Safeguarding for Trustees

There are approximately 250,000 charities in the UK, all of whom are overseen by trustees. Trustees are responsible for the overall management and decision-making of the charity. Their role is to ensure that the charity operates in line with its purpose, complies with legal requirements, and acts in the best interests of its beneficiaries. Trustees play a crucial role in guiding the direction, overseeing finances, and ensuring accountability and transparency in its activities. Trustees are also responsible for ensuring charities comply with safeguarding laws and standards.

All charities are held to account by a regulatory body that seeks to ensure the law and standards are being upheld. In England and Wales, the regulator is the Charity Commission. In Scotland, it’s the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), and in Northern Ireland, the regulator is the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI).

Most but not all churches in the UK are registered charities, who will have the same governance structure, and accountability to the law as any other charity.

Churches may look to God to direct their mission but, their activities in pursuit of that mission, are subject to the authority of the State.

Some of the biggest and most high-profile risks facing Charities and Churches today are to do with safeguarding. These risks include the risk of the charity’s beneficiaries being harmed, but they also include the risk of harm to others, such as to the charity’s employees, volunteers and all who come into contact with the charity. The buck stops with the board of trustees.

What are trustees safeguarding responsibilities?

The world of safeguarding can feel complex, but with the right support, it doesn’t need to be. Here’s our practical guide to trustees and safeguarding.

1. Understand legislation

There are several key pieces of UK legislation that trustees should be familiar with. This legislation varies across the 4-nations of the UK and should inform your policies and practices.

Key UK safeguarding legislation:

2. Policies and practices - write, review and embed 

1) Policies are agreed by all the trustees. Your trustee board may not agree all the time but having a trustees’ code of conduct can spell out how you deal with any differences of opinion. This should be decided before the disagreements arise. Once that decision is reached, all trustees are collectively responsible for the decision, even if they were absent on that occasion, or they raised concerns about that decision.

2) Policies are to be fit for purpose and reviewed. When did you last review your policies? Do the policies that you have now match the work you're currently doing? Have any new activities been added, stopped or significantly altered? Have your policies been changed to reflect this? Your safeguarding policy should be reviewed annually, but you might also want to review your code of conduct, safer recruitment and whistleblowing policies every two or three years.

3) Policies are to be updated in line with statutory guidance, law, and the charity regulators’ recommendations. This can sound overwhelming, but there are alerts that you can sign up to which are included in the handbook for our Trustees training. Regular safeguarding training will also help you be informed about and to apply these changes in guidance and legislation.

4) Policies are to be accessible and understood by all staff volunteers, and they should be publicly available. This can be the step that many people skip, but this is what makes the work you've already done meaningful. It's important that those who are involved in your charity understand they'll be kept safe. If your policies are written in ‘legalese’ and locked in a filing cabinet, they're not going to be impactful for most people. Put simply, if the people who are supposed to be following the policy can't understand it, it doesn't matter if you understand it. We should ask, does it need to be available in any other languages, or in a non-literacy version? Are easy-read versions available? Take a moment to physically or mentally list the staff, volunteers and beneficiaries you work with. Is the tone of your existing safeguarding policies appropriate and one that resonates with them?

 3. Identify and mitigate risks

Trustees must take reasonable steps to protect their charity’s beneficiaries, staff, volunteers and those connected with the activities of the charity and where appropriate promote their welfare and well-being.

This starts with conducting a comprehensive risk assessment to identify potential risks. This includes:

• Safeguarding risks
• Financial risks
• Operational risks
• Legal and regulatory risks
• Reputational risks
• Strategic risks

The identified risks should be added to a document called a risk register. The risk register serves as a central place for all identified risks with key information related to those risks, such as the likelihood of it happening, what to do if it occurs, and who is responsible for managing that issue. The risk register is typically maintained by the risk management team, with oversight by the trustees.

4. Protect

Trustees should seek to create and promote a culture that prioritises safeguarding, ensure it is considered across the whole organisational practice.

This includes:

• Talk openly about safeguarding: Make sure everyone knows what to be looking for and how to handle it according to their role. By being transparent and open you equip everyone with the language to speak up and act – including children.
• Carry out background checks: When recruiting staff or volunteers organisations should be encouraged to carry out enhanced background checks.
• Review performance and behaviour: New members of the team should be subject to a probationary period where their performance is monitored.
• Training & Supervision: New members should also receive appropriate training and supervision.
• Follow specific guidance: People working with children or vulnerable adults should have specific training and follow guidance for ratios of team members with service users.
• Positions of Trust: Ensure those working in faith-based environments, or in schools or clubs need to understand positions of trust legislation and guidance.

Risk Register: Make sure your risk register has clear guidance on how to handle any safeguarding issues that may arise, enabling you to act quickly and appropriately.

5. Report

There should be a clear process for reporting safeguarding concerns internally and, if necessary, to external authorities such as the police or social services. This information should be included on your risk register and also be communicated to all staff and volunteers. Reporting processes must be pre-determined and adhered to, to ensure the safety of those affected, and others in the organisation.

There should also be a specific whistleblowing policy in place, which is separate to your safeguarding policy.

6. Take action

While trustees hold legal responsibility for good safeguarding practice, the safeguarding lead holds operational responsibility. It’s our recommendation that a trustee is appointed to regularly meet with the safeguarding lead. This ensures they are up to date on all possible issues, enabling them take swift and appropriate action to address safeguarding concerns when necessary.

It’s also essential that all reports and disclosures are handled appropriately and in a timely manner, as previously documented in the risk register, with the support of additional authorities where appropriate. Trying to deal with issues in house, without expert guidance can lead to additional harm not only to those who are vulnerable but also to the reputation of the organisation.

What’s the next step?

Safeguarding is an essential part of good charity governance, but it can feel complex and daunting. We don’t want you to feel overwhelmed, we’re here to help:

1. Trustee specific training:

We have specific training, just for trustees covering all the essentials to good safeguarding practice and more. The training is designed for trustees across all 4-nations of the UK, under different regulatory bodies. It includes a detailed handbook that includes other organisations you can contact for support. The training is fully accessible.

Find out more: CPD Accredited Safeguarding Training | Thirtyone:eight (thirtyoneeight.org)

2. Membership:

Our membership comes with a wealth of resources and templates, including a policy template. If you are a member this is already available to you. To find out more about becoming a member click here.

3. Call our helpline:

If you have a specific issue you need to discuss in more detail call our expert team on 0303 003 1111.