RESPONDING TO A SAFEGUARDING CONCERN OR ALLEGATION

Everyone has a responsibility to ensure the safety and welfare of children and adults at risk and to take appropriate steps to ensure that safeguarding concerns and allegations are taken seriously and responded to quickly and appropriately, even if the safeguarding concern or allegation may not have occurred recently. 

It is advisable to discuss safeguarding concerns or allegations with the adult at risk, or the child’s parents in the first instance except where this may place the adult at risk, a child, or someone else, at increased risk.

It is not the responsibility of anyone within the venue to investigate any safeguarding concern or allegation, nor determine whether abuse has taken place. All concerns must be responded to in accordance with the Reporting a Safeguarding Concern Procedure.

Once a safeguarding concern or allegation is reported to our Welfare Officer, it will be passed onto the LTA Safeguarding Team who will triage and manage it through the LTA Safeguarding Regulations, which form part of the LTA Disciplinary Code available here: https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/governance-and-structure/rules-regulations/.

RESPONDING TO A DISCLOSURE OF ABUSE

If a child or adult at risk discloses that he or she has been abused or is at risk of abuse:

·       Listen carefully and calmly to what is said

·       Reassure them that they have done the right thing and what they have told you is very important

·       Keep questions to a minimum, only ask questions if you need to identify/ clarify what the person is telling you

·       Ask them what they would like to happen next

·       Explain what you would like to do next

·       Ask for their consent for the information to be shared (adults only)

·       Let them know that you will need to speak to the Welfare Officer/LTA Safeguarding Team because it is in their best interest.  If you intend to speak to the police or social care, you should let them know this too.

·       Do not seek to investigate it yourself or let doubt/personal bias prevent you from reporting the allegation

·       Make an arrangement as to how you can contact them safely (adults only)

·       Help them to contact other organisations for advice and support (e.g. Police, Domestic Abuse helpline, Victim Support, etc)

• Ensure that their immediate needs are met and that the priority is their safety and protection from further risk of harm

·       Record details of the disclosure (further advice here) as soon as possible (but not during the disclosure) and then submit the details to the LTA via https://safeguardingconcern.lta.org.uk/

MAKING SAFEGUARDING PERSONAL

Legislation recognises that adults make choices that may mean that one part of their well-being suffers at the expense of another. Similarly, adults can also make a decision to risk their personal safety, for example to provide care to a partner with dementia who becomes abusive when they are disorientated and anxious.

The concept of ‘well-being’ is threaded throughout UK legislation and is part of the Law about how health and social care is provided.  Our well-being includes our mental and physical health, our relationships, our connection with our communities and our contribution to society.

’Making Safeguarding Personal’ means engaging an adult at risk in a conversation about how best to respond to their situation in a way that enhances their involvement, choice and control, as well as improving their quality of life, well-being and safety. Their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs will be taken into account when decisions are made about how to support them to be safe and finding the solution that is right for them. Treating people with respect, enhancing their dignity and supporting their ability to make decisions also helps promote people's sense of self-worth and supports recovery from abuse.

If an adult at risk has difficulty making their views and wishes known, they can be supported or represented by an advocate.  This might be a safe family member or friend of their choice or a professional advocate (usually from a third sector organisation).

Being able to live free from abuse and neglect is a key element of well-being. Any actions taken to safeguard an adult must take their whole well-being into account and be proportionate to the risk of harm.

MENTAL CAPACITY

It is important to make sure an adult at risk has choices in the actions taken to safeguard them, including whether or not they want other people informed about what has happened, however, in some situations the adult may not have the mental capacity to understand the choice or to tell us their views. 

If we are concerned that an adult at risk who has a lot of difficulty making their own decisions is being abused or neglected, we will need to refer the situation to the Local Authority, and this should result in health or social care professionals making an assessment of mental capacity and/or getting the person the support they need to make decisions.

We will always seek to obtain the consent from an adult at risk before sharing information about them with others, however there are some circumstances where we will need to act without their consent and these include where:

·       it is not safe to contact them to gain their consent – i.e. it might put them or the person making contact at further risk

·       we believe they or someone else is at risk, including children

·       we believe the adult at risk is being coerced or is under duress

·       it is necessary to contact the police to prevent a crime, or to report that a serious crime has been committed

·       the adult at risk does not have mental capacity to consent to information being shared about them

·       the person causing harm has care and support needs

·       the concerns are about an adult at risk living in Wales or Northern Ireland (where there is a duty to report to the Local Authority).

When information is shared without the consent of the adult at risk this will be explained to them, when it is safe to do so, and any further actions should still fully include them

CONFIDENTIALITY

All safeguarding concerns and allegations will be dealt with confidentiality by the Welfare Officer on a need to know basis, not only to maintain the privacy of the individuals involved but also to ensure that evidence or any investigation is not compromised. All people involved in a safeguarding concern or allegation should similarly ensure they maintain high levels of confidentiality.

There may be circumstances where an individual raising a safeguarding concern or allegation does not wish to be named.  It is not possible to assure anonymity, as in some circumstances individuals will need to be named (for example, where it is necessary in order to carry out a fair disciplinary process).

INFORMATION SHARING AND RETENTION

We share safeguarding information with the LTA in accordance with this policy and LTA regulations.  In certain situations, we may be required to also share information with statutory agencies and other relevant organisations where it is considered necessary and proportionate to prevent or manage the risk of harm in tennis or sport to children. 

We follow the UK Government’s Information Sharing Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners which describes the ‘7 Golden Rules’ of information sharing:

·       Remember that the Data Protection Act 2018 and human rights law are not barriers to justified information sharing but provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living individuals is shared appropriately.

·       Be open and honest with the individual (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.

·       Seek advice from other practitioners if you are in any doubt about sharing the information concerned, without disclosing the identity of the individual where possible.

·       Share with informed consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to share confidential information. You may still share information without consent if, in your judgement, there is good reason to do so, such as where safety may be at risk.

·       Consider safety and well-being: Base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the individual and others who may be affected by their actions.

·       Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure: Ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those individuals who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely.

·       Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.

Further details of the above guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-practitioners-information-sharing-advice.

When sharing safeguarding information, we will keep a dated record of:

·       what has been shared;

·       with whom; and

·       for what purpose.

This should include, where applicable, a record of any steps taken to secure, protect or minimise personal data, any express limitations placed on the onward use of the information, and a record of the basis for sharing.

Where safeguarding information is concerned, we operate in line with best practice which is for long term (e.g. lifetime) retention of relevant documentation.