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Safeguarding Policy

  1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define how Tota Health and Fitness LTD and Tota For All CIC operates to safeguard children and adults at risk of harm in order to;

  • protect them from harm.
  • provide staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding.

We recognise we have a duty of care and we are committed to the protection and safety of everyone who comes in to contact with our organisation; including children and adults at risk involved as visitors and as participants in all of our activities both on and off site. We also have a duty to safeguard and support our staff and volunteers.

This policy is a fundamental part of our governance responsibilities and priorities. Trustees responsibilities include ensuring that the organisation provides a safe environment and protects staff, volunteers, and anyone who comes into contact with it from abuse or maltreatment of any kind.

We are committed to ensuring safeguarding practice reflects our legal responsibilities and government guidance. The organisation recognises that it has responsibilities for the safety and care of children under the Children Act 1989 and 2004 and Working Together 2023. It recognises it responsibilities to safeguard Adults at Risk of Harm under the Care Act 2014. The organisation will act in accordance with all relevant legislation including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Terrorism Act (2000) and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We will fulfil our duty to report Serious Incidents, including safeguarding, as part of our governance and reporting responsibilities to the Charity Commission.

  1. Definitions
  • Children are defined as those persons aged under 18 years old.
  • Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in Working Together 2023 as:
    • providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
    • protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
    • 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
    • promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interests of the children
    • taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes in line with the outcomes set out in the Children’s Social Care National Framework.
    • Adult at risk of abuse or neglect defined by the Care Act 2014 as; someone over 18 years old who,
      • 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 or herself 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

    1. Persons affected

    This policy applies to everyone working/ volunteering on behalf of Tota Health and Fitness LTD and Tota For All CIC, including the directors, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, contractors and agency staff.

    4. Safeguarding policy

    • We believe everyone has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and adults at risk of harm, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.
    • We recognise that while it is the responsibility of the relevant statutory agencies to determine whether or not abuse has taken place it is everyone’s responsibility to report any concerns and all staff, volunteers, trustee and contractors will know how to recognise and report safeguarding concerns.
    • We have a zero tolerance approach to abuse. There are no excuses for not taking all reasonable actions to protect children and adults at risk of abuse, exploitation, radicalisation and mistreatment.
    • We recognise that all children and adults at risk whatever their age, ability, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious belief and/or sexual identity have equal rights to protection from abuse.
    • Adults will be included in swift and personalised safeguarding responses, in line with the Six principles of safeguarding for adults and Making Safeguarding Personal.
    • We are committed to inter agency collaboration and information sharing to safeguard children and adults at risk of harm.
    • We recognise the need to protect children and adults at risk of harm from safeguarding harm both in person and/or from cyber/ virtual risks.
    • We ensure all of the organisation’s operations and activities are designed and delivered with effective safeguarding in mind to protect adults and children from abuse.

                  We will keep children and adults at risk of harm safe by;

                  • Valuing, listening to and respecting them
                  • Recognising;
                    • The welfare of the child or adult at risk is paramount
                    • All children and adults at risk have the right to protection from abuse
                    • Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
                    • Professional Curiosity is important in recognising and responding to safeguarding concerns
                    • The importance of following information sharing procedures in safeguarding
                  • Providing effective management, induction training, regular refresher training and support for all staff, volunteers and trustees to know about and follow our safeguarding policy and procedures for safeguarding children and adults at risk
                  • Using our safeguarding policies and procedures to share and report all safeguarding concerns to the relevant internal staff and external authorities swiftly and appropriately
                  • Using our safeguarding policies and procedures to share and manage any allegations of safeguarding concerns about staff or volunteers against a children using the Local Authority Designated Officer process
                  • Managing the risks of extremist or terrorist abuse: not supporting or enabling terrorism or other illegal conduct, such as hatred on the grounds of race, religion or sexual orientation. Read the ‘Engaging public speakers and protection from abuse for extremist purposes’ policy and procedures for detail
                  • Acting in an appropriate professional behaviour as set out in our Code of Conduct and Boundaries policies and procedures. Failure to maintain standards may be dealt with using our Disciplinary Procedures.
                  • Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely; ensuring all necessary checks are made, including on when to obtain a DBS check
                  • Developing and implementing comprehensive cyber safety policies and procedures, including a Cyber Safeguarding Incident Plan to identify, mitigate and address cybercrime. This plan aims to protect the organisation, its staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries from the harms of cyber-attacks.
                  • Preventing and reporting extremism and radicalisation concerns
                  • Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance and out IT policies and procedures
                  • Having a culture that enables issues about safeguarding and promoting welfare to be addressed, and for staff/volunteers and trustees to feel able to raise concerns and feel supported in fulfilling their safeguarding role
                  • Implementing effective safeguarding systems where;
                    • The child’s and adult at risk of harm’s needs are paramount: and staff, volunteers and trustees use their professional judgement to put the person’s needs at the heart of the safeguarding system so that the right solution can be found for each individual
                    • Safeguarding for adults is person-led and outcome focused, engaging the adult at risk in a conversation about how best to respond to their safeguarding situation. Issues of capacity, consent and decision making; the six key adult principles of safeguarding adults and Making Safeguarding Personal in relation to safeguarding adults is taken into account. (see appendix 1)
                  • Practising Professional Curiosity, understanding what life is like for the individual and being alert to the needs of children and adults at risk of harm and any risks of harm that individual abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to children and adults at risk
                  • Ensuring a senior board trustee lead takes leadership responsibility for the organisation’s safeguarding arrangements, contact details in the accompanying procedures and on posters in the offices
                  • Having a Designated Safeguarding Lead and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for the organisation. Contact details in the Safeguarding procedures and on display in the offices.
                  • Making our safeguarding children and adults at risk of harm policies and procedures available on our website, and or on demand, for anyone using our services to know what to do if they have a concern.
                  • Ensuring that we have effective complaints, grievance and whistleblowing policies and procedures.
                  1. Review

                  This policy and related guidance will be monitored by the directors on a regular basis for compliance and will be reviewed at least annually.

                  Appendix 1

                  Key six key principles that underpin safeguarding adults 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

                  Making Safeguarding Personal is a shift in culture and practice in response to what we now know about what makes safeguarding more or less effective from the perspective of the person being safeguarded. It is about seeing people as experts in their own lives and working alongside them in a way that is consistent with their rights and capacity and that prevents abuse occurring wherever possible.

                  Safeguarding should be person-led and outcome focused, engaging the adult at risk in a conversation about how best to respond to their safeguarding situation in a way that enhances involvement, choice and control as well as improving quality of life, wellbeing and safety. In most cases this can only happen by making sure people get the care and support that they need. It is also important that the people who care for them also get this support and recognition. Most importantly it is about listening and providing the options that permit individuals to help themselves.

                  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 Safeguarding Adults arrangements are there to protect individuals, bearing in mind different preferences, histories, circumstances and lifestyles.

                  In order to evidence that the Safeguarding process is personalised, it is necessary to collect information about the extent to which this shift has a positive impact on people’s lives.

                  Whilst every effort must be made to work with adults experiencing abuse within the present legal framework there will be some occasions on which adults at risk will choose to remain in dangerous situations. It may be that even after careful scrutiny of the legal framework, staff will conclude that they have no power to gain access to a particular adult at risk. Staff may find that they have no power to remove the adult from a situation of risk, investigate the adult’s financial affairs, or intervene positively because the adult refuses all help or wants to terminate contact with the professionals.

                  It may not always be possible to provide satisfactory solutions. At the age of 18, people are legally entitled to adult status regardless of any disability or impairment they may have. It is, therefore, essential that wherever possible it is the adult at risk who will decide on the chosen course of action, taking into account the impact of the adult at risk’s mental capacity where relevant. However, the people and organisations caring for, or assisting them, must do everything they can to identify and prevent abuse happening wherever possible and evidence their efforts.

                  In these extremely difficult circumstances, staff will be expected to continue to exercise as much vigilance as possible.

                  Safeguarding Managers will give full support to staff over problems when handling cases of adults remaining in high-risk situations, provided that:

                  • It is evident from case records that Safeguarding Adults procedures have been properly followed;
                  • Every effort has been made, on a multi-agency basis, to intervene positively to protect the adult at risk;
                  • Legal advice has been obtained and acted upon

                  And ultimately that the adult at risk has been fully consulted and involved as far as practicable in every decision relating to their situation

                  Capacity, Consent and Decision Making

                  The consideration of capacity is crucial at all stages of safeguarding adults procedures. For example determining the ability of an adult at risk to make lifestyle choices, such as choosing to remain in a situation where they risk abuse; determining whether a particular act or transaction is abusive or consensual; or determining how much an adult at risk can be involved in making decisions in a given situation.

                  The key development affecting this area of work is the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which provides a statutory framework to empower and protect adults at risk who may not be able to make their own decisions. It makes it clear who can take decisions in which situations and how they should go about this. It enables people to plan ahead for a time when they may lose capacity. It applies to anyone aged 16 years and over therefore appropriate liaison needs to occur for young people aged 16 to 18 years with Children’s Services where relevant as part of Safeguarding Adults work.

                  The whole Act is underpinned by a set of five key principles:

                  • A presumption of capacity – every adult has the right to make his or her own decisions and must be assumed to have capacity to do so unless it is proved otherwise;
                  • The right for individuals to be supported to make their own decisions – people must be given all appropriate help before anyone concludes that they cannot make their own decisions;
                  • That individuals must retain the right to make what might be seen as eccentric or unwise decisions;
                  • Best interests – anything done for or on behalf of people without capacity must be in their best interests; and
                  • Least restrictive intervention – anything done for or on behalf of people without capacity should be the least restrictive of their basic rights and freedoms.