Safeguarding & Prevent

Safeguarding Overview

Standguide is committed to promoting the welfare and safety of our customers and staff. We recognise our responsibility to safeguard and protect the well-being of every individual, especially children, young people, and vulnerable adults, who engage with our services.

Standguide is committed to ensuring safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice requirements. We acknowledge that younger individuals, those with an impairment, or those from minority communities, can be particularly vulnerable to abuse. We accept the responsibility to take reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure staff and customer welfare regardless of age, gender, religion or beliefs, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or socio-economic background.

Key elements of our safeguarding approach include:

Creating a culture of awareness and vigilance where safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
Providing clear guidelines and training for all staff and sub-contractors on recognising signs of abuse, neglect, radicalisation, and exploitation, and how to respond appropriately
Maintaining robust recruitment procedures, including background checks and vetting processes, to ensure that individuals working with us are suitable and safe
Encouraging open communication and collaboration with staff, customers, parents, carers, and external agencies to address concerns and provide appropriate support
Promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion to create an environment where all learners feel valued and respected
Responding promptly and sensitively to concerns, disclosures or allegations of abuse, taking appropriate action in accordance with our safeguarding policies and relevant statutory guidance
Ensuring confidential, detailed, and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns or disclosures are maintained and securely stored
Regularly reviewing and updating our safeguarding policies and procedures to reflect changes in legislation, best practice, and emerging risks.

We are committed to fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in safeguarding practices. Our aim is to create a safe and supportive environment where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential.

If you feel your rights, safety, welfare, or the safety of your family is threatened by somebody at home or whilst with us, then you should talk with a member of our staff. We will take your concern seriously and may arrange for one of our Designated Safeguarding Officers to contact you.

Child Protection

Parents/carers should know that the law requires all staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child or young person’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child or young person. They should be informed that staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.

Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child or young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child or young person at risk.

Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.

In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child or young person will be the paramount concern.

Standguide will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child or young person may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in our organisation with responsibility for child protection (the Designated Safeguarding Lead or assigned Designated Safeguarding Officer) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of the child or young person.

Prevent Overview

Prevent is part of the UK’s counter terrorism strategy. It aims to prevent people from supporting violent extremism and terrorism in all its forms.

We want customers and staff to feel safe from extremism and terrorism and to have the confidence to challenge views in a way that does not undermine the principle of free speech, but is in balance with the principles of our shared values.

We want to make sure that we can identify and support those vulnerable to extremism and to deal with concerns around terrorism swiftly and safely.

Preventing violent extremism is one of the ‘4 Ps’ within the Government’s strategy for countering violent extremism, known as ‘CONTEST’:

Prevent: stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting violent extremism.
Pursue: stopping terrorist attacks.
Protect: strengthening protection against terrorist attacks.
Prepare: where an attack cannot be stopped, mitigating its impact.

The PREVENT strategy:

responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views
provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to deal with.

The definition of extremism is:

The Government has defined extremism in the Prevent strategy as: “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

Our role:

We want to make sure that we can identify and support those vulnerable to extremism and to deal with concerns around terrorism swiftly and safely.

Signs and Vulnerabilities:

There’s no single path to radicalisation and the age, social class, religion, ethnic or educational background doesn’t matter. But there are some behaviours that you can watch out for that are often seen when someone is being led toward extremism. Some of these behaviours and vulnerabilities can make a person more at risk of being exploited. Identifying them doesn’t necessarily mean someone is being radicalised and there can be other explanations behind the behaviours you are seeing. Here are some examples:

Being influenced or controlled by a group – Radicalisers can be very persuasive and have a dominating effect on young or vulnerable people who are feeling the pressure to fit in.
An obsessive or angry desire for change or ‘something to be done’ – Some people react strongly to acts of extremism and terrorism, or to perceived injustices, whether in the UK or in other countries. Sometimes, this can lead to a powerful desire for change or ‘something to be done’ to address these concerns.
Spending an increasing amount of time online and sharing extreme views on social media – Radicalisers are increasingly operating online to target and influence vulnerable people via online gaming and social media platforms.
Personal crisis – Many people will experience a significant conflict or trauma at some point in their lives such as a bereavement or a relationship breakdown with a partner, friends or family. This could also be a major transition in life, such as moving to university, changing jobs or a job loss. If they’re already feeling alone, under threat or insecure, this can make them seek new solutions or comfort in unexpected places.
Need for identity, meaning and belonging – Sometimes people experience issues concerning their identity or where they feel they fit in or belong. This can make them feel very distant from their friends, family and community and lead them to seek out new groups or people.
Mental health issues – The vast majority of people suffering from depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or other mental health issues or personality disorders are not drawn down the path of extremism. But, for some people it can increase their vulnerability to influence by extremists who seek to capitalise on their mental health issues and exploit any instability.
Looking to blame others – For some people when life isn’t turning out like they thought or wanted it to be, they can look to blame things on other people, groups or events. They might feel a sense of injustice or grievance about their own situation or others.

If you are worried, then you should act early and reach out to our staff for help to discuss your concerns. Or, you can visit Action Counters Terrorism (ACT)

Contact

For more details or for any questions, you can contact our Designated Safeguarding Leads by email: safeguarding@standguide.co.uk

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Updated: 6 Feb 24