Safeguarding procedure

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All our volunteers play an important role in safeguarding and are responsible for recognising, responding to and reporting concerns, allegations and disclosures. Our safeguarding structure helps to provide our volunteers with the support they need to do this.

Here are the people involved with safeguarding at Girlguiding:

• Our HQ safeguarding team manage all allegations, concerns and disclosures reported to us. We’re a team of safeguarding professionals with experience and knowledge of child protection, including legislation and sector guidance. We help to protect and support our members.
• Our national safeguarding lead volunteer promotes all aspects of safeguarding across Girlguiding at a national level. They work closely with different HQ teams to give support and advice. They also work with the HQ team on safeguarding projects and support the country and region safeguarding teams.
• Country and region safeguarding lead and assistant lead volunteers support the country and region chief commissioners and give guidance to local volunteers. They work closely with the HQ safeguarding team to manage and investigate cases and make sure volunteers are supported.
• Our safeguarding panel are a group of volunteers with professional safeguarding experience. They carry out independent, objective reviews on safeguarding cases where an appeal request has been accepted.
• Commissioners support volunteers and give advice and guidance regarding safeguarding allegations, concerns or disclosures. They’re a key link between the HQ safeguarding team and volunteers involved with a safeguarding case and may lead on actions required for investigations and handling honest conversations. You’ll find more information about this below. They must report any allegations, concerns or disclosures which are reported to them to the HQ safeguarding team.
• Safe practice liaison volunteers give emotional support and a listening ear to volunteers who are being investigated as part of a safeguarding or complaints and compliance case.

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If someone’s at an immediate risk of harm, contact the emergency services before you get in touch with our HQ safeguarding team.

Someone would be at an immediate risk of harm if, for example:

• They’ve said they intend to make a suicide attempt immediately.
• They’re about to go to the place where alleged abuse or harm happens, like their home.
• They have a life-threatening physical or psychological injury or condition.
• A person who causes them harm is coming to collect them at the end of an activity.
• They’re in danger as a result of the actions or inactions of someone who cares for them. For example, a child being collected by an adult who is suspected of drink driving.

If the risk of harm isn’t immediate, you must still report the concern to the HQ safeguarding team.

The safeguarding practitioner on duty will take action straight away. This may mean referring the allegation, concern or disclosure to the police, Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or equivalent, or social services.

The practitioner on duty will consider whether we can do this without needing to tell or ask for consent from the child’s parent or carer, or the adult at risk.

If letting parents or carers know about the report will put a child at further risk of harm, we’ll make the referral without doing this.

If the concern is about an adult at risk of harm, the team will also consider if the adult is able to give their consent to a referral. We’ll make a referral directly to adult social services or the police if any of the following apply:

• The person meets the definition of an ‘adult at risk’. This means the person has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs). Also, they’re experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect. As a result of those needs they can’t protect themselves against the abuse or neglect, or the risk of it.
• There’s reason to believe that a crime has been committed or will be committed.
• The person is at an immediate risk of harm.
• The person needs urgent medical treatment.

The age of adulthood isn’t always the same. For example, In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, people aged 18 and over are considered adults, and in Scotland people aged 16 and over are considered adults.

If our safeguarding practitioner makes a referral without getting consent, they’ll let the person who reported the concern, and other appropriate volunteers, know. We may ask the person who reported the concern, or another appropriate volunteer, to let the parent, carer or adult at risk know our HQ safeguarding team have made a referral without their consent. This will depend upon the advice given by social services or the police. You can find advice on how to approach this conversation further down this page.

If we need consent before we can make the referral, we’ll ask the person who reported the concern, or another appropriate volunteer, to urgently speak to the parent, carer or the adult at risk, so we can make this referral. You can find out more about this in the honest conversations section further down this page.

Girlguiding can’t stay anonymous when making a referral. But our safeguarding practitioner won’t give the name or details of the person who reported the concern unless the law requires them to. We’ll let you know if we do this. We’ll also make sure you’re supported if the police or social services tell the parent, carer, or adult at risk that the report came from local guiding.

If someone doesn’t give their consent for a referral, our HQ safeguarding team will consider appropriate next steps. This may include still making a referral or trying to manage the concern in other ways.

If there’s no immediate risk of harm, it’s unlikely we’ll make a referral to the police or social care straight away. But our HQ safeguarding team will give the person who reported the concern advice and resources to share with the young person, their family, or the adult at risk. 

If the concern is about a child and no one has told their parent or carer about it, it’s likely we'll ask the person who reported the concern, or another appropriate volunteer, to speak to them. You can find out more about what this might involve in the section on talking to parents, carers and volunteers about safeguarding concerns further down this page. But we’ll only request this conversation if it doesn’t put the child at risk of harm.

We may also ask that an adjustment plan or wellbeing action plan is completed with the young member and their parent or carer, or with the adult at risk. For concerns about adults at risk, you may also need to complete a safeguarding risk assessment. Our HQ safeguarding team will let you know who’ll complete these, and will continue to provide support throughout the process alongside your country or region safeguarding volunteer lead.

If an adult at risk is behaving in a way that puts themselves or others at risk of harm, we may need to consider further action under our managing concerns about adult volunteers policy. Our HQ safeguarding team will work with local guiding to help support the adult in any way possible before we escalate the concern in this way.

Our HQ safeguarding team will decide if we need to take immediate action. And, if we need to refer the concern to the police or an agency responsible for managing allegations, concerns or disclosures relating to volunteers in a position of trust. 

In England or Wales, this is the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). The LADO is responsible for giving advice, information and guidance to organisations on allegations and concerns about adults working with children. They oversee cases and make sure different agencies work together. In Scotland and Northern Ireland someone in the local authority will take this role.

Depending on the concern and the advice we get from statutory agencies, we may decide to suspend or add a sanction to the volunteer’s role, or roles. We use sanctions in line with our managing concerns about adult volunteers policy.

If we decide to suspend a volunteer, they’ll be offered support from a safe practice liaison volunteer. This volunteer will offer emotional support during the investigation, acting as a sounding board and going to meetings with the person when needed. You can find out more about the support available for volunteers under investigation in our managing concerns about adult volunteers procedure.

When appropriate, the HQ safeguarding team will follow their low-level concerns procedures to respond to concerns which don’t meet statutory agency thresholds. Our HQ safeguarding team may begin an internal investigation or require a safeguarding risk assessment to be completed with the volunteer who poses a risk of harm. Any investigation will follow our investigation procedure.

If the investigation leads to significant concerns about the volunteer’s behaviour, we may apply a sanction. This could include their role, or roles, being withdrawn. For more information about sanctions, take a look at our managing concerns about adult volunteers procedure.

The volunteer who was under investigation or the person who raised the concern can request an appeal against the outcome of a case under our appeals and review procedure.

Under some circumstances, Girlguiding has a legal duty to make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Access NI or Disclosure Scotland if we withdraw someone’s role(s) or restrict their role(s) so that they aren’t volunteering regularly with children. If we do this, our HQ safeguarding team will let the volunteer know.

• Make sure you have the conversation as soon as possible after the concerns have been noticed or the conversation has been requested by the HQ safeguarding team. Ideally this should happen before the end of the next unit meeting. Remember, you can also speak to parents or carers over the phone, as well as in person.
• Take time to plan and seek support from your commissioner, your country or region team, or the HQ safeguarding team. We can help you prepare and discuss any concerns you may have.
• Try to have another volunteer, or your commissioner, there for the conversation to support you, if this is appropriate.
• If there are any delays with speaking to the parents or carers, let the HQ safeguarding team know.

• Think about your location, and your position in the room, so no one feels uncomfortable. Think about your body language and use active listening. If it’s a phone call, check with the parents or carers that it’s an ok time to talk.
• Think about whether the young member should be part of the conversation. This’ll depend on their age and what you need to talk about.
• Reassure the parents or carers that the purpose of the conversation is to offer support and help.
• Explain you have a ‘duty of care’ to discuss any concerns with parents or carers. It may be helpful to refer to our safeguarding policy and explain how it relates to your role as a volunteer.
• Be transparent about why you need to have the conversation and what actions you’ve taken so far.
• Be factual and specific, and make sure the key elements of the concern are discussed, as agreed with the HQ safeguarding team.
• Be open, honest, and transparent. Be factual about the concerns, why you need to have the conversation, and what actions you’ve taken so far.
• Communicate clearly and adapt your communication style to the parent or carer, considering your tone of voice.
• Encourage the parent or carer to talk, asking their view of the concerns, and allowing them time to share any explanations or ask any questions.
• Make sure you explicitly gain the parent or carer’s consent for any next steps and supportive measures. This is especially important if we’ve asked you to discuss a social services referral with them. Make sure the parents or carers know that you may need to seek further support from the HQ safeguarding team.
• Be sensitive to the needs of everyone in the conversation and be adaptable in your approach.

Examples to help with phrasing:

• ‘[Young member’s name] spoke to a volunteer about [details of concern]. Do you know why she might’ve said this?’
• ‘We’ve noticed that [details of concerns noticed]. Have you any idea what could’ve caused this?’
• ‘Can you tell me what’s happened?’
• 'Whenever there are worries about a child, as a volunteer I have to contact the HQ safeguarding team for advice. In this case, the HQ safeguarding team would like to make a referral to children’s social services, with your consent, to help you and your daughter access support. Is this something you’d consent to them doing?'

• If the HQ safeguarding team asked you to have the conversation, make sure to send us an update as soon as possible about how it went.
• If appropriate, you might want to follow up with the parents or carers in writing to confirm any agreed next steps or to share signposting and support links.
• If you’re concerned about anything that came up during the conversation, report it to the HQ safeguarding team following the usual reporting processes.
• Look after yourself and think about arranging a supportive ‘debrief’. This could be with your commissioner, someone in the country or region safeguarding team, or the HQ safeguarding team.
• Continue to monitor for any signs or indicators of concern, and report any new concerns to the HQ safeguarding team.

Our HQ safeguarding team manages allegations, concerns and disclosures related to Girlguiding members and activities. 

If you have a concern about someone or something not connected to Girlguiding, you can speak to us for advice and we’ll do what we can to support you. We may not be able to make a referral or manage the concern. But we can let you know about other organisations that may be able to support and advise you. You can find a list of some of these on our support organisations page. You may also be able to find some local services to help.

If you have a concern about a child or family who aren’t connected to Girlguiding, you can contact the police or children’s social care as a non-professional to report your concerns.

Contact the team again, explain your concern and discuss the points you would like us to consider.

If you still feel we aren’t dealing with it in the way you’d expect, you can escalate your concerns by contacting our HQ safeguarding team manager. You can do this by sending an email to [email protected], marked for the attention of the HQ safeguarding team manager.

If we’ve added a sanction to your role, or roles, following an investigation, you have the right to ask for an appeal in line with our appeals and review procedure. This procedure explains when we’ll grant an appeal and how it will work.

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