Children have the right to be protected from harm. If your organisation or group works with children or young people you must have a clear set of guidelines about how you will:
Your safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures are an important part of protecting children and young people. They should be separate from any policies and procedures around safeguarding adults and those over 18. Your organisation’s policies and procedures must be supported by good governance, health and safety, financial management, staff supervision and management.
This page explains how to write a safeguarding or child protection policy statement that sets out your organisation's commitment to keeping children safe.
A safeguarding or child protection policy statement makes it clear what your organisation or group will do to keep children safe.
It should set out:
Safeguarding and child protection procedures are detailed guidelines and instructions that support your overarching safeguarding policy statement. They explain the steps that your organisation will take to keep children and young people safe and what to do when there are concerns about a child's safety or wellbeing.
For example, your safeguarding procedures should cover issues like how staff and volunteers should respond to concerns about a child and young person and how you will make sure you recruit the right people to work with children and young people.
You should also ensure that staff and volunteers know what to do if they are concerned about anything happening in a child's life - whether or not it is happening within your organisation.
There are different ways to write a safeguarding or child protection statement, but before you put pen to paper it's helpful to think about:
It is also useful to think about all the things that you might already be doing to help make your organisation a place where children and young people can flourish, have positive experiences and stay safe.
Your policy statement should be clear, concise and cover all the information listed below. Aim to keep it to two sides of A4 paper if possible, though you may need more space depending on your organisation's needs and context.
Identify the organisation, its purpose and function. Set out the organisation's overarching commitment to keeping children safe.
Be clear about who the policy applies to. It should cover all children under 18 but are all adults expected to comply with it? Should it just be staff and volunteers who work directly with children? What about those who have occasional contact with children such as a caretaker?
Briefly state the main legislation and guidance that supports the policy statement. Explain how this policy statement links to more detailed child protection policies and procedures.
Set out your organisation's beliefs about the importance of child protection.
Find more about:
Explain how, in broad terms, the organisation will meet your commitment to keeping children safe. For example by:
You need a set of more detailed policies and procedures which explain the steps adults within your organisation must take to keep children safe. Your policy statement should include a list of these. You can find more details about writing these policies and procedures on the "writing safeguarding policies" tab.
Include the names and contact details of the people responsible for safeguarding and child protection in your organisation.
Include the contact details for the NSPCC Helpline and Childline so that people know they can contact us if they need child protection advice, support or reassurance.
Provide the date the policy statement comes into force.
It's important to keep the statement up to date so you should include review dates and make sure the review happens on time.
Your policy statement should be signed and dated by the most senior person in your organisation who has responsibility for safeguarding and child protection.
When you have completed your overarching safeguarding and child protection policy statement, you need to ensure that all adults and children are aware of, understand and can access your safeguarding policies.
You should consider:
References
Your overarching safeguarding and child protection policy statement should refer to a set of more detailed policies and procedures. These procedures should outline the steps that must be taken if there are any concerns about a child's or young person's safety and wellbeing.
It is essential that your procedures are clear and easy to follow. Make sure each procedure includes the items below.
Every procedure you create should clearly state its aim and purpose and who it applies to. For example, each procedure should be written for everyone who comes into contact with children and young people even if it is not their main role in your organisation.
Include a summary of any information that is relevant. For example, a procedure about responding to concerns about a child's wellbeing could include a description of the different types of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect) as well as the signs and indicators that might be a cause for concern.
Each procedure should include clear steps of the action needed. You could consider using diagrams and flowcharts to help make the steps easy to follow.
If someone is concerned about child's welfare they should tell the nominated child protection lead or their deputy. Any concerns must be kept confidential and should not be discussed with anyone other than the child protection lead, who should make a referral to children's services. Reporting concerns helps children's services build an overall picture of the child's life and the support they or their family may need.
If a child tells you they are experiencing abuse, it’s important to reassure them that they’ve done the right thing in telling you. Make sure they know that abuse is never their fault. Never promise a child that you will keep the things they’re telling you a secret. Explain that you need to share what they’ve told you with someone who will be able to help.
Ensure the procedure details how, when and what information needs to be recorded. You should also cover who should record this information (for example, your organisation's nominated child protection lead) and where records should be stored.
Make sure the procedure includes contact details for anyone who needs to be informed, including any external agencies and make sure it's clear who is responsible for making any referrals. This should be your organisation's nominated child protection officer.
It is important that staff and volunteers know who to speak to and don't feel they are on their own when dealing with a worrying situation. Parents, children and young people also need to know who to talk to if they are worried.
Be clear about confidentiality. Information should only be shared with people who need to know. Make sure your procedures are clear about what should be shared and who with. Remember you must share any concerns you have about a child, even if they ask you not to.
Make sure that all adults and children are aware of, understand and can access your safeguarding and child protection procedures. Reading them should be part of your induction processes and training.
You may need to provide procedures in different languages or in other formats such as Braille or large text. You should also consider whether you need a child-friendly version. Decide in advance how you will tell everyone about any new or updated procedures.
Provide the date the procedures come into force. It's important to keep procedures up to date so you should include review dates and make sure the review happens on time.
When writing your more detailed policies and procedures you should consider all elements of keeping a child or young person safe. You should make sure your procedures cover:
References
Safeguarding and child protection is a continuous process and it’s vital every organisation assesses whether what they’re doing is working.
Our free self-assessment tool provides a step-by-step guide to the review process. The tool can help schools and other organisations:
Following a clear and proportionate review process can help you can ensure your policies and procedures are up to date and working well.
Our tool will help you quickly identify areas for development and support you in making any necessary changes.
The review should be led by your nominated child protection lead. Depending on what you’re reviewing and the size and type of organisation, it may help to form a working group to make sure all relevant people are involved.
Start by identifying all the written policies and procedures which need reviewing, before moving on to other related systems and processes such as training, recruitment and governance.
Decide how you will you assess your safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures consistently. Whatever rating system you use, it needs to be clear and measurable.
Evaluate any changes that have occurred since the last review, both within the organisation and externally.
Internal changes that may impact child safeguarding and child protection practices could include changes to personnel, organisational structure or size, who your organisation works with, or how you work with them.
Policies and procedures may also need to change to reflect external changes, such as new guidance, emerging technologies or societal changes.
It’s important to stay up to date with the latest child protection and safeguarding legislation and guidance to stay aligned with the legal requirements and standards.
Performing a file audit will help you assess whether current safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures are being followed.
For example, were vetting and barring checks done in a timely manner and did staff and volunteers receive safeguarding training when they started?
Speak to everyone involved with your organisation, including employees, volunteers, parents and carers, and children themselves.
Conduct surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gather their perspectives on the effectiveness of the current policies and procedures and any areas for improvement.
Review your findings and evaluate the existing policies and procedures against current best practices, legal requirements, and industry standards. Are there any gaps, weaknesses, or areas where policies may need revision or enhancement?
If there have been safeguarding incidents, are there lessons to be learnt from how they were dealt with?
Incorporate the findings from the review process into the safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures.
Develop a plan to ensure that all relevant individuals within the organisation are aware of the updated policy and understand their roles and responsibilities. Training should be ongoing to ensure that all employees understand their responsibilities, recognise signs of abuse or neglect, and know how to respond appropriately.
Schedule regular reviews of the child safeguarding policies and procedures, typically at least once a year or whenever significant changes or a local incident occurs which highlights that a review is needed.
Make sure your plans are achievable and you're able to properly assess what's working well and what isn't.
Each UK nation has its own child protection legislation and guidance.
As part of this, there is guidance setting out the safeguarding and child protection responsibilities of organisations and groups.
In England, the Department for Education (DfE) provides the key statutory guidance for anyone working with children and young people: Working together to safeguard children (DfE, 2023). This sets out how organisations should work together to keep children safe. Chapter 4: Organisational responsibilities sets out the requirements for voluntary, charity, social enterprise, faith-based organisations and private sectors.
The DfE’s guidance What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused (PDF) describes the actions to take if you think a child is being abused or neglected. (DfE, 2015)
The DfE has published a voluntary code of practice for out-of-school settings. It includes advice on safeguarding and child protection, staff suitability, and governance (DfE, 2020).
If your organisation is a registered charity, you must also follow the Charity Commission’s guidance.
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Health has published Co-operating to safeguard children and young people in Northern Ireland (Department of Health, 2017). Section 3.8 sets out how voluntary, charitable, faith and community-based organisations should contribute to keep children safe.
The Revised regional core child protection policies and procedures for Northern Ireland explain what actions people who work with children should take if they have concerns about a child or young person’s welfare (Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland, 2021).
If your organisation is a registered charity, you must also follow the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance.
In Scotland, the National guidance for child protection provides a framework for anyone who might face child protection issues (Scottish Government, 2023). This includes third sector organisations (voluntary and community organisations, charities, social enterprises, co-operatives and mutuals).
If your organisation is a registered charity, you must also follow guidance from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
The Welsh Government has published Working together to safeguard people, a suite of guidance and codes of practice that sets out how agencies and practitioners should work together to safeguard children (Welsh Government, 2019).
Volume 5 (PDF) focuses on handling individual cases to protect children at risk.
The Working together to safeguard people: code of safeguarding practice sets out safeguarding expectations for all individuals, groups and organisations providing activities or services to children and adults in Wales (Welsh Government, 2022).
The Wales Safeguarding Procedures provide a framework for how child protection referrals, actions and plans should be carried out (Wales Safeguarding Procedures Project Board, 2020).
If your organisation is a registered charity, you must also follow the Charity Commission’s guidance.