Safeguarding Policy

This document is hosted on our website for public viewing. Copies can also be emailed on request to clients who use our services. Clients can also request a copy of Lexxic’s External Safeguarding Reporting Procedure. If anyone wishes to raise concerns about abuse of an individual, they can contact us via externalsafeguarding@lexxic.com. All our employees and Associates complete mandatory safeguarding training that is refreshed annually, and we have a clear documented procedure for reporting safeguarding concerns, which all employees know how to access.

 

Scope

This Policy applies to Lexxic Ltd employees and Associates.

 

Purpose

Lexxic Ltd has an ethical and statutory responsibility to promote the welfare of young people as well as adults at risk who are receiving our services. This includes our obligations to the Prevent duty (safeguarding young people and adults at risk from extremist ideologies and radicalisation, and from being drawn into terrorism).

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) defines safeguarding as ‘…protecting a person’s health, well-being, and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect’.

Whilst some individuals are particularly vulnerable to harm and exploitation, Lexxic Ltd also recognises a broader scope of people who may be at risk of safeguarding issues, and that vulnerability is difficult to judge. There are many different factors that can put a person at greater risk of safeguarding issues, such as health and/ or mental health problems, disability or cognitive impairment, substance abuse, domestic abuse, exposure to violent extremism; living away from home; seeking asylum; or because they may be singled out due to their religion/ ethnicity/ gender identity/ sexual orientation.

The overall purpose of this Policy is to:

  • protect young people and adults at risk who receive Lexxic Ltd’s services, from potential harm or damage, including radicalisation

  • provide individuals and organisations with information about the procedures followed within Lexxic Ltd in order to meet our safeguarding responsibilities.

 

Definitions

Throughout this Policy, the term:

  • ‘young people’, is defined as ‘those under the age of 18’*;

  • ‘adult at risk’, is defined in England as ‘someone over 18 years old who needs care and support, who is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and who can't protect themselves from harm or exploitation’ [the definition varies across the home nations];

  • ‘Lexxic representative’ will be used to mean employees and Associates working on behalf of Lexxic Ltd; and

  • ‘client’ will be used to mean an individual to whom Lexxic Ltd is providing services on a one-to-one basis or in a small group or team, or an individual engaging with Lexxic Ltd to procure services including consultancy. This could be a young person or adult at risk who is the subject of a safeguarding concern/ reporting a safeguarding concern regarding someone else.

* In Scotland, this is age 16.

 

Legal framework

This Policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect young people and adults at risk in the UK.

Each nation within the UK has its own child protection system, and a summary of the key legislation and guidance relating to young people in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is available from the NSPCC.

Legislation and guidance relating to adults at risk also varies across the home nations and includes (but is not limited to):

  • England and Wales: The Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2005

  • Scotland: The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007

  • Wales: The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014

  • Northern Ireland: The Adult Safeguarding: Prevention and Protection in Partnership 2015.

 

Lexxic Ltd’s commitment

We believe that no-one should ever experience abuse of any kind, irrespective of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, and that we have a responsibility to operate in such a way as to protect people at risk of safeguarding issues. We will review this Policy and good safeguarding practice at least annually.

Through implementation of this Policy, we aim to ensure that young people and adults at risk are kept safe by:

  • valuing, listening to and respecting them

  • appointing Designated Safeguarding Officers (DSOs), led by a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Deputy DSL

  • adopting safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for Lexxic representatives

  • providing effective management for Lexxic representatives through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all Lexxic representatives know about and follow our policies, procedures and codes of conduct confidently and competently

  • recruiting Lexxic representatives safely, ensuring all necessary pre-employment checks are made, including an Enhanced DBS check (adult and children’s barred list) before allowing them to have unsupervised contact with young people or adults at risk in our care

  • reminding Lexxic representatives of their obligation to immediately disclose any convictions, cautions, court orders, reprimands and warnings that may affect their suitability to work with young people and adults at risk

  • ensuring that Lexxic representatives are aware of our Whistleblowing Policy and what to do if they have any concerns about the conduct of another Lexxic representative

  • ensuring that Lexxic representatives receive safeguarding training at a level commensurate with their role

  • recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance (more information about this is available from the Information Commissioner's Office)

  • sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with young people, adults at risk and their families so that they know who to contact if they have a concern

  • using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with those who need to know (e.g., the client’s GP/ local authority and/ or emergency services, if necessary)

  • using our procedures to manage any allegations against Lexxic representatives appropriately

  • creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise

  • ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place

  • ensuring that when delivering face-to-face in person or remote services, we provide a safe environment for clients, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

  • building a safeguarding culture where clients and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns

  • regularly auditing our services delivered to clients and capturing data about the client experience, to create opportunities to systematically prevent, identify, and mitigate risks and concerns, particularly after new processes are implemented, new staff are trained or new environments used, or after a significant safeguarding event.

Whilst it is Lexxic’s responsibility to deal with an initial safeguarding situation, we do not provide a long-term solution and can therefore only signpost such as to an individual’s GP, local authority, emergency services, or any combination of these. Everyone in our organisation has the responsibility to raise any safeguarding concerns they may have regarding individuals that come through our services, and our Safeguarding team will assess the concern/ disclosure and take the initial necessary actions. If the situation requires immediate action, e.g., there is risk of immediate/ imminent loss of life or harm to the individual or others, we will act immediately by contacting the emergency services. We would also encourage the individual to contact their GP or other medical professionals for guidance/ support, and further signpost accordingly in these emergency situations and non-emergency situations related to health and/ or well-being.

Lexxic has the right to defer referrals not deemed appropriate for our services. This could be due to our assessment of a client’s current mental health/ well-being state and/ or safeguarding concerns which may need to take priority over the referral to our services. Lexxic will liaise with the referrer accordingly if a deferral is necessary.

 

Lexxic’s Safeguarding team

  • The Safeguarding team consists of Designated Safeguarding Officers (DSOs) who are Senior Business Psychologists/ Principal Psychologists, and some colleagues from the wider organisation. Including members of the wider organisation is an approach that brings diversity and inclusivity to this internal support system. The Team is led by a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Deputy DSL who can be reached via externalsafeguarding@lexxic.com.

  • All members of the Safeguarding team have completed annual Level 2 Safeguarding Adults and Children training, as well as CPD-accredited biennial Level 3 Safeguarding Adults training, and internal training in Mental Health and Crisis Conversations.

  • DSOs sign up to an ‘on-call’ rota, responding to safeguarding concerns relating to clients or colleagues throughout the week, from Monday to Friday, during normal office hours (9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.).

  • The Safeguarding team will have regular monthly meetings to provide information and guidance and opportunity to review cases via a case conferencing to allow evaluation of the running of the support service, as well as identify trends and gaps that will inform continuous improvement of the support service.

  • The Safeguarding team will work in collaboration with the Psychological Services team and promote regular CPD sessions to support all staff supporting the ‘on-call’ system but also the wider organisation to create a Safeguarding culture at Lexxic.

  • Handovers on pending safeguarding cases will occur daily to ensure a seamless and timely response.

Reporting disclosures or concerns

  • Everyone who works for Lexxic Ltd must be aware of the different types of abuse that can occur (the main categories being physical, sexual, emotional and neglect); ways in which abuse may be disclosed; and be confident about how to respond if a client disclosed to them.

  • As long as we have provided a client with sufficient information/ guidance/ signposting for them to make an informed decision, and provided their decision won’t put themselves or others at risk/ involves a child/ a serious crime has been committed/ staff are implicated/ coercion is involved, we must respect a client’s mental capacity for making decisions, even if we believe such decisions to be unwise.

  • If we believe that a client is at immediate risk of harm or danger, or harming others, then we will call the Police immediately via 999.

  • In non-emergency situations, disclosures that are considered a safeguarding concern must be reported to the Safeguarding team within 24 hours.

  • The DSL/ Deputy DSL will have a daily responsibility to review any Safeguarding Concerns Reporting Forms and to record the appropriate action, including whether to contact an external organisation such as the client’s GP/ local authority.

  • If necessary, Lexxic's DSL/ Deputy DSL will contact the relevant external organisation to notify them that a concern has been raised and send a password-protected copy of the completed Safeguarding Concerns Reporting Form via email. Any external organisation must be contacted within 48 hours of the client originally making the disclosure.

  • Lexxic cannot provide ongoing support due to us having 'one-off' interactions with clients rather than an ongoing therapeutic relationship. We will ensure that our response to any safeguarding matter/ referral is appropriate and within our statutory obligation to our clients, after which, our involvement ends.

How often do we review our Policy?

We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last reviewed in November 2024.