Hi Girlguiding UK, if you are reading this thread. I apologise for this very long post.
The Charity Commission wrote to all charities in England and Wales setting out steps for them to take around safeguarding in December 2017: www.gov.uk/government/news/regulatory-alert-to-charities-safeguarding
It would be very reassuring to parents with safeguarding concerns about some policies at GGUK, if your Trustees could make public their response to the Charity Commission’s regulatory alert?
I’ve bolded some parts of the alert which seem relevant to the safeguarding concerns that you have had raised to you by both volunteers and parents:
Regulatory alert to charities - safeguarding
The Charity Commission (‘the Commission’), the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, is issuing this alert to charities as regulatory advice under section 15(2) of the Charities Act 2011. [...]
The Charity Commission’s recently updated safeguarding strategy makes clear that safeguarding should be a key governance priority for all charities, not just those working with groups traditionally considered at risk.
Everybody has the right to be safe, no matter who they are or what their circumstances are, and the public expects charities, quite rightly, to be safe and trusted places.
We are reminding charities of the importance of:
providing a safe and trusted environment which safeguards anyone who comes into contact with it including beneficiaries, staff and volunteers
setting an organisational culture that prioritises safeguarding, so that it is safe for those affected to come forward and report incidents and concerns with the assurance they will be handled sensitively and properly
having adequate safeguarding policies, procedures and measures to protect people
providing clarity as to how incidents and allegations will be handled should they arise, including reporting to the relevant authorities, such as the Commission.
The Commission’s guidance makes clear that:
trustee duties include avoiding exposing the charity’s assets, beneficiaries or reputation to undue risk - this means taking reasonable steps to protect beneficiaries, employees and volunteers from harm
on occasion, charities may be targeted by people who abuse their position and privileges to gain access to vulnerable people or their records for inappropriate or illegal purposes - trustees must be alert to this risk and the need to manage it
safeguarding goes beyond preventing physical abuse, and includes protecting people from harm generally, including neglect, emotional abuse, exploitation, radicalisation, and the consequences of the misuse of personal data
Trustees need to be satisfied that there are clear lines of responsibility and accountability for safeguarding, in particular when working with other organisations to deliver services to their beneficiaries. [...]
If something goes wrong in a charity, the trustees are accountable and the Commission expects the trustees to take responsibility for putting things right. This is why trustees should assure themselves that their safeguarding practices are robust.
If there are concerns about this or about how issues may have been dealt with in past, trustees should carry out a formal review, including on the adequacy and robustness of the charity’s safeguarding measures, procedures and policies.
Trustees are advised to ensure that their charities:
undertake a thorough review of their charity’s safeguarding governance and management arrangements and performance if one has not been recently conducted within the last 12 months
contact the Commission about safeguarding issues, or serious safeguarding incidents, complaints or allegations which have not previously been disclosed to the charity regulator
Failures by trustees to manage safeguarding risks would be of serious regulatory concern to the Commission. We may consider this to be misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity and it may also be a breach of trustee duty.