Safeguarding records

This joint practice guidance is intended to support the work of Safeguarding Advisers and those working with children and adults experiencing, or at risk of abuse or neglect, where record keeping is required. It complements both churches’ approach to record keeping and addresses those special issues that relate to safeguarding. It is in response to requests by a number of Districts and Dioceses and has been developed through the Joint Safeguarding Working Group comprising Methodist and Church of England Safeguarding Advisers.

This joint practice guidance has been approved by the Methodist Church and the House of Bishops, and as such it is recommended that you follow this guidance. Failure to do so could invalidate your insurance cover.

We hope you find this useful in your practice.

Yours in Christ's fellowship,

+Paul

Bishop Paul Butler
Bishop of Durham

Liz

Revd Dr Liz Smith
Chair Leeds District

Joint chairs of the joint safeguarding group

The Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain entered into a covenant commitment in November 2003 after conversations lasting several years [*] . One of the expressions of this covenant is to develop joint safeguarding arrangements.

Methodist Church and Church of England Practice Advice Papers are approved by the Joint Safeguarding Working Group of the Methodist Church and the Church of England to assist in the development of local safeguarding arrangements. This is jointly chaired by the Bishop of Durham for the Church of England and Dr Elizabeth Smith for the Methodist Church.

The Church of England and the Methodist Church work in partnership with other Christian
Churches and other agencies in delivering safeguarding. The following statement of principles
appears at the head of each safeguarding policy:

We are committed to:

• The care, nurture of, and respectful pastoral ministry with, all children, young people and all
  adults;
• The safeguarding and protection of all children, young people and all adults;
• The establishing of safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment where
  victims of abuse can report or disclose abuse and where they can find support and best
  practice that contributes to the prevention of abuse

To this end:

• We will carefully select, support and train all those with any responsibility within the Church,
  in line with the principles of Safer Recruitment.
• We will respond without delay to every complaint made, that any adult, child or young
  person may have been harmed, cooperating with the police and local authority in any
  investigation.
• We will seek to offer informed pastoral care and support to anyone who has suffered
  abuse, developing with them an appropriate ministry that recognises the importance of
  understanding the needs of those who have been abused, including their feelings of
  alienation and/or isolation.
• We will seek to protect survivors of abuse from the possibility of further harm and abuse.
• We will seek to challenge any abuse of power, especially by anyone in a position of respect
  and responsibility, where they are trusted by others.
• We will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision, and referral to the
  appropriate authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended
  against a child, young person or adult who is vulnerable.

In all these principles we will follow legislation, guidance and recognised good practice.

1.1. This guidance seeks to set out what should be recorded in relation to safeguarding concerns. It sets out good practice concerning both the:

• nature of the actual recording;
• requirements for the safe storage and processing of this data.

1.2. Whilst the guidance is aimed at Diocesan and District Safeguarding Advisers ^[*] it may also be useful, for example, to Ministers / Priests, Parish Workers and Circuit / Church Safeguarding Coordinators and anyone who may need to record a safeguarding matter. It may also be a useful training aid.

1.3. Good record keeping is an important part of the safeguarding task. Records should use clear, straightforward language, be concise, and accurate so that they can be understood by anyone not familiar with the case. They should clearly differentiate between facts, opinion, judgements and hypothesis.

1.4. In the church context, safeguarding records are needed in order to:

• Ensure that what happened and when it happened is recorded.
• Provide a history of events so that patterns can be identified.
• Record and justify the action/s of advisers and church workers.
• Promote the exercise of accountability.
• Provide a basis of evidence for future safeguarding activity

Example: When a minister moves between Parishes / Circuits, a youth worker moves to a different post, or there has been a change of safeguarding adviser, the availability of a safeguarding record is essential so that one can know what has happened in the past.

Proportionality – Only record information that is relevant and necessary for your specific purpose, avoiding where possible repetition of written information.

Accountability – recording practice must comply with legislation, case law, professional standards / codes of practice and guidance.

Transparency – where information in a case record is classed as personal data pursuant to the Data Protection Act 1998 it is likely to be available to those about whom it is written, in accordance with the provisions of that Act (unless one of the exemptions apply). In any event, it is good practice for the information contained in the records to be available to the subjects of those records, whenever it is safe and possible to do so.

Accessibility – the written record is a vital tool and should be accessible to those who have a need to know this information. As an example, this means that the safeguarding adviser must ensure that an authorised individual from within the church is able to access the safeguarding records in the event that the safeguarding adviser is absent or otherwise unavailable.

Accuracy – the subjects of these records are entitled to expect that the safeguarding adviser’s records are accurate. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, it is a requirement that personal data is accurate and where necessary kept up to date. Bear in mind that making such records accessible upon request (where it is possible to do so) is a good way of ensuring this accuracy.

Security – records should be stored securely and measures taken to avoid loss, theft, damage and inappropriate access or onward disclosure. In an age of digital storage and exchange of information, this requires additional care, (see section 6 below entitled 6 ‘Safeguarding Records: Storage, access, confidential emails / archive / retention policy / and working with the statutory sector’).