Finance, Risk Management & Fundraising

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Practical guide Finance, Risk Management & Fundraising What is the board’s role in safeguarding?

What is the board’s role in safeguarding?

Protecting people and safeguarding responsibilities should be a governance priority for all organisations. Board members have a legal and moral duty to take reasonable steps to protect all people who come into contact with the organisation from harm, abuse or mistreatment which is a wider duty than just taking care of young people and vulnerable adults.
According to the Charity Commission’s guidance, good safeguarding governance requires, at a minimum, that the board: adopts and maintains a clear safeguarding policy, codes of conduct and procedures.
Identifies and regularly reviews risks (including risks related to people, operations, online activity, partnerships, etc).
Carries out appropriate checks of trustees, staff and volunteers (e.g. references, DBS or equivalent, where relevant).
Ensures safe recruitment, training and induction for all staff/volunteers.
Establishes clear mechanisms for reporting, recording, investigating and referring safeguarding concerns or incidents.
Fosters a culture of transparency, openness and accountability, where people feel able to raise concerns and trust they will be handled properly.
A failure to give safeguarding due priority — or to demonstrate ongoing oversight — can present serious risks: harm to individuals, damage to reputation, loss of public trust, and regulatory consequences for trustees.
One of the few publicly reported regulatory cases in our sector related to the Charity Commission’s concerns relating to safeguarding procedures and financial processes of a London-based drama school. Although the regulatory compliance case was quickly resolved, the matter was picked up by the press causing public concern and potential damage to the organisation’s reputation.
Where organisations operate across different UK nations (or jurisdictions), they must ensure compliance with the relevant national safeguarding and charity/voluntary-sector legislation and regulatory requirements.
Regardless of whether the charity works with children or vulnerable adults, board members must recognise that there is no place for bullying, harassment or any form of mistreatment within or by their organisation and ensure that clear policies are in place and allegations are handled appropriately and in line with employment and other laws.

Related resources

How to Report a Serious Incident in Your Charity

The Charity Commission requires charities to report serious incidents. This guidance helps charity trustees identify serious incidents. It also explains how to report them and what to report.

Guidance | Association of Chairs

Reporting and Avoiding Serious Incidents

The best strategy to avoiding problems is being aware of how things could go wrong, taking steps to avoid issues and knowing what steps you would take if something did happen. Awareness and prevention are better than a cure. The AoC provides some useful resources for charity boards you can use.

Website

Introduction to safeguarding for trustees – NCVO

Website | The Charity Commission

5-minute guides for charity trustees

The Charity Commission has issued practical 5-minute guides on the following subjects: delivering purpose, managing finances, conflicts of interest, making decisions, reporting information, safeguarding people, political campaigning.