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Parish Safeguarding Officers

The latest updates, guidance and events for Parish Safeguarding Officers is here including information on DBS, the Dashboard & Hub

Summer Holidays

Members of the Safeguarding Team will be taking annual leave at different points during the summer: Whilst at least one member of the team is in on each working day we will prioritise demands and there may be a slightly longer response time than usual.  

To bolster capacity we have arranged additional cover from ThirtyOne:Eight.  From Monday 17 August through to Friday 28 August we would ask that for general advice and guidance you first contact ThirtyOne:Eight on 0303 003 1111.  Please listen carefully to the options as they may have changed since you last contacted them.  When advised, please select option 2 for the safeguarding helpline, followed by option one for members, then finally option 2. When you get through to their team, please state “I am calling from the Diocese of Peterborough, who are an Information Sharing Holder” before providing the details of your query.

PSO role and recruitment:

You can access the revised PSO role description here: Parish Safeguarding Officer role description | The Church of England.

An Information and Welcome pack has been created to support PCCs and PSOs coming into role.

Safeguarding Dashboard:

There is a series of six two-minute videos (12 mins in total) to support PSOs in understanding the features and benefits of the Safeguarding Dashboard which absolutely does help make the PSO role more manageable.  This video is located on the Safeguarding Virtual Library on our eLearning portal. You can also view the video here.

If your parish is not yet using the Safeguarding Dashboard please reach out to Louisa McCabe louisa.mccabe@peterborough-diocese.org.uk for more information on how to access this valuable resource.

Primary Information Hub:

The printed hand-book has been discontinued in favour of the Safeguarding e-manual. Please dispose of any remaining hard copies, as the guidance is now out of date. 

The national group recognised the need to have one central place for information and guidance to support the PSO in their role.  They agreed this aim would best be met via the Safeguarding e-manual Safeguarding e-manual | The Church of England and the Safeguarding Dashboard.  

Both of these offer easy and timely access to information and tools relevant to the PSO and their role.

PSO Resources/Key Documents:

Templates and resources | The Church of England

PSO National Group | The Church of England

Safeguarding Links on Parish Websites & A Church Near You:

It is not essential to have full safeguarding details on the home page of your website, it is perfectly acceptable for the word ‘Safeguarding’ to be a link from the homepage, either across the top or in an easily-accessible drop down menu. The link should be clearly visible on the homepage, but the whole information does not need to appear on the home page itself, as long as it is available when someone clicks on the link. Clicking that link should take someone to a further page which contains more detailed safeguarding information, including contact details for the Parish Safeguarding Officer, the Diocesan Safeguarding Team and a clear statement of the parish’s commitment to safeguarding. If possible a link to the Diocesan Safeguarding webpages should be included. This should also be reflected on any A Church Near You sites.

Some suggested wording for your statement of committment to safeguarding is below:

“Our parish of [name] is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults from harm. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO). Our Diocese of [name]’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor who advises our PSO. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the PSO [add their details or link to a page that shows the info] or the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer [add their details here or link to your own page that shows the info or the diocesan safeguarding page]. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority’s children or adult social care services.”

Thank you for your continued support and all the valuable contributions you make to the Diocese.

Download the information and welcome pack here