Church Policies

We make available here two important policies

1. The Reporting of Serious Incidents policy
2. The Safeguarding Policy

If you are concerned that someone you know is at risk of, or is being, abused, or presents a risk to others, please seek advice from a Safeguarding Adviser or if necessary report the matter to the Local Authority Social Care Services or the Police without delay.

Local contacts available to speak to if you have any concerns:

Alison Manning
Parish Safeguarding Officer
07960042537
safeguardingstb@gmail.com

Rev Tulo Raistrick
Vicar
02475017889
tulo@raistricks.com

Diocesan Safeguarding Team
02476521345
safeguarding@covcofe.org

https://www.coventry.anglican.org/info-for-parishes/safeguarding/

Local Authority Social Services
02476788555
02476832222 (out of hours)

The following helplines are also available to help:

NSPCC: 0808 800 5000

Childline: 0800 1111

Stop It Now: 0808 1000 900

NAPAC: 0808 801 0331

Samaritans: 116 123

Family Lives: 0808 800 2222

National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247

Action on Elder Abuse: 0808 808 8141

The Reporting of Serious Incidents policy

St Barbara’s Church, Earlsdon PCC

Delegation by the PCC Members: Reporting of Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission

Date: 14th May, 2019

1. Background
   1. The members of St Barbara’s PCC, as charity trustees, are responsible for reporting ALL Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission in a timely manner. The trustees delegate the reporting of Serious Incidents in accordance with these Resolutions.
   2. The Charity Commission has approved specific Church of England guidance and templates for PCCs to use when reporting Serious Incidents to it (“PCC Guidance”). The PCC Guidance separates Serious Incidents into two types: safeguarding Serious Incidents and all other Serious Incidents. Safeguarding Serious Incidents are reported in a different way from how all other Serious Incidents are reported and so there are separate delegations for reporting safeguarding and non-safeguarding Serious Incidents.
   3. If a safeguarding incident occurs within St Barbara’s PCC, the Safeguarding Officer (or, where there is no employed safeguarding officer, the person with responsibility for safeguarding in the PCC) (PCCSO) must inform the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser (DSA) and respond to and manage the incident in accordance with the relevant House of Bishops’ Safeguarding Policy and Guidance.
   4. Where a non-safeguarding incident is identified, the vicar or church warden(s) should be informed immediately. The vicar or church warden(s) is responsible for taking such immediate steps or actions as may be required to secure and protect St Barbara’s PCC’s  property, assets and reputation, in accordance with any internal policies or procedures.
   5. Below are two example template resolutions for [PCC] to complete and adopt.
      1. Section 2 is a resolution to delegate responsibility for reporting safeguarding Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission and the National Safeguarding Team.
      2. Section 3 is a resolution to delegate responsibility for reporting non-safeguarding Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission.
2. DELEGATION of responsibility to report SAFEGUARDING Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission in accordance with the PCC Guidance
   1. In order to facilitate the confidential and timely reporting of any safeguarding Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission, the responsibility for any decisions relating to the reporting of safeguarding Serious Incidents is delegated to the Parish Safeguarding Officer and the Vicar. [All references to the Trustee Group in this delegation are references to this smaller group of trustees.]
   2. The following responsibilities are delegated to the PCC’s Safeguarding Officer
      1. Responsibility for contacting the DSA, if they consider a safeguarding Serious Incident may have occurred and providing the DSA with any information required.
      2. Responsibility for liaising with the DSA and reporting back to the Trustee Group on the management and reporting of the safeguarding Serious Incident by the DSA and the Diocesan Secretary (DS), including:
         • if the DSA and DS consider that the incident does NOT need to be reported to the Charity Commission, why this is the case;
         • whether the incident will be individually reported or included in the next bulk report;
         • approval of a draft report for a high-risk incident (i.e. one which will be individually reported);
         • providing St Barbara’s PCC trustees with a copy of any safeguarding Serious Incident reports submitted to the Charity Commission by the Diocesan Secretary (DS) on behalf of the [PCC].
      3. The following responsibilities are delegated to the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser and the Diocesan Secretary:
         • The DSA is responsible for deciding, in consultation with the DS, whether a safeguarding incident is sufficiently “Serious” to be reported to the Charity Commission and, if so, whether it should be reported individually or included in the next bulk report.
         • The DSA is responsible for reporting back to the PCCSO on whether the incident is sufficiently “Serious” to be reported to the Charity Commission and, if so, whether the incident is to be individually reported or included in the next bulk report. If an incident does NOT need to be reported to the Charity Commission, the DSA should provide the PCCSO with an explanation of this decision, so the PCCSO can report back to the Trustee Group.
         • The DSA is responsible for preparing the safeguarding Serious Incident Report. Where the report relates to a high-risk incident (i.e. one which is to be individually reported), the DSA is responsible for providing the draft report to the PCCSO for approval by the Trustee Group.
         • The DS is responsible for submitting safeguarding Serious Incident reports to the Charity Commission, on behalf of the St Barbara’s trustees.
         • The DS is responsible for sending copies of any Serious Incident reports submitted to the Charity Commission to the National Safeguarding Team and the PCCSO.
3. DELEGATION of responsibility to report all OTHER Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission in accordance with the PCC Guidance
   1. In order to facilitate the confidential and timely reporting of any Serious Incidents, the responsibility for the reporting of Serious Incidents is delegated to the PCC Standing Committee. All references to the Trustee Group in this delegation are references to this smaller group of trustees.
   2. The Vicar or Church Warden(s) is responsible for deciding whether, in accordance with the PCC Guidance, the incident is sufficiently Serious to require reporting to the Charity Commission. If a decision was taken that an incident does NOT need to be reported to the Charity Commission, the reasons for this decision should be agreed with the Trustee Group and recorded in writing by the Vicar or Church Warden(s).
   3. The Vicar or Church Warden(s) is responsible for preparing and submitting the Serious Incident Report to the Charity Commission. Where the report relates to a high-risk incident, the draft report should be provided to the Trustee Group for approval.
   4. The Vicar or Church Warden(s) is responsible for providing St Barbara’s PCC’s trustees with a copy of any Serious Incident report submitted to the Charity Commission.