Safer recruitment policy

Your Safeguarding policy, while not a manual for recruitment, should have your organisation's commitment to safer recruitment as part of your safeguarding structure.

Your policy should clearly set out:

• How your organisation will implement the safer recruitment process,
• That it will be followed in all cases.
• That it will include, but not be solely reliant on, relevant criminal record checks.

Your organisation should also have a policy on the employment of people with convictions and cautions.

An organisation which experiences safeguarding issues but cannot demonstrate that it has a policy in place which includes safer recruitment, may be at risk of intervention and sanctions by the statutory authorities, sector or charity regulators, and insurers.

A way to summarise this could be:

The Leadership will ensure all workers (voluntary and paid) will be appointed, trained, supported and supervised in accordance with government guidance on safer recruitment. The specific details will vary according to the role, but safer recruitment procedures will typically include:

• Ensuring there is a written role description and person specification for the post.
• Use of an expression of interest/application form and a self-declaration form where appropriate.
• Shortlisting of applicants where relevant.
• Safeguarding is considered in interviews/discussions for each role.
• Obtaining written references and following up where appropriate.
• Ensuring a relevant criminal record check is completed where necessary (in Scotland membership of the relevant PVG scheme is required for Regulated Roles) - complying with Code of Practice requirements concerning the fair treatment of applicants and the handling of information.
• Qualifications where relevant have been verified.
• Providing a suitable training programme for each worker including safeguarding training.
• The worker completes a probationary period.
• Ensuring the worker is given a copy of the organisation’s safeguarding policy and knows how to report concerns.

More detail can be added as appropriate, for example, setting out any key differences in how this will apply for paid roles compared to voluntary roles.