1. | Statement of Intent | ||||||||
| 1.1 | North Tyneside Council’s Employment & Skills Service (NTC E&S) follows the procedures set out in the interagency procedures produced by the North Tyneside Safeguarding Children Partnerships (NTSCP) and North Tyneside Safeguarding Adult Board (SAB). https://www.northtynesidescp.org.uk/ https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/1033/safeguarding-adults https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/488/are-you-worried-about-child North Tyneside Council is strongly committed to practices and policies that protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, significant harm, radicalisation and extremism. This protocol recognises and accepts our role and responsibility in ensuring the safeguarding of our learners as required by Ofsted and relevant funding bodies, the Children Act 1989 the Care Act 2014, the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE 2025), Ofsted Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges (June 2021) and Working together to safeguard children (2023) statutory guidance. For forms of abuse and key terms see appendix 1. NTC E&S also recognises that it has a responsibility to protect staff from unfounded allegations of abuse and threats | ||||||||
| 1.2 | Definitions For the purpose of this protocol children are defined in the Children Act of 1989 as a person under the age of 18 years. The Care Act 2014 defines an adult at risk as a person aged 18 and over and; Has needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs) Is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect As a result of those needs is unable to protect himself or herself against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it. The definition of safeguarding children is: protecting children from maltreatment preventing impairment of children’s health or 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 Prevent Agenda Extremism is defined in the Prevent Strategy 2011 as vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism as an act that endangers or causes serious violence to a person/people and/or damage to property; or seriously interferes with or disrupts an electronic system. Radicalisation is defined as the process by which people come to support terrorism and violent extremism and, in some cases, to then participate in terrorist groups. | ||||||||
| 1.3 | NTC E&S is committed to continuous improvement in safeguarding and Prevent and will adhere to North Tyneside Council and Department for Education requirements. NTC E&S will ensure/provide a safe, healthy and supportive environment wherever learning takes place, including work placements, apprenticeships and/or training delivered by a partner organisation on behalf of NTC E&S. Safeguarding and Prevent within Employment & Skills will be overseen by the Adult Learning and Employment & Skills Management group in conjunction with the Safeguarding and Prevent Forum. Learners and apprentices will receive training about the dangers of radicalisation and extremism as well as safeguarding and online safety when starting their learning during induction with their tutor/instructor and will include the procedure for reporting any incidents or concerns. Additional learning to widen understanding and awareness will be delivered throughout learner and apprenticeship programmes and as appropriate. Learners and apprentices will receive a Learner Handbook which outlines how they can stay safe, e-safety, British Values and how to report concerns and complaints. Learning environments will be risk assessed, and control measures put in place to safeguard both learners and staff. Notice boards will be visible throughout centres supporting learner’s awareness of safeguarding, radicalisation and extremism, British Values and how to report a concern. Learners organising their own placements will have a DBS and must request a copy of the organisations safeguarding policy and share this with the tutor/assessor. DBS for apprentices will be applied for following recruitment by the employer. External placements and apprenticeship employers will undergo a risk assessment before the placement begins. Apprenticeship employers and work experience placements will receive a handbook that identifies what to do if they have a safeguarding or Prevent concern. | ||||||||
2 | Responsibilities | ||||||||
| 2.1 | NTC E&S has trained Safeguarding and Prevent Officers who are accountable to the Head of Service and additional support from local safeguarding partners: Gemma Williams – Programme Manager – Adult Learning-DSL Jillian Rees – Senior Programme Manager – Adult Learning – Deputy DSL Mark Barrett – Senior Manager – Employment and Skills – Deputy DSL Jo Knight – Tutor SEND – DA Champion Employment and Skills Safeguarding & PREVENT Forum – service wide representations. This group actively focuses their attention on safeguarding culture, identifying local and national trends and reviewing policy. Paul Angus – NTC Prevent Lead Chris Sybenga – North East Safeguarding Co Ordinator | ||||||||
| 2.2 | It is the responsibility of the Designated Safeguarding Leads to: Offer support and guidance for safeguarding and Prevent concerns. Offer support and guidance on MSET (Missing, Slavery, Exploitation, Trafficked) and referral pathways through MASH team Keep a central record of all safeguarding and Prevent referrals and actions. Write a biannual report of all reported safeguarding Prevent concerns to share with E&S managers. Record cases of domestic violence and sign post to Changing Lives where appropriate. Support the training of staff on Prevent, Child Exploitation, British Values online safety and Safeguarding. Share annual updates, newsletters and key legislation updates to ensure staff teams are competent. Support cases of sexual harassment and reporting process Review new legislation and training to share with managers and their staff teams. Undertake refresher training every 2 years and update skills through additional reading and research annually which is logged on Learning Platform. Liaise with local safeguarding and Prevent support networks and agencies Contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) to refer allegations made against professionals in the workforce (including paid employees and volunteers). Chair monthly Safeguarding Leads meeting. Matters arising from Safeguarding Leads meetings will be reported on at Adult Learning Managers meetings. Strategic matters arising are reported to E & S managers meeting via standing agenda item then actioned or cascaded as needed Allegations, significant issues or urgent matters will be referred to Senior Lead team in parallel to the appropriate safeguarding/prevent procedure. The DSL will escalate significant issues to Assistant Director of Education, Director of Education and Cabinet Member. | ||||||||
| 2.3 | It is the responsibility of all staff and tutors to: Ensure all learners are made aware of safeguarding, bullying in all forms including cyberbullying and sexual harassment, radicalisation and extremism (Prevent) and E-Safety policies, protocols, procedures and guidelines during induction. Distribute the Learner Handbook/E-Safety Guide and Acceptable Usage Policy at their discretion where learners are required to access online resources. The learners’ and apprentices’ signature is required on the induction and as part of the e portfolio induction to indicate they have received and understood it. Integrate personal development, Safeguarding, British Values and PREVENT into teaching, schemes of work and lesson plans. Plan and embed PHSE and RHSE policy where appropriate and ensure additional pastoral care awareness is part of all curriculum plans. Carry out visual checks of teaching spaces before the commencement of the session. Ensure registers are completed at the beginning of a class and if an apprentice or learner is missing note accordingly and make contact according to the missing from education procedure (see below appendix) Inform a Safeguarding/Prevent Officer if any concerns are raised or identified, or report directly to Front Door or the Police if urgent. (See appendix 2). Refer any concerns about a colleague or volunteer directly to the DSL Embed E-safety training during induction and on programme. Ensure learners are aware of e safety reporting procedures and protocol for accessing online material during sessions. (link to e safety policy) Use only NTC E&S issued equipment to contact learners and apprentices. Keep themselves, apprentices and learners safe and understand the following: Respect and Consideration procedure Disciplinary Procedure (learners and NTC employers) PREVENT agenda. E Safety Policy Live Lesson Protocol Guest Speaker policy Freedom of Speech policy Adhere to the NTC Code of Practice No staff member or volunteer should transport apprentices or learners in their own vehicles unless after consultation with manager it is agreed in exceptional circumstances i.e. illness to do so with another adult in the vehicle and the owner of the vehicle has Business Class car insurance. Staff/volunteers should be aware of indicators of abuse, neglect and radicalisation and extremism so that they are able to identify cases of young people and adults at risk who may be in need of help or protection All staff/volunteers should know what to do if a young person or adult at risk including apprentices tells them they are being abused or neglected. Staff should know how to manage the requirement to maintain an appropriate level of confidentiality. This means only involving those who need to be involved, such as the designated safeguarding lead (or a deputy) and children’s / adult’s social care. Staff should never promise a young person or adult that they will not tell anyone about a report of abuse, as this may ultimately not be in the best interests of the child / adult. All staff/volunteers should attend safeguarding and Prevent training/updates annually as part of their CPD plans and training logs kept centrally. All staff/volunteers will reapply for DBS every 3 years. PM team meetings or curriculum support cascade key discussion points from DSL meeting to all staff during regular team meetings through safeguarding and Prevent standard agenda item. Share details of the NSPCC Helpline for clients/learners to report Abuse in Education. https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/news/2021/april/sexual-abuse-in-education-helpline-launched | ||||||||
| 2.4 | It is the responsibility of Programme Managers to ensure: Tutors are inducted into their role and all policies and protocols including safeguarding and PREVENT are shared. Induction for new staff will also include an introduction to Keeping Children Safe in Education (part 1) and completion of online safety training. All staff are recruited according to safer recruitment guidelines. Tutors/volunteers undertake training on safeguarding issues and PREVENT and have the necessary information/documentation on the safeguarding protocol. This is tracked to ensure training is up to date. All tutors to have access to all interdependent policies. Check all safeguarding/Prevent is being adhered to during the quality assurance processes of the service. Ensure employers/placement providers receive information and contact details on how to refer concerns and how to spot issues. Ensure that Safeguarding and Prevent is on agendas for all meetings. | ||||||||
| 2.5 | It is the responsibility of the Senior Leadership team to ensure: Provide representation during regular DSL meetings. Review and oversee significant issues reported via the DSL Positively promote the Prevent agenda and British Values through service improvement planning and performance management. Share concerns and risks with the SLT and through governance processes. | ||||||||
3 | Arrangements | ||||||||
3.1 | Risk Assessment | ||||||||
| 3.1.1 | NTC E&S will ensure that all venues used by apprentices and learners have a current premises risk assessment / venue audit report that addresses safeguarding. If none is available, NTC E&S will carry out an independent premises risk assessment in conjunction with corporate health and safety. | ||||||||
| 3.1.2 | NTC E&S will ensure that all learning activities are risk assessed annually and control measures put in place to minimise risk for young people: women of child bearing age: expectant mothers or other vulnerable groups (as required by Regulation 19 of the Management of Health Safety and Welfare Regulations 1999). | ||||||||
| 3.1.3 | NTC E&S will use the corporate risk assessment form based on the Council model and approved by Health and Safety Advisors. | ||||||||
| 3.1.4 | Where NTC E&S are providing services for schools and within schools for learners aged 14-19 or learners on Family Learning programmes, the relevant school’s protocols will be used for risk assessments. | ||||||||
3.2 | Incidents | ||||||||
| 3.2.1 | All incidents involving apprentices, learners, employees or visitors to NTC E&S venues must be reported immediately using the appropriate protocol. (See appendix 1). Exceptions are: Where learning is taking place on premises other than NTC E&S premises, the tutor will be responsible for reporting incidents relating to apprentices and learners only. Where NTC E&S are providing services within schools for learners aged 14-19 or learners on Family Learning programmes, the relevant school/work placement provider protocols should be used. | ||||||||
| 3.2.2 | If an incident occurs on a learner’s work experience placement or apprenticeship work place the learner/apprentice will be removed immediately until an investigation has taken place. | ||||||||
| 3.2.3 | All concerns regarding radicalisation and extremism (Prevent) will be referred using the National Prevent referral form to the NTC Safeguarding Team as outlined in appendix 1. | ||||||||
| 3.2.4 | All ICT access is checked using monitoring technology. Any access identified as high risk will be tracked and triaged within the DSL team. (see e-safety policy for process map) All learners use individual log ins to support identification of inappropriate or unsafe access to material. | ||||||||
| 3.2.5 | Filtering and Monitoring reports will be scrutinised at the DSL meeting to review themes and implement plans for training or knowledge sharing. | ||||||||
| 3.2.6 | All required search and screening activities will follow guidance from the Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance July 2022 and with support from the DSL. | ||||||||
4 | Recruitment | ||||||||
| 4.1 | NTC E&S has a rigorous recruitment process that complies with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 guidance and NTC Safer Recruitment policy which ensures all new members of staff are checked through DBS and have two references before being employed. References are scrutinised and checked to ensure there has been no previous concerns regarding safeguarding before employment commences. Checks are carried out to ensure they are suitably qualified and undergo an initial probationary period which will include a supportive quality process. | ||||||||
| 4.2 | Existing staff and volunteers undergo DBS checking every three years with details of these checks held in a central register. All records kept are managed within GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 guidelines. | ||||||||
| 4.3 | All new recruits undergo an induction process which includes training on Prevent, Safeguarding, British Values, Keeping Children Safe in Education (part1) and online safety. They receive all relevant policies and procedures for their information. | ||||||||
5 | Reporting | ||||||||
| 5.1 | Record Keeping All concerns and discussions must be reported and recorded with decisions made and reasons for those decisions recorded in writing. Information should be kept confidential and stored securely.
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| 5.2 | Why is this important? It is important that learners, apprentices and young people receive the right help at the right time to address safeguarding risks and prevents risks escalating. Examples of poor practice that impact on positive outcome include:
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6 | Low Level Concerns | ||||||||
IntroductionOur service takes safeguarding very seriously. This includes ensuring that adults who work with young people do so in a way that is in accordance with the ethos and policies set out in our service, including the employee Code of Values and Behaviours. This policy guidance sets out more detail:
These are the areas that we deem to be and fall within a low-level concerns policy and in that instance, we would require staff to raise concerns as noted later in this document. Concerns that may also relate to the member of staff themselves and may also include matters that may have occurred outside of the workplace. The following provides information for staff on how we manage a low level concern in the service, how it relates to staff roles and expectations and notes how the service will record information provided and store that information. Any issues referred to the DSL team will be raised with the senior manager and dealt with via the low-level concerns process or wider safeguarding policy. This process complements the existing Safeguarding practice. | |||||||||
| 6.1 | What is low level concern? Keeping Children Safe in Education defines when matters including behaviour of employees or other adults in service may pose a risk of harm to a young person. In those instances, as an education service we need to raise matters with the Local Authority Designated Offer (LADO), and dependent upon what the matter is then follows a process called Allegations Management which is noted in Section 4 of KCSE. In these instances, the behaviour is where a member of staff behaves in a way that does not cause risk or harm to young people, but is, however, inappropriate; and where this takes place, is dealt with directly where the individual is a member of staff or a volunteer in our service. The outcome of our dealing with the matter may result in support or guidance or can result in some instances individuals no longer being employed at or working in our service. KCSiE also defines what a low level concern is: | ||||||||
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| 6.2 | Clarity around Appropriate Behaviour vs Low Level Concern vs Allegation E&S Code of Conduct provides additional clarification on what our expectations of appropriate behaviour. The following provides definitions included in KCSE and which we expect all employees in our service to understand: | ||||||||
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| 6.3 | Storage, use and follow-up low-level concerns information Low Level Concerns (LLC) information will be recorded and held. Any information we hold will:
Where a member of staff reports a concern(s) the information will be held confidentially and will not be shared with others apart from the senior manager for the service or those who need to be aware in the senior leadership team. The investigation of the low-level concern in accordance with KCSE will be managed by the senior manager and will follow a set process (see below). A report form (Appendix A) is available for completion. Low-level concerns will not be referred to in references unless they have been formalised into more significant concerns resulting in more formal action being taken including disciplinary procedures. In terms of data retention, information is not stored in personal files but will be stored in our central safeguarding system for the duration of an individual’s employment. Where an individual leaves our employment, any record of low-level concerns which are stored about them will be reviewed as to whether or not that information needs to be retained. In looking at data retention consideration will be given to:
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Linked Policies;
Policy is reviewed annually. | |||||||||
| Safeguarding Prevent Policy Appendix 1 |