Safeguarding and Whistleblowing

Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. The Council has a duty to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable groups (children and/or adults) who receive a service from the Council and within the wider community. As such, we ask our staff to be vigilant of any possible risk of harm to others. We urge any member of staff with concerns about the safety of a child and/or adult to act on those concerns. If you have concerns please speak to your designated safeguarding coordinator or speak to the duty social worker by contacting the contact centre on : 01545 574000

‘Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults is everyone’s business’

Whistleblowing

The Council is committed to the highest possible standards of openness, probity and accountability. We are committed to conducting our business with honesty and integrity, and we expect all staff to maintain high standards. All organisations however, face the risk of things going wrong from time to time, or of unknowingly harbouring illegal or unethical conduct. A culture of openness and accountability is essential in order to prevent such situations occurring or to address them when they do occur. Employees are often the first to realise that there may be something seriously wrong with the way that certain activities are carried out within the Council. We therefore encourage employees and others with serious concerns about any aspect of the Council’s work, to come forward and voice those concerns. Some employees may feel however, that speaking up would be disloyal to their colleagues or to the Council. They may also fear harassment or victimisation as a result of their actions. The Council’s Whistleblowing Policy makes it clear that staff can report their concerns without fear of reprisals. The policy:

• encourages staff to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate, and that the employees confidentiality will be respected.
• provides guidance and avenues for staff to raise concerns and receive feedback on any action taken
• allows staff to take the matters further if they are dissatisfied with the Council’s response
• reassure staff that you should be able to raise genuine concerns without fear of reprisals or victimisation for whistleblowing, even if they turn out to be mistaken

For more information on Whistleblowing please see the Policy viewable on the Intranet.

DBS / Safe Recruitment

In line with our duty to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable groups who receive a service from the Council and within the wider community the Council has a duty to ensure the suitability of everyone it employs in whatever capacity. The DBS/Safe Recruitment Policy sets out the Council‘s processes and standards to ensure that this duty is upheld.
DBS stands for Disclosure and Barring Service. This service enables employers to check the criminal records of employees and potential employees, in order to ascertain whether or not they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and/or children. For individuals working in certain positions, a valid DBS disclosure is a legislative requirement.
The DBS/Safe Recruitment Policy applies to all Ceredigion County Council employees appointed under the terms and conditions of their employment as well as other situations where a Disclosure and Barring certificate is required, e.g. volunteers, student placements, agency staff, external contractors, commissioned services, Fostering and Adoption, School Governors and Council Members.
Ceredigion County Council is a registered body for the use of DBS certificates and only requests checks to be carried out where it is both proportionate and relevant to the position concerned and where it is required by statute.