Children and Young People's Safeguarding Policy

Introduction

Our customers’ safety and wellbeing is our priority. This policy supports our vision to create great homes together. A great home is more than a building: it is a safe place where children can thrive, customers are heard, risks are acted on and communities feel secure.

This policy explains our commitments for safeguarding children and young people who live in, visit, or come into contact with our homes, services and activities.

Who this policy applies to and what it covers

This policy applies to:

All Magna Board members, colleagues, agency workers, volunteers, apprentices, contractors, subcontractors and partners delivering services on our behalf.
Whenever work may bring colleagues into contact with a child, information about a child, or a safeguarding concern connected with our homes, services, neighbourhoods, community activities or workplaces.

This policy covers:

Our commitments for safeguarding children who live in, visit, or come into contact with our homes, services and activities.
Our approach to preventing and responding to safeguarding concerns about any child under 18, including unborn babies where there are welfare concerns.
Our expectations for leadership, workforce competence, partnership working, information sharing, governance and learning. Operational steps, referral routes and timescales are set out in the safeguarding procedure.

Concerns about a person aged 18 or over are managed under a separate adult safeguarding policy and procedure. Where a young person is approaching 18, where risks began before 18, or where adults and children are affected together, teams will coordinate plans, share ownership and avoid gaps caused by age, service boundaries or changes in legal framework.

We are not the statutory lead for child protection enquiries and does not investigate or determine whether a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.

What safeguarding means

Safeguarding means providing help and support as soon as problems emerge; protecting children from maltreatment inside or outside the home, including online; preventing harm to their mental or physical health or development; supporting safe and effective care; and taking action so children can achieve the best outcomes.

Abuse or neglect may be a single incident or a pattern of behaviour. It may be deliberate or unintentional and can happen in any setting, including at home, in the community, within organisations or online. The main categories of abuse include:

Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Neglect.

Although grouped under the four statutory categories, UK organisations identify further specific forms of harm:

Child sexual exploitation (CSE)
Child criminal exploitation (CCE) / county lines
Trafficking
Domestic abuse
Online abuse
Bullying and cyberbullying
Female genital mutilation (FGM)

Child protection is part of safeguarding and concerns children who are suffering, or may be at risk of suffering significant harm.

We will maintain guidance within our safeguarding procedure to help colleagues recognise relevant indicators.

Our children and young people’s safeguarding policy

Safeguarding contributes directly to the quality of our homes, customer trust, tenancy sustainability, strong communities and responsible governance. A child’s welfare and safety will be our primary consideration.

Our approach reflects our values:

Always safe: we identify and act on risks to children and the people supporting them.
All about customers: we listen, make services accessible and consider the child within their family and home.
Be kind: we respond with respect, empathy and without blame.
Own it: we act, record decisions, follow concerns through and escalate when risk remains.
One team: we join up services and work constructively with customers, communities and partners.
Be curious: we look beyond the immediate issue, use evidence and challenge assumptions, discrimination and unsafe practice.

Our role is to:

Identify and reduce housing-related risks.
Recognise and report concerns.
Listen to children and families where safe and appropriate.
Use our landlord powers lawfully and proportionately.
Share relevant information.
Cooperate with statutory agencies and learn from experience.

We will not take on functions that belong to children’s social care, the police, health services, education settings or the courts.

Detailed response steps, referral routes, escalation, decision standards and timescales are set out in the children and young people’s safeguarding procedure. Internal arrangements must never delay action to protect a child.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility; no colleague is expected to manage a concern alone.

We will:

Listen to children, take what they say seriously and take account of their wishes, age, understanding and communication needs.
Act early where help may prevent concerns from escalating, while referring promptly where a child may be at risk of harm.
Be respectful, curious and non-judgemental, and consider the whole family and wider context without losing sight of the child.
Challenge discrimination and consider how disability, communication barriers, poverty, housing conditions, domestic abuse, exploitation and other circumstances may increase risk or make harm less visible.
Work with parents and carers where it is safe and appropriate, but we will not allow lack of consent to prevent necessary safeguarding action.
Share relevant information lawfully, securely and in a timely way.
Learn from cases, complaints, serious incidents and feedback from children, families, colleagues and partners.

Because our colleagues and contractors enter homes, manage neighbourhoods and hold information about households, we may identify risks that other services don’t. We’ll remain alert to housing, household and neighbourhood factors that may affect a child’s safety or welfare.

We’ll use reasonable actions to reduce risk where they fall within our legal powers, contractual duties and operational control. These may include urgent repairs, home and building safety action, security measures, reasonable adjustments, tenancy support, safer contact arrangements, work with support agencies and proportionate tenancy or enforcement action.

Before significant action, we’ll consider the child’s welfare, the views of the child and family where safe and appropriate, risks to other household members, equality and human rights, the evidence, likely benefits and possible unintended harm, including whether a less intrusive option could achieve the outcome.

Housing action will not replace a safeguarding referral, emergency response or specialist domestic abuse response where one is needed.

Responding to safeguarding concerns

We’ll ensure concerns are listened to, recorded and acted on promptly.

Emergency services or statutory safeguarding agencies will be contacted directly where necessary, and internal arrangements must not delay action to protect any child or other person.

Colleagues will not investigate, confront an alleged perpetrator, promise secrecy or put themselves or others at greater risk. All colleagues must report welfare concerns identified through visits, repairs, neighbourhood work, customer contact or information received from others.

We’ll cooperate with children’s social care, the police, health, education and local safeguarding partners, provide relevant information and carry out agreed housing actions.

Where a referral is not accepted, or a partner response does not adequately address continuing risk, we will not assume the concern is resolved. The case owner and manager will review the evidence, record the current risk, identify reasonable housing actions, seek safeguarding advice and use the partner’s escalation or professional disagreement route where needed.

We’ll apply this policy fairly, understand the diverse needs of households and make reasonable adjustments so children and families can access services and communicate safely.

We’ll use interpreters, accessible formats, advocates or communication support where needed and appropriate.

Consent, confidentiality and information sharing

We’ll share safeguarding information lawfully, securely and proportionately.

We’ll be open with children and families about information sharing unless doing so could increase risk, prejudice an investigation or place any person at risk. Information may be shared without consent where this is necessary and proportionate to safeguard a child.

We’ll maintain procedures and controls for making, recording and reviewing information-sharing decisions. Uncertainty must not delay urgent protection.

Where domestic abuse is identified, we will treat children who see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse as victims in their own right.

Domestic abuse concerns will be managed in line with our Domestic Abuse Policy and procedure alongside this policy, with safe contact methods, specialist advice and a coordinated household risk picture.

Safe and competent people and services

We use safer recruitment and selection practices and obtain the level of Disclosure and Barring Service check legally appropriate to each eligible role.

All colleagues receive safeguarding learning appropriate to their role, including recognising abuse, neglect, exploitation, domestic abuse, consent, information sharing, recording, referral and escalation.

We monitor completion and test competence, with enhanced learning and practice support for managers, case owners and designated safeguarding roles.

Contracts for services that may bring workers into contact with children will set clear safeguarding expectations, reporting routes, vetting requirements where eligible, and rights to seek assurance.

Colleagues and contractors will maintain appropriate professional boundaries and follow relevant codes of conduct and procedures.

Support and supervision will be available to colleagues affected by safeguarding work.

Information, case oversight and learning

Safeguarding records will be factual, timely, secure, access-controlled and retained in line with our retention policy and legal obligations. Records will provide a clear account of concerns, the child’s voice where known, parent or carer views where safe and appropriate, decisions, actions, information sharing, partner responses, housing measures, reviews and outcomes.

We’ll maintain proportionate case review and closure standards. The frequency and level of management oversight will reflect the risk, complexity and uncertainty in the case. A case will not be closed solely because a referral was made or declined. Closure will require a recorded review of current and foreseeable risk, completed and outstanding actions, partner ownership, relevant household risks, transition arrangements, reasonable adjustments and any further landlord action. If risk remains, the record will state who owns each action, when it will be reviewed and what will trigger escalation or re-opening. Learning will be shared without unnecessary personal information.

Customer and community insight, including feedback from children and young people where safe and proportionate, will inform policy review, service design and scrutiny. We’ll explain how insight has influenced decisions and monitor outcomes for disproportionality, discrimination and
barriers to receiving help.

Putting this policy into practice

This policy will be implemented through supporting procedures, role profiles, learning, supervision, contractual requirements, local referral information, case standards and management reporting. These arrangements will be proportionate to our role as a housing provider.

The Head of Customer Contact and Community Support will ensure that arrangements are practical, adequately resourced and proportionate to our role as a housing provider.

Compliance with this policy is mandatory. Concerns about non-compliance will be managed through the relevant employment, contractual or governance arrangements. Nothing in this policy prevents any person from contacting emergency services, children’s social care, the police or a relevant regulator directly.

Policy outcomes

Through this policy we aim to achieve five outcomes:

Safe homes and services: housing risks affecting children are recognised early and reduced through coordinated action.
Trusted and accessible responses: children, families and customers can raise concerns, are treated fairly and understand what we’ll do.
Skilled and accountable people: colleagues and service providers have the competence, confidence, support and clear responsibilities needed for their role.
Effective partnerships: we share our housing knowledge, information and action to local safeguarding and family-help arrangements where appropriate.
Learning and assurance: leaders use data, quality checks, customer insight and case learning to test impact, address unequal outcomes and improve services.

How we know if this policy is working

We’ll operate a proportionate, risk-based assurance framework to test whether this policy is embedded and improving outcomes. Governance oversight will consider:

Patterns of concern and housing-related risk.
The quality and timeliness of decisions and actions.
Customer voice, accessibility and fair outcomes.
Workforce competence and contractor assurance.
Partnership effectiveness, incidents, complaints and learning.
Delivery and impact of improvement actions.

The Health and Safety Forum will receive safeguarding assurance quarterly and the Executive Board at least annually. Material control failures, serious incidents, persistent overdue high-risk actions and potential regulatory breaches will be escalated promptly through our governance arrangements, with external notifications considered and recorded where required.

Assurance will test delivery against the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards, particularly the Safety and Quality Standard, Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, and Neighbourhood and Community Standard, as well as any applicable economic standards and codes of practice.

Legal and Regulatory Framework

This policy will be applied in line with applicable law, statutory guidance, regulatory standards and local safeguarding arrangements, including:

Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004
Children and Social Work Act 2017
Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and Victims and Prisoners Act 2024
Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation and Human Rights Act 1998
Equality Act 2010
Modern Slavery Act 2015
Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
Housing Act 1996
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
Housing and Regeneration Act 2008
Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 and its statutory framework, as updated from time to time.
Children’s Social Care National Framework and government information-sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners
Local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and published thresholds or pathways
The Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards and codes of practice that apply to Magna, as updated from time to time.

In applying this framework, we will connect safeguarding considerations with relevant housing and customer-service decisions.

The policy will be reviewed at least every three years and sooner after a significant incident, learning review, audit finding, legal or regulatory change, or material service change. Procedures and local referral information may be updated between policy reviews. Legal or specialist advice will be obtained where a case or proposed action falls outside established guidance.

Responsibilities

The Director of Customer Operations and Head of Customer Contact and Community Support is responsible for this policy, resources, legal and regulatory compliance, and serious escalation.

The Safer Communities Lead and Designated Safeguarding Officers lead on operational practice, give advice, maintain procedures and local referral information, oversee quality and learning, support escalation and report assurance.

The Regional and Service Managers and Safer Communities Lead are responsible for embedding the policy, ensuring learning and supervision, monitoring practice, addressing contractor assurance and making sure cases are acted on and recorded.

The case owners coordinate agreed housing actions, referrals, records, reviews, escalation, transition and safe closure. They will maintain a clear action plan showing ownership, target dates, dependencies and review points, without taking on a statutory agency’s investigative or assessment role.

The Data Protection and Safeguarding Leads provide advice on lawful information sharing, record security, safeguarding thresholds and complex decisions, and support learning from incidents.

All colleagues and those working on our behalf remain alert, listen, respond, record and report concerns; complete required learning; cooperate with enquiries; and raise concerns about unsafe practice.

Our Strategic Board sets the safeguarding culture, approves this policy every three years, receives proportionate assurance and challenges whether risks and learning are being addressed.