Safeguarding Referrals: What are they, how do you make them and why are they important?

At Personnel Checks we believe that safeguarding is a shared responsibility of every member of society. Being able to protect vulnerable individuals who may not be able to protect themselves is the hallmark of any civilised society. But while safeguarding is a buzzword in society at the moment, what does it actually mean? 

In short, safeguarding is about people and organisations working together to protect people’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Abuse and neglect can take many forms, including: 

• Physical abuse 

• Psychological Abuse  

• Domestic Violence  

• Sexual abuse  

• Financial and material abuse  

• Modern Slavery  

• Discriminatory abuse  

• Neglect or acts of omission  

• Organisational abuse  

• Self-neglect 

A lot of these things are inherently difficult to pick up on unless you have intimate knowledge of an individual who is experiencing one or more of these types of abuse. This is why safeguarding referrals are predominately made by those working in health and social care professions, as well as teachers. Safeguarding referrals are simply the act of reporting safeguarding concerns to the right people at the right time.  

This might sound straightforward but not everyone is allowed to make an official referral. As a member of the public if you feel or know that a vulnerable individual, adult or child, is suffering abuse or neglect you must report this to the necessary agency. This could be the police, social services or in some cases that person's employer. These services then have a duty to investigate these claims and if evidence is found to corroborate your report, these agencies will then make a referral to the proper body. 

Under UK law, the only people eligible to make a safeguarding referral are the following: 

• local authorities 

• education authority in Northern Ireland 

• health and social care bodies in Northern Ireland 

• keepers of register in England, Wales or Northern Ireland 

• supervisory authorities in England, Wales or Northern Ireland 

Organisations defined as ‘personnel suppliers’ also have a legal duty to make a referral, even if one of the above bodies has already been notified of concerns. Personnel suppliers are defined as: 

• an employment agency that makes arrangements to either find a work-seeker employment with a hirer or to supply him to a hirer to employ 

• an employment business that engages a work-seeker and supplies him to a hirer to work under a hirer’s control 

• an educational institution if it makes arrangements to supply a student following a course at the institution to a regulated activity provider such as a school. 

Any of these institutions have a legal duty to refer when the following two conditions are met: 

Condition 1 

• you withdraw permission for a person to engage in regulated activity with children and/or vulnerable adults. Or you move the person to another area of work that isn’t regulated activity. 

This includes situations when you would have taken the above action, but the person was re-deployed, resigned, retired, or left. For example, a teacher resigns when an allegation of harm to a student is first made. 

Condition 2 

You think the person has carried out 1 of the following: 

• engaged in relevant conduct in relation to children and/or adults. An action or inaction has harmed a child or vulnerable adult or put them at risk or harm 

• satisfied the harm test in relation to children and / or vulnerable adults. e.g., there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child or vulnerable still exists. 

• been cautioned or convicted of a relevant (automatic barring either with or without the right to make representations) offence 

Relevant conduct can mean something different dependent on whether the individual poses a threat to either adults or children. For further information about ‘relevant conduct’ click here.  

In most cases the governing body that deals with these referrals is the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS are a non-departmental government body responsible for carrying out criminal record checks (DBS Checks) as well as maintaining the Child and Adult Barred lists. Referrals are absolutely essential to ensure that the DBS have the most relevant information regarding individuals who pose a threat to the vulnerable. Without the vigilance and cooperation of the agencies mentioned as well as the public, the DBS would not be able to effectively contribute to safeguarding vulnerable individuals within our society.  

For more information about how Personnel Checks can help you create a safer, more compliant recruitment process, get in touch! You can give us a call on 01254 355688 or drop us an email to letstalk@personnelchecks.co.uk