Safeguarding Policy

Bowen Training UK is committed to safeguarding, protecting, and promoting the welfare of all its students and instructors, and ensuring that each training area is a safe environment for everyone. BTUK offers provision (where we can) and best support possible for adult learners who may have learning difficulties, and special educational needs (SEN).

Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to promote the safety and welfare of students and instructors by protecting them from and preventing abuse and neglect. It provides guidance to instructors on what to do if abuse, neglect, or other causes for concern are observed or disclosed. For the purposes of this policy we define, Safeguarding adults at risk as protecting them from significant harm, exploitation, and abuse.

What is safeguarding? Adults at risk: we take action to promote their welfare and to protect them from harm. Everyone who encounters their family or adults at risk has a role to play to ensure they are safe. BTUK fully recognises its responsibility to promote safe practice and to reasonably protect and safeguard the welfare of everyone working and studying with us. All students at BTUK are over 18 years old.

We like to promote a general duty of care to all our students. We believe that learning takes place most effectively within a culture where all individuals trust the instructor/s and other students to keep them safe from harm while they are attending training courses.

It is the duty of every instructor to recognise that external behaviour may be masking abuse and take effective action when abuse is suspected or disclosed. BTUK recognises that safeguarding incidents could happen anywhere, at any time and be perpetrated by a range of individuals including instructors, other learners, and people external to the training environment including family and friends.

Vulnerability is difficult to judge. Instructors should always assume that any adult student they deal with might be vulnerable or disadvantaged and treat them accordingly.

We take all reasonable measures to ensure that the risks of harm to an individual’s welfare are minimised; and where there are concerns about individual’s welfare, we would take appropriate action to address these by arranging a meeting. All students should feel safe, secure and able to raise any concerns at any time.

We fulfil our statutory duty to adults at risk by providing a safe learning environment in which all students can progress. Instructors through their training are aware of the procedures to follow if they think a student is at risk and take appropriate action.

The college will report all allegations of abuse to the local council where their training modules are taking place or other relevant borough Local Authority Designated Officers based on a student’s registered address. Any concern of radial radicalisation, and extremism will be reported to the Government site Channel and PMAP Prevent Strategy.

If the report involves an allegation of a criminal act, a report will be made to the police, and the instructor will fully co-operate with any investigations they carry out.

The policy aims to:

• Raise awareness of all instructors for the need to safeguard vulnerable adults at risk, and their responsibilities to identify and report possible cases of abuse, radicalisation and extremism.

• Provide a framework for the continuous development of internal procedures to be followed by instructors in cases of suspected abuse.

• Establish a safe environment where students can learn in confidence, independence and feel they will be listened to.

• Emphasise the need for good levels of communication and information sharing between all instructors and BTUK office.

• Provide a means of monitoring students’ known or thought to be at risk.

• Promote understanding and build relationships with other agencies to develop multi-agency working and information sharing.

• Ensure that learners know that there are Safeguarding Officers whom they can approach if they are worried or in difficulty.

• Provide appropriate support to staff through appropriate supervision and training.

• Assess risk in relation to all training centres, focusing on prevention, minimising risk and putting appropriate safeguards in place.

• Ensure each instructor and training centre has a safeguarding policy and procedures in place that comply with legislation and are available to staff, instructors, and students.

• Ensure each instructor and training centre has a safeguarding policy to follow, guidelines, points of action to take and is kept up to date.

• Keep detailed, accurate and secure written records of alerts and/or concerns. 

• Allegations about instructors – where an allegation of abuse or inappropriate behaviour is made against an instructor, a thorough investigation will be undertaken. Statutory and other relevant guidance will be used to support any investigation. 

• BTUK office / Chair to act as a point of contact for safeguarding and support queries from instructors or/and students.

Instructor controls and for newly appointed instructors:

• Verification of the appointed person’s identity, preferably from current photographic ID and proof of address.

• Obtaining an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check (with barred list information if appropriate).

• Verification of the appointed person’s right to work in the United Kingdom

• Verification of relevant qualifications where necessary.

• Other checks may be considered if the person has recently lived outside of the  
  United Kingdom.

Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
Health and Social Care Act 2012
Mental Capacity Act 2005
Equality Act 2010
Human Rights Act 1998