Safeguarding and Child Protection

Purpose and Aim of the policy 

Butterflies Holistic Occupational Therapy is a small business working with children young people under 18 within the clinic space, and at schools and nurseries. We are committed to keeping children safe.

We believe everyone has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them.

· we will give equal priority to keeping all children and young people safe regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

· We recognise that some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of discrimination, previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

Safer Recruitment in Education (2024)

We have a separate policy on this.

Child Protection System in England

People working with children are expected to report concerns about a child’s welfare to the relevant agencies.

Legislation provides the framework for safeguarding and child protection in England. It makes clear the expectations and requirements around duties of care to children and creates accountability for these. The main legislation in England is the Children Act 1989, the Children Act 2004, Children and Social Work Act 2017 and Working Together to safeguard children (2023).

The local safeguarding arrangements are led by three statutory safeguarding partners:

· the local authority

· the integrated care board (ICB, previously clinical commissioning group or 'CCG')

· the police.

The key guidance for child protection is Working together to safeguard children (Department for Education, 2018). This states:

· everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe

· everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play in sharing information and identifying concerns.

In addition, section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a statutory duty on certain agencies to co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This includes:

· local authorities

· NHS services and trusts

· police

· probation services and young offenders institutions.

People who work in these agencies and who do not report suspected cases of abuse or neglect may be subject to disciplinary proceedings but do not currently face criminal penalties.

Butterflies Holistic Occupational Therapy Procedure:

Dealing with allegations either linked externally and internally.

Within School – Report concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead and SENCO within the school and follow their safeguarding procedures, including making written notes / on school systems (if accessible).

Schools should also appoint a deputy to deal with allegations in the named person’s absence or in the event that the named person has an allegation made against them. Allegations against head teachers should be referred to the Chair of governors. Leeds has a named Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) whose role is to oversee the management of all cases involving allegations against staff. LADO will provide advice to schools on individual cases, liaise with Children’s Safeguarding and Social Work (CSSW) and the Police Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) where required and monitor and review the progress of cases, ensuring that an appropriate investigation is carried out by the school/college.

What is the Local Authority Designated Officer

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is the person who should be notified when it has been alleged that a professional or volunteer who works with children has:

• behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
• possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
• behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates she or he may pose a risk of harm to children
• behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicated they may not be suitable to      work with children

The role involves having oversight of allegations about practitioners which meet the above criteria, ensuring that these allegations or concerns about adults working or volunteering with children are recorded appropriately, monitored and progressed in a timely and confidential way. It is also important to ensure that the voice of the child or young person is heard and taken into account at every stage.

If you feel out of depth call 101.

If a child is in immediate danger call 999.

LADO LEEDS

The notification form can be accessed by contacting the LADO service at: LADO@leeds.gov.uk or by calling 0113 378 9687.

It is mandatory for all regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England to report 'known cases' of female genital mutilation (FGM) in under 18s to the police (Home Office, 2016).

If you think a child is in immediate danger, contact the police on 999. If you're worried about a child but they are not in immediate danger, you should share your concerns.

· Contact your local child protection services. Their contact details can be found on the website for the local authority the child lives in. 

If whilst in a home you will need to contact (if in Leeds):

· Adult– If you are concerned about the welfare of an adult at risk please contact adult social care on:

0113 2224401

07712 106378 (out of hours)

· Children – If you are a member of the public and suspect that a child or young person is being, or is at risk of being significantly harmed as a result of abuse or neglect, you must report this immediately by calling Children's Social Work Services during office hours (9.00am – 5.00pm) on 0113 2224403.

· Children's Emergency Duty Team on 0113 535 0600 (out of hours).

· Contact the police.

· Contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk. Trained professionals will talk through your concerns with you and give you expert advice. 

Services will risk assess the situation and take action to protect the child as appropriate either through statutory involvement or other support. This may include making a referral to the local authority.

Working together to safeguard children states that local authority children’s services should give feedback to anyone who has made a child protection referral to them on the decisions they have taken (Department for Education, 2018).

The General Data Protection Regulation and Data protection Act 2018 state:

• Where practitioners need to share special category personal data, they should be aware that the Data Protection Act 2018 includes ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a condition that allows practitioners to share information without consent 

• Information can be shared legally without consent, if a practitioner is unable to, cannot be reasonably expected to gain consent from the individual, or if to gain consent could place a child at risk. 

Any questions please contact: 

Jenny Stephenson (Owner of Butterflies Holistic Occupational therapy)

07535 876740