Safeguarding Policy

Date policy adopted : 26 th October 2021
Policy last reviewed : 19 th June 2025
Next review due : 19 th December 2025

1. Introduction and purpose

The welfare and wellbeing of our community is at the heart of all we do at The Gardeners’ House,
and safeguarding is central to this. This policy sets out how The Gardeners’ House operates to keep
adults and children at risk of maltreatment – abuse or neglect – safe.

The policy is about stopping maltreatment where it is happening and preventing maltreatment where
there is a risk that it may occur.

We have a Duty of Care to our volunteers, staff, visitors and participants in our activities. This means
we are committed to the protection and safety of children, and adults, at risk. We will protect and
support the volunteers and staff who work with us as well as users of our services.

All citizens of the United Kingdom have their rights enshrined within the Human Rights Act 1998.
Children’s legislation includes the Children’s Act 1989 and 2004. We comply with all the legal
obligations placed upon us by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (England and Wales) and
the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Act 2007 (Scotland).

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. For our safeguarding policy to be effective every volunteer,
member of staff and committee member who supports us whatever their role, will play their part in
keeping people safe. Contained within this policy is a list of staff members and their safeguarding
roles.

The policy also sets out the reporting obligations for all employees and procedures that should be
followed to report abuse if this occurs to one of our service users.

2. Definitions

Adult at risk of abuse or neglect (maltreatment)
For the purposes of this policy, adult at risk refers to someone over 18 years old who,
according to paragraph 42.1 of the Care Act 2014:

• has care and support needs
• is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect
• as a result of their care and support needs is unable to protect himself, herself,
themselves against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.

If someone has care and support needs but is not currently receiving care or support
from a health or care service, they may still be an adult at risk.

Children and young people are defined as those persons aged under 18 years old. This policy will
apply to all contractors, staff, committee members and volunteers and will be used to support their
work.

“Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children” is defined in Working Together 2018 as:

▪ protecting children from maltreatment
▪ preventing impairment of children’s health and 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

3. Persons affected by this policy
▪ All volunteers and members of staff
▪ All service users
▪ All visitors and contractors

4. Our Policy

This policy outlines the approach to take when working with or supervising children, young people
and adults at risk, and applies to trustees, contractors, staff and volunteers. We will –
– Treat everyone equally and with dignity and respect, acknowledging different needs and
priorities
– Support an open and transparent culture by challenging and reporting inappropriate
behaviour
– Encourage young people to speak up and be listened to – we will take allegations seriously
– Report all suspicions, concerns or allegations immediately to a named safeguarding
lead
– Never use inappropriate, threatening or suggestive language, written or verbal, and will not
abuse a position of trust
– Always promote this safeguarding code
– Ensure that staff have undertaken an appropriate level of safeguarding training, attend regular
safeguarding meetings and renew training / take new training regularly and when necessary.
– Carry out DBS checks if a risk assessment shows that this is necessary

When working with or supervising children and young people:

– do not allow activities that encourage bullying behaviour or initiation ceremonies,
dares or forfeits
– where possible avoid being alone with a young person but remain in sight and hearing of
others
– maintain appropriate boundaries and avoid engaging in friendships or sexual relationships
– do not drink alcohol or take drugs when responsible for children and young people, and do not
allow young people to drink alcohol (in line with UK law) or use drugs
– Follow the Gardeners’ House rules of appropriate use of personal devices

The Designated Safeguarding Leads for the Gardeners’ House will fulfil their safeguarding
responsibilities in a way that ensures that adults and children are safeguarded from harm. The
Safeguarding Leads are responsible for following up and reporting any suspected reports of
maltreatment. All staff with safeguarding training are listed further on in this policy.
Employees or volunteers will be required to provide a satisfactory DBS check where their work
becomes a regulated activity/work or if we require them to start carrying out regulated activity/work.

Existing employees or volunteers cannot conduct any regulated activity/work until they have
undertaken a satisfactory DBS check which The Gardeners’ House will pay for.

The DBS check will be conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales and
Disclosure Scotland in Scotland.

The check will confirm that the employee or volunteer is suitable to carry out the work and has not
been barred from performing this.

If employees or volunteers are unable to provide a satisfactory DBS check, or refuse to undertake a
DBS check, we will consider the options for redeployment into any available job roles that do not
involve regulated activity/work.

If existing employees or volunteers become added to the children and adults barred lists by either
disclosure body, we will consider the options for redeployment into any available job roles that do
not involve regulated activity/work. All employees or volunteers 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, we may need to consider dismissal of the employee or volunteer
based on the statutory ban imposed by the disclosure. We may be unable to continue to employ the
individual in any capacity if the continued association with the employee cannot be maintained,
causes reputational damage to the organisation or other reasons that harm its position in the
marketplace.

5. What is maltreatment?

Given the risk of maltreatment to children and service users, all employees, volunteers and
committee members are required to be always alert to the possibility of maltreatment towards
children or service users.

The term maltreatment is used here to encompass both abuse and neglect – neglect is a form of
abuse and can be just as serious as abuse. Maltreatment 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

Please be aware that not all maltreatment is adult to child – child on child maltreatment is as
serious and should be treated as such.

The abuse may come from employees, personal assistants, service users, relatives, neighbours, social
workers, providers of support services etc.

6. Reporting and investigating abuse

We will treat all complaints, allegations, or suspicions of maltreatment with the utmost seriousness.
Training will be provided, as appropriate, to ensure that staff are aware of the warning signs of
maltreatment and the correct reporting procedure to follow if they suspect maltreatment is, or has,
taken place. To report concerns please see the accompanying document Process for reporting
safeguarding or welfare concerns about children and vulnerable adults.

Procedure for a safeguarding concern

If you spot a safeguarding concern, contact the appropriate safeguarding lead, Lauren for adults, and
Daisy for children. They will deal with the concern appropriately and will log the concern internal
through the internal reporting system and through the appropriate Safeguarding Reporting system.
You can find the links and contact number for both adult and children safeguarding here:
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/adult-social-care/safeguarding-
adults/#practitioners

Employees or volunteers who experience maltreatment.

Employees or volunteers that suspect maltreatment 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 maltreatment 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 or volunteers may be asked to refrain from discussing alleged maltreatment 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, we will report the situation to the
police.

Employees or volunteers suspected of maltreatment 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. We appreciate 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.

We 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.

7. Maintaining records

We will ensure that all details associated with allegation of maltreatment are recorded clearly and
accurately. The records will be maintained securely in line with our confidential record keeping
procedure.

8. Disciplinary action

If the investigation reveals that maltreatment has happened, or is happening, we will set up a
disciplinary hearing for the employee or volunteer concerned. Maltreatment of service users is
regarded by us as an act of gross misconduct and the allegation could result in summary dismissal, in
line with our disciplinary procedure.

Employees or volunteers will have the chance to appeal any disciplinary action that is taken against
them.

9. Duty of disclosure

We are 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.

We may also be required to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland if we
suspend an employee, or an employee resigns in suspicious circumstances, as the referral duty
criteria may already be met at that stage.

10.Additional support and guidance

Employees who wish for further information on safeguarding are encouraged to contact a Gardeners’
House DSL. We will provide up to date support and guidance, updates and refresher courses and
regular meetings to all employees when it comes to safeguarding and their duty to protect service
users from harm. Relevant supporting material is also readily available online and we will furnish
employees with this where requested.