data Protection Regulations 2018
• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 statutory guidance

*The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as: “A physical or mental impairment that has a
‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on a person’s ability to do normal daily activities.”

3.9. An annual safeguarding report which also incorporates safeguarding for staff, will go to the Raven People and Culture Committee.

4. Applicability

4.1. This policy is applicable to all Raven customers, including, but not limited to the following;

• All customers (including household members) in permanent & temporary accommodation, owned & managed by Raven
• Raven staff
• All Leaseholders
• All Shared Ownership customers
• All customers supported by Raven’s Parashoot Team
• All customers who receive support from Raven’s Employment Support Team
• All potential new customers to Raven, who have been nominated to us awaiting a home, or who are on our Direct Waiting list.

4.2. If a safeguarding concern is raised relating to a customer, staff should report this to their line manager, Raven’s Safeguarding lead or via the dedicated e-mail address, where the matter will be triaged & appropriate action taken.

4.3. If a safeguarding concern is raised relating to a member of staff, volunteer or Board member this should be reported, in the first instance to either the line manager or to the People Team for further investigation and action.

5. Definitions

5.1. The definition of Adult Safeguarding is the process of protecting vulnerable adults from neglect, abuse or exploitation, underpinned by six key principles: Empowerment, Prevention, Proportionality, Protection, Partnership & Accountability

• 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 local neighbourhoods, where people have a part to play in preventing, detecting and reporting neglect and abuse.
• Accountability – Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.

5.2. The definition of Child Safeguarding (anyone up to the age of 18 years old) is defined as protecting children from maltreatment, preventing impairment to their health or development and ensuring that they grow up in a safe environment with effective care.

5.3. It is critical that Raven supports the welfare of our customers and their household members and that any concerns for safety, not covered by other Raven procedures, should be reported to a line manager or Raven’s Safeguarding lead for further investigation.

5.4. Investigations into concerns for safeguarding will be carried out by appropriately trained staff.

5.5. All details relating to an investigation, however minor MUST be recorded in accordance with Raven’s procedures for customer contact.

5.6. Any investigation notes that are of a sensitive or explicit nature may be saved to files/folders that are password controlled.

6. Related policies and references for more information

7. Implementation procedures

7.1. A summary of this policy will be available on Ravens website.

7.2. A summary of other associated Policies will also be available on the website, e.g Domestic Abuse and Hoarding.

7.3. Specific procedures will be operated for the different elements of this policy and procedures relating to the above processes are to be found in ILearn and linked to automated systems.

8. Policy impact

8.1. This Policy has a direct impact on any person or persons who are at risk of safeguarding concerns.

8.2. The IA has considered whether there is specific impact on customers due to protected characteristics. The position is positive as the Policy, in conjunction with our procedures and assessments ensures that customers are protected and Raven are able to support or signpost customers where necessary.

8.3. Raven is an active partner in many Surrey based Safeguarding meetings include Adult & Child Protection conferences and Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference, linked to incidents or threats of Domestic Abuse, to ensure our customers voices are heard.