Safeguarding Office
C/o Hinsley Hall
62 Headingley Lane
LEEDS
LS6 2BX
Tel: 0113 2618046
safeguarding@dioceseofleeds.org.uk
Introduction
The aim of these pages is to give some general information on the work of the Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Team in the Diocese and to explain our aims and objectives, together with some of the achievements in the parishes and elsewhere.
For information about support and help for people who have experienced or been affected by abuse please either contact our Co-ordinator Suzanne Mitchell or follow the link to the website of our national body, the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service - CSAS. On their Resources page, click the word 'here' in the sentence: 'To locate support and guidance click here.'
The CSAS website is at www.csas.uk.net.
The Diocesan Safeguarding Co-ordinator/Officer is Ms Suzanne Mitchell. Her direct dial number has recently changed, and with effect from Wednesday 19 October 2011 it is 0113 2618 069, or 0751 559 8523.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
On 15 June 2010 the new Government announced that it was halting the implementation of the Vetting & Barring Scheme which had been due to start in late July 2010, and would conduct reviews into both the Vetting & Barring scheme and the CRB Discloures scheme.
On 11 February 2011 the Government issued the interim reports of those reviews, which claimed that the schemes would be cut back ‘to commonsense levels' whist continuing to protect vulnerable groups. The exact implications of this for our work will not be clear until well after the final report has been issued, probably at the end of 2011 - and any legislation (‘The Freedom Bill') will not be enacted until 2012. For the latest national position please see the home page of the CRB's website at http://www.crb.gov.uk/.
On 15 February 2011 our national body CSAS issued a statement which summarised the recommendations contained in the (separate) interim reviews of the Vetting & Barring and CRB Disclosure schemes; provided a link to both reviews; and confirmed that 'our Safe Recruitment policies and procedures remain unchanged and so we maintain our existing practice until further notice'. In other words, it is ‘business as usual'.
If you would like further details of the CSAS statement, or of the two reviews, or if you have any questions about any aspect of this matter, please call the office on the usual numbers.
The remaining pages on this site have been updated to reflect the situation at the end of July 2010 - and which remains our position in February 2011 and beyond.
Please note that all applicants for a CRB Disclosure through the Diocese should be given a copy of the CSAS policies on (1) the Recruitment of ex-Offenders and (2) Safe Storage and Retention. For further details, please see the Documents page.
Printed Resources:
The Parish Pack - Safeguarding Resources is the latest guide to best Safeguarding Practice issued by our national body CSAS. A hard copy has been issued to all parish reps and clergy, and is also available free of charge to other interested organisations within the Diocese. If you have not yet received your copy, and would like to have one, please contact the Administrator Stephen Hanslip on 0113 2618 046. It is available in pdf format (ie, to read or download, but not to amend) here . It is supported by an A5-sized Booklet of advice aimed at volunteers in the parishes; all 5,000 copies of Edition 1 have now been distributed, but it is available to download on the Documents page.
The forms listed on page 62 of the Parish Pack are all available separately on the Documents page of this site, or on request to the Administrator. No forms can be accepted if they are dated earlier than November 2009, and CSAS insists that no changes may be made to its forms. This also applies to the CRB Disclosure application form itself - the new, current, edition is not dated, but at the top of page 1 it has the logos of both the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the CRB.
Training
Further Introduction to Safeguarding workshops held in the Autumn and Winter of 2010-2011 were attended by some 30 new parish reps.
Suzanne Mitchell has a 'whole-parish' training session available which is aimed at the clergy, rep and volunteers in a single parish. It can be tailored to suit your parish circumstances, and is free of charge - please contact her on the above number for more details. This course was offered on three separate dates during Autumn 2010, and is again on offer in Spring 2011 - on Wednesday 23 March, from 18.30 - 21.30; and on Friday 8 April, from 10.00 - 13.00. To reserve a place please contact the office in the usual way.
The CSAS Workshop on Wednesday 1 July 2009 was led by Adrian Child, Director of CSAS, in Leeds Civic Hall (Millennium Square). Starting at 7.00 pm, for two hours, it spelled out the implications for us all of the latest changes in the national Safeguarding scene, including the establishment of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). More than 150 people attended. Notes from the meeting are available on request to the Administrator - but until we know the outcome of the Government review anything we cannot be confident that anything we learned about ISA on that night will continue to be relevant.
Structured training sessions for parish reps were held during May/June 2010 to help train reps on the new forms and changed procedures that were to come with the introduction of ISA in July 2010. However, now that the Government has halted the introduction of the ISA the remaining set of meetings has been cancelled. Training sessions for new reps, concentrating on Creating a Safe Environment (rather than simply on Safe Recruitment) were run during Autumn 2010 - please see the Our Work page.
I warmly welcome this website for the Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults team of the Diocese of Leeds.
I hope it will fulfil several purposes. It should be a useful means of communication between the team and those in the parishes and other groups who are involved in activities for children and vulnerable adults. It should be a source of information and reassurance for agencies and individuals making enquiries about our philosophy and our procedures in this area.
I hope also that this may facilitate contact for anyone who has a question about any aspect of the protection of children and vulnerable adults in our Diocese.