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Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk Policy

Last updated: October 2026

1. Policy statement

Cambridge Independent SEND Service (“CISS-SEND”, “we”, “us”, “our”) provides independent advocacy, peer support, guidance and coaching to parents, carers and young people aged 0–25 with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) or suspected SEND. Many of the children and young people we support may be disabled or have additional needs, which can increase their vulnerability to abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Young people aged 18–25 are adults in law; how we safeguard young adults with care and support needs is set out in Section 8.

CISS-SEND is the trading name of Laura Potter, a sole trader.  References to “I”, “me” and “my” in this policy mean Laura Potter.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child and young person and adult at risk we come into contact with. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and this applies fully to us as a small independent service working outside any single institution, and to everyone who works on our behalf.

We follow Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, the Care Act 2014 and its statutory guidance, and the multi-agency safeguarding procedures of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership.

This policy sets out our approach to safeguarding, and what we do if we become concerned about the welfare of a child or young person or adult at risk.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all work carried out by CISS-SEND and by anyone working on our behalf (see Section 5), including direct contact with children and young people (including child and teen-centred planning sessions), work with parents and carers on a child’s behalf, correspondence with schools, Local Authorities and other professionals, and any use of our website or contact form.

It covers children (under 18) and adults at risk aged 18–25. 

It should be read alongside our Confidentiality Policy, Privacy Policy, and Complaints Procedure.

3. Our safeguarding principles

We believe that:

  • The welfare of the child or young person is paramount

  • All children and young people, regardless of age, disability, sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, any other protected characteristic, or background, have an equal right to protection from harm

  • Children and young people with SEND may face additional barriers to being heard or believed, and may be at increased risk of abuse or exploitation — we take particular care to listen to them directly wherever possible, in a way that suits their communication needs

  • Working in partnership with children, young people, parents, carers, and other agencies is essential to safeguarding effectively

  • All safeguarding concerns will be taken seriously and acted upon promptly, normally on the same working day

  • Our safeguarding duties always take priority over our advocacy role. Our client is usually a parent or carer, but if we have a safeguarding concern, we will act on it, even if this is not what our client wants. We explain this to families before work begins, in our Client Service Agreement and intake form.

4. Our safeguarding lead

As the owner of CISS-SEND, I hold overall responsibility for safeguarding within CISS-SEND, acting as our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL):

  • Laura Potter — info@cambridgeindependentsendservice.co.uk 

  • If I am unavailable, or if a concern relates to me directly, please do not wait for me: raise it directly with the Integrated Front Door (IFD) (or Adult Social Care for an adult at risk), the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), or the police, using the contact details in Section 9.

I have completed Level  safeuarding training, covering children and adults at risk, I refresh this every year and keep up to date with changes in guidance in between.

I hold an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check for the children’s and adults’ workforce, dated I am registered with the DBS Update Service, which allows my certificate to be checked at any time

5. People working on behalf of CISS-SEND

CISS-SEND works with a small team. This section applies to everyone who works on our behalf, including associates, our virtual assistant, the professionals we commission (Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists and Solicitors and Paralegal support, Psychologists, Psychiatrists , youth workers, and volunteers)  Everyone working on our behalf must:

  • hold an enhanced DBS check where their role involves direct contact with children, young people or adults at risk

  • complete safeguarding training appropriate to their role, within their service and read and follow this policy

  • follow the confidentiality and non-disclosure terms in their agreement with CISS-SEND

  • report any safeguarding concern to Laura Potter on the same working day

Laura Potter remains the Designated Safeguarding Lead for all work carried out through CISS-SEND. However, anyone working independently on our behalf should contact the Integrated Front Door, Adult Social Care, the LADO or the police directly if they cannot reach Laura, if someone is at immediate risk, or if the concern is about Laura.

Professionals registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) must also follow the safeguarding duties set by their own regulator and professional body.

6. Recognising abuse and neglect

Abuse and neglect can take many forms. I remain alert to the following categories, in line with statutory guidance (Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026):

  • Physical abuse — e.g. hitting, shaking, or causing physical harm

  • Emotional abuse — e.g. persistent emotional maltreatment, humiliation, or making a child feel worthless or unloved

  • Sexual abuse — involving a child in sexual activity, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening, including online exploitation

  • Neglect — the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical, emotional, educational or medical needs

  • Other risks, including domestic abuse in the household, radicalisation, exploitation (including child criminal or sexual exploitation, county lines, modern slavery and trafficking), and so-called ‘honour’-based abuse, female genital mutilation (FGM) or forced marriage

  • Online harm — including online grooming, sexual exploitation and sextortion, bullying, and exposure to harmful content. Harm online and harm in person are often linked, and I consider them together.

I recognise that disabled children and those with SEND are statistically at greater risk of abuse and may find it harder to disclose concerns, particularly if they have communication difficulties, so I take extra care to create opportunities for children and young people to be heard.

Children may experience more than one form of harm at the same time, and these harms can overlap and reinforce each other. I look at the whole picture rather than single incidents in isolation.

Through our SEND casework, I am particularly alert to:

  • the use of restraint, restrictive practice or seclusion in schools and settings (where this concerns the conduct of staff, I will refer to the LADO)

  • children who are out of school, missing education, or on reduced or part-time timetables

  • self-harm and mental health crises

  • exploitation of young people with learning disabilities

  • child-on-child abuse

7. What I will do if I have a concern

If, during the course of my work, I become concerned that a child or young person may be at risk of harm, is being harmed, or discloses harm to me, I will:

  • Listen carefully and calmly, without promising confidentiality I cannot keep

  • Not investigate or question the child or young person beyond what is necessary to understand the immediate concern

  • Record what was said or observed as soon as possible, using the child’s own words where relevant, and note the date, time, and any people present, and always within 24 hours

  • Share the concern on the same working day with the relevant Integrated Front Door (IFD), or, if the child is in immediate danger, the police (999)

  • Follow up any phone referral in writing within 24 hours, or as the IFD requests

  • Inform the parent or carer that a referral has been made, unless doing so would place the child at further risk or could compromise an investigation by the police or children’s social care (for example, where the parent or carer may be the source of harm)

  • Where I am unsure whether to tell a parent or carer, take advice from the IFD first

  • If I disagree with the IFD’s decision and still believe a child is at risk, use the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership’s escalation (resolving professional differences) procedure

  • Keep a confidential record of the concern and any action taken, in line with my Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy

Where I am not sure whether a concern meets the threshold for a referral, I will seek advice from the relevant Local Authority safeguarding team (the IFD for children, or Adult Social Care for adults) or the NSPCC helpline before deciding whether to proceed.

Safeguarding records are kept securely and separately from the main client case file, with access limited to the Designated Safeguarding Lead. They are kept for 6 years after last contact, whichever  rather than the six years that applies to general client files.

8. Safeguarding adults at risk (aged 18–25)

Young people aged 18–25 are adults in law, so the child protection procedures above do not apply to them. Young people aged 16 and 17 are still children and remain covered by those procedures. Adult safeguarding is governed by the Care Act 2014. Under section 42, the Local Authority must make enquiries where an adult:

  • has needs for care and support (whether or not these are being met)

  • is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect

  • as a result of those needs, is unable to protect themselves

As well as the categories in Section 6, abuse of an adult can include financial or material abuse, discriminatory abuse, organisational abuse, modern slavery, domestic abuse and self-neglect.

I will normally discuss a concern with the young adult and seek their consent before making a referral. I may refer without their consent where:

  • they lack the mental capacity to make that decision, assessed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

  • other people, including children, are at risk

  • there is a serious risk to their own safety, or a serious crime has been or may be committed

Adult safeguarding referrals go to Adult Social Care for the area where the person lives (see Section 9), not to the children’s Integrated Front Door.

9. Key contacts

  • Emergency services (if a child is in immediate danger): 999

  • Children — Cambridgeshire Integrated Front Door (IFD): 0345 045 5203 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm), or online via cambridgeshire.gov.uk (search “safeguarding children and child protection”). Professionals can also refer via the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership website (safeguardingcambspeterborough.org.uk). You do not have to give your name, and your call will be treated confidentially

  • Children — Peterborough: 01733 864170 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)

  • Out of hours, weekends and bank holidays (children and adults, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) — Emergency Duty Team: 01733 234724

  • Adults at risk — Cambridgeshire Adult Social Care: online safeguarding concern form via cambridgeshire.gov.uk (search “report abuse of an adult at risk”), or 0345 045 5202 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)

  • Adults at risk — Peterborough Adult Social Care: 01733 747474 (ask for Adult Social Care) or adultsocialcare@peterborough.gov.uk

  • NSPCC Helpline (for adults concerned about a child): 0808 800 5000

  • Childline (for children and young people): 0800 1111

  • Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Cambridgeshire — for concerns about an adult working with children, including allegations against me or anyone working on behalf of CISS-SEND: LADO@cambridgeshire.gov.uk, 01223 727967 (professionals, office hours) or 0345 045 5203 (members of the public)

  • LADO, Peterborough: lado@peterborough.gov.uk, 01733 864038 (out of hours: 01733 864180)

  • If you live or work outside Cambridgeshire or Peterborough, please contact the children's services team for the relevant local authority directly, or use the postcode checker at gov.uk/report-child-abuse-to-local-council

 

10. Confidentiality and information sharing

I treat all information shared with me as confidential, and this is set out in more detail in my Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy. However, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed where there is a safeguarding concern. I will always aim to be open with children, young people, and families about the limits of confidentiality from the outset of our work together.

Where appropriate and safe to do so, I will share safeguarding information with relevant professionals (such as a school, GP, or social worker) on a “need to know” basis, in line with data protection law, which permits sharing of personal data — including special category data —where necessary for the safeguarding of children and individuals at risk (Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2, paragraph 18). I also follow the government’s guidance Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services. Data protection law does not stop information being shared to keep a child or adult at risk safe.

11. Allegations against me or anyone working on our behalf

If a concern or allegation is raised about my own conduct towards a child or young person, I will cooperate fully with any investigation by the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the police, or other relevant body. Any such concern should be raised directly with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for the area where the child lives (Cambridgeshire or Peterborough), using the details in Section 9. The same applies to allegations about anyone working on behalf of CISS-SEND, and I will also refer these to the LADO myself on the same working day. Concerns about conduct towards an adult at risk should be reported to Adult Social Care.

12. Safer working practice

CISS-SEND takes the following steps to work safely with children, young people, and families:

  • Holding an enhanced DBS check, (see Section 4), and requiring the same of anyone working on our behalf who has direct contact with children, young people or adults at risk

  • Being clear and transparent with families about the nature and boundaries of my role

  • Wherever possible, meeting children and young people in the presence of a parent, carer, or other trusted adult, or in a public/professional setting

  • Recording lone working arrangements with a trusted contact when meeting families in person

  • Communicating with children and young people in age- and needs-appropriate ways, and adapting communication for those with additional communication needs

13. Online safety

Where communication with children, young people, or families takes place online or by phone (for example, video calls or messaging), I take reasonable steps to ensure this happens through appropriate, secure channels, and that any concerns arising from online contact are treated with the same seriousness as those arising in person.

In particular:

  • we never contact children or young people under 18 through personal social media accounts

  • we do not have private one-to-one messaging with under-18s unless a parent or carer is copied in

  • we do not record sessions or take photographs without consent (from the young person and, for under-18s, their parent or carer)

  • we use Microsoft Teams for video calls, business email and WhatsApp for messaging

14. Training and review

I am committed to keeping my safeguarding knowledge up to date through relevant training, and to reviewing this policy at least annually, or sooner if there is a significant change in safeguarding legislation, statutory guidance, or my own working practices. Everyone working on our behalf is expected to keep their own safeguarding training up to date.

15. Related policies

This policy should be read alongside our:

16. Contact us

If you have a safeguarding concern about a child or young person or adult at risk, please do not wait contact the Integrated Front Door (or Adult Social Care for an adult at risk), the police (999 in an emergency), or the NSPCC helpline directly using the details in Section 9. You do not need to wait to speak to me first.

For general questions about this policy, please contact:

Laura Potter, trading as Cambridge Independent SEND Service (CISS-SEND)

Email: info@cambridgeindependentsendservice.co.uk

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