Safeguarding Policy

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Common Purpose Charitable Trust – Safeguarding Policy

Authors: David O Connor, Director, Learning and Innovation and Lloyd Fleming, Group Finance Director
SMT Sponsor: Adirupa Sengupta (Group Chief Executive of Common Purpose Charitable Trust)
Area of Governance: Board of Trustees
Date for Renewal: August 2022
Approved by: Common Purpose Board of Trustees
Geographical Scope: For all Common Purpose employees, volunteers and representatives worldwide, except in countries where the following policy contravenes local legislation. In these cases, local legislation must be followed with guidance from the Director, Learning and Innovation.This document will apply if Common Purpose policy is more stringent than local legislation.
Confidentiality: Public, additional guidelines and materials are available internally


Policy Statement

Common Purpose, for the purposes of this policy and procedures document, considers a Vulnerable Person as an adult who may be restricted in capacity to guard himself / herself against harm or exploitation or to report such harm or exploitation. Restriction of capacity may arise as a result of physical or intellectual impairment. Vulnerability to abuse is influenced by both context and individual circumstances.

A core governance responsibility is to ensure that safeguarding policies and procedures and associated practices are in place and appropriate to the activities provided.


Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that Common Purpose exercises its duty of care to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

We also have a duty to protect our trustees, staff, volunteers and programme participants (including children and vulnerable adults) from any harm that may be caused due to their coming into contact with Common Purpose. This includes harm arising from:

  • The conduct of trustees, staff or personnel associated with Common Purpose
  • The design and implementation of Common Purpose’s programmes and activities

The policy lays out the commitments made by Common Purpose, and informs trustees, staff and associated personnel of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.

This policy does not cover:

  • Sexual harassment in the workplace – this is dealt with under Common Purpose’s Human Resources Policies and Procedures
  • Safeguarding concerns in the wider community not perpetrated by Common Purpose or associated personnel


Scope

This Policy and Procedure applies to:

  • All staff employed by or contracted to Common Purpose globally
  • Trustees and directors of The Common Purpose Charitable Trust and all subsidiaries
  • The licensees of Common Purpose, including their directors, staff, and associated personnel
  • Associated personnel whilst engaged with work or visits related to Common Purpose, including but not limited to the following: consultants, volunteers, contractors, programme visitors and guest contributors
  • Partners, contractors and suppliers, and is also relevant for those with whom we engage for example children, parents and communities, to act in accordance with this policy

In cases where we are not the lead partner, then it is expected that we will encourage and advocate for our partners to either follow the Common Purpose Safeguarding Policy or develop their own.

Programme participants and members of the public are not within the scope of the policy. Programme participant behaviour is addressed through the Common Purpose Conventions and the terms of conditions of their specific programme.


Principles

All our policies and procedures promote welfare, reflect inclusion and transparency in the provision of activities, and promote a culture of safeguarding.

The practices and procedures within this policy are based on the principles contained in UK legislation and guidelines from the Charity Commission for England. They take the following into consideration:

  • The Children Act 1989
  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989
  • The Children Act 2004 & 2007
  • Working Together 2018
  • The Care Act 2014
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020


Implementation

Responsibility for leading implementation of this policy and procedure rests with the Common Purpose Operations Team, namely the People & Operations Director.

The People & Operations Director will have overall responsibility for implementation of this policy and procedure within their administrative area, and, will ensure that each manager of relevant Common Purpose activities will undertake the following:

  • Communicate this policy to all staff and volunteers
  • Appropriate training is provided
  • Ensure that service specific procedures are developed, implemented and reviewed in compliance with this policy


A full version of our Safeguarding policy is available here.