Safeguarding Solicitors
A strong safeguarding culture is essential for creating a safe and supportive environment for everyone who interacts with your organisation.
Our safeguarding solicitors provide expert guidance to help you meet your legal responsibilities with confidence and compliance whether you have statutory safeguarding duties or otherwise.
Safeguarding is no longer solely about protecting children and adults at risk, although there are specific statutory requirements for the protection of these groups. It is about people and organisations working together to minimise the risk of abuse occurring, and to reduce the impact when it does.
Effective safeguarding arrangements involve the identification and management of risks, clear policies and procedures to address them which are understood by your community, the conduct of appropriate recruitment checks, training and supervision, facilitating a culture where people speak up about matters of concern and when such issues are raised, ensuring that they are handled and reported appropriately and kept under review.
Our expertise
Strong safeguarding culture requires effective governance and leadership, clear delegation and a proactive approach to risk management, and cogent expectations of what is and is not acceptable in terms of conduct. It also requires appropriate action to be taken when issues or concerns are raised. The particular requirements vary depending on an organisation's structure and operation and the people it is interacting with.
Our experienced safeguarding lawyers provide tailored advice to help you create a safe environment, audits to check whether you have one and advice on how to manage incidents or concerns.
Strong governance helps to ensure that safeguarding responsibilities are clearly defined, properly managed, and effectively overseen. We advise on governance responsibilities and on how safeguarding should be overseen in practice; on frameworks to enable this to take place effectively, such as committee structures, terms of reference, delegation arrangements, annual reviews of safeguarding, minutes, information-sharing and reporting and on the management of conflicts. We help organisations structure governance frameworks that provide accountability, clear delegation, and a culture of proactive safeguarding.
Well-drafted policies and procedures help to create a clear, consistent approach to safeguarding. We assist in developing, reviewing and implementing safeguarding and related policies, ensuring compliance with evolving legal requirements and industry standards.
Hiring the right people is key to creating a safe environment. We advise on safer recruitment practices, including pre-employment checks, vetting procedures, and ongoing staff training to minimise risks, and on codes of acceptable conduct, training and supervision thereafter.
When these arise, swift and sensitive action is essential. We guide organisations through investigating, managing, and reporting allegations and concerns, ensuring legal compliance while prioritising the welfare of those involved.
Regulatory inspections and external reviews (such as serious case reviews, statutory inquiries or reviews commissioned by you) can be complex and demanding. We provide expert support to help you prepare for and navigate these, to respond to inquiries, and address any safeguarding concerns identified, by way of action plan or otherwise. We can also help you to challenge conduct or findings through complaints or legal action.
Ongoing training is vital for strong safeguarding practice. Training needs to be accurate, regularly delivered and tailored to the audience. A range of delivery methods is recommended. We deliver tailored training sessions for staff, governors, and leadership teams, ensuring they each understand their safeguarding responsibilities and can respond effectively to concerns.
We conduct audits of safeguarding practice whether to help to give assurance to the proprietor or to potential buyers or funders in the context of transactions.
Tabitha Cave is simply brilliant. She has a sharp and fast brain, layers and layers of experience, brilliant communication skills, courage, clarity and calmness.
Our work highlights
Advising multiple schools on matters of child-on-child bullying and abuse of all ages, often with associated special educational needs and disability.
Advising a school group on the arrest of a member of staff on suspicion of offences relating to child cruelty.
Advising a school on the child death review and inquest processes following the suspected suicide of a pupil.
Get in touch today
Are you looking for legal services?
Fill out our form to find out how our specialist lawyers can help you.
