1.2 Safeguarding

The Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 , VAWDASV should be firmly on your organisation's safeguarding agenda. It may take time for agencies to to absorb the inherent links between this new law and the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, but the integration of this legislation should help to ensure responses to safeguarding issues are appropriate and proportionate.

Duty to Report

In 2016, new legislation ‘Duty to Report’ was introduced , this requires professionals to report to the local authority an adult or child they have reasonable cause to suspect is at risk.

For Female Genital Mutilation, (FGM), there is also a mandatory reporting duty under the Serious Crime Act 2015 which is also covered by section 130 of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014. To comply with both, professionals will need to report to both police and local authority.

If you have concerns about a potential adult or child at risk, discuss them with a colleague, manager or safeguarding lead and refer to the organisation’s Safeguarding, Child Protection and/or Adult Protection Procedure.
call 999

How to report a concern

Contact your local adult protection or child protection teams. Find the team in your area

Children: http://www.sewsc.org.uk/index.php?id=41

Adult: http://www.gwasb.org.uk/index.php?id=5

The Gwent wide Duty to Report Form is on the Gwent Wide Adult Safeguarding Board (GWASB) website:

http://www.gwasb.org.uk/index.php?id=15

What happens when concerns are reported to a local authority?

Once a Duty to Report referral has been made, the local authority will decide if any action will be taken. Where the local authority has reasonable cause to suspect a person is at risk they will investigate and then decide what action will be taken.

Under the new legislation, local authorities can apply for an Adult Protection and Support Order - if granted by a Justice of the Peace, this order enables an authorised officer to enter a property to speak to a person suspected of being at risk, then to decide what action should be taken.

Whistle blowing

If you have concerns about the way a situation involving a person at risk has been dealt with, refer to the organisation’s whistle blowing policy and/or else seek independent advice:

NSPCC: 0800 028 0285

Whistle blowing Helpline: 08000 724 725

www.wbhelpline.co.uk

Public Concern at Work – The Whistle Blowing Charity
www.pcaw.org.uk