Policy Statement
Advice Services Alliance believes that everyone, regardless of age, sex, race, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or ethnic origin has the right to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Advice Services Alliance commits to actively addressing safeguarding throughout its work, through the three pillars of prevention, reporting and response.
Advice Services Alliance will not tolerate abuse and exploitation by staff or associated personnel.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to protect people, particularly children, at risk adults and the beneficiaries of assistance, from any harm due to their direct contact with Advice Services Alliance. This includes harm arising from:
- The conduct of our staff or personnel associated with Advice Services Alliance (including Trustees, volunteers and contractors)
- The design and implementation of Advice Services Alliance’s programmes and activities
The policy lays out the commitments made by Advice Services Alliance and informs staff and associated personnel [see footnote 1] of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.
Given the nature of our work, the Advice Services Alliance has limited direct contact with members of the public. However, this does not infer that safeguarding is any less important to us, nor that safeguarding should not be constantly reviewed and considered in all our work.
Scope
This policy applies to all members of the Advice Services Alliance staff, including paid employees and volunteers, Trustees and members of working groups, and all consultants or partners.
This policy does not cover:
- Sexual and other harassment or bullying in the workplace
- Safeguarding concerns in the wider community, including in advice services and/or our member organisations but not directly related to contact with the Advice Services Alliance or associated personnel
Whilst these issues are important, the matters are covered under other policies and processes. Details can be found in the ASA Staff Handbook.
What is safeguarding?
In the UK, safeguarding means protecting peoples’ health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. [See footnote 2]
Safeguarding means taking all reasonable steps to prevent harm, particularly sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment from occurring; to protect people, especially vulnerable adults and children, from that harm; and to respond appropriately when harm does occur. This includes actively working to prevent and respond to any potential, actual or attempted harm arising through abuse of power, trust, or vulnerability.
There are some matters where a safeguarding concern identified must be raised with the appropriate authorities. These include concerns of sexual or physical harm of a child, human trafficking or any matters related to the prevention of acts of terrorism. [See footnote 3]
Safeguarding must be an active process, applied consistently and without exception across our work and staff. It requires proactively identifying, preventing and guarding against all risks of harm, exploitation and abuse and having mature, accountable and transparent systems for response, reporting and learning when risks materialise. These systems must be people focused, trauma-informed whilst also recognising the need to ensure investigations are carried out fairly and appropriately for all concerned.
Advice Services Alliance responsibilities
Advice Services Alliance will:
- Ensure all staff have access to, are familiar with, and know their responsibilities within this policy and other statutory requirements
- Design and undertake all its programmes and activities in a way that protects people from any potential risk of harm from direct contact with Advice Services Alliance.
- This includes the way in which information about individuals in our programmes is gathered and communicated
- Ensure any staff or personnel who have direct contact with members of the public have a valid DBS certificate prior to the contact. Where this is not available, measures should be put in place for dual cover
- Implement stringent safeguarding procedures when recruiting, managing and deploying staff and associated personnel
- Follow up on reports of safeguarding concerns promptly and according to due process
Advice Services Alliance staff and associated personnel must:
- Contribute to creating and maintaining an environment that prevents safeguarding violations and promotes the implementation of the Safeguarding Policy
- Report any concerns or suspicions regarding safeguarding violations by an Advice Services Alliance staff member or associated personnel to the Safeguarding Lead.
Reporting
Advice Services Alliance will ensure that safe, appropriate, accessible means of reporting safeguarding concerns are clearly accessible to those wishing to report. We will do this by assigning the role of Safeguarding Lead to one member of the staff team, usually the Director and one member of the Board of Trustees, usually the Chair. The lead will be named on our website and in our staff handbook as the point of contact.
Reporting must be to the Director in the first instance by emailing director[at]asauk.org.uk, unless the concern involves them, in which case reporting can be made directly to the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Any staff reporting concerns or complaints will be protected by Advice Services Alliance’s Whistleblowing Policy.
Response
Advice Services Alliance will take all safeguarding reports and concerns seriously and will follow up on all matters raised. This will include an investigation into the matter raised and a written report outlining the conclusion and the actions to be taken. The response will according to policy and procedure, and legal and statutory obligations. The person raising the concern will be given a copy of the report, redacted if necessary.
Any issue of safeguarding will be reported formally to the Board of Trustees with the response and any further actions needed. It will also be recorded as a risk within the ASA’s Risk Strategy. The Board will be responsible for ensuring the actions outlined in the report are followed through.
Confidentiality
Given the very sensitive nature of the issues in relation to safeguarding, it is essential that appropriate levels of confidentiality are maintained at each stage of the process.
There will be limits to the confidentiality, for example where law enforcement is required. Information relating to the concern raised and subsequent actions should not be shared beyond those directly involved, and any written or digital information must be kept secure at all times.
The Advice Services Alliance undertakes never to use confidentiality as a rationale to protect the organisation or a person associated with it, where this is in direct conflict with the purpose of this Safeguarding Policy.
Agreed at the Board of Trustees Meeting 7th July 2026
Signed by Chair of the Board
Signed by the Director
Footnotes
1 – See ‘Scope’ for definition of associated personnel
2 – NHS ‘What is Safeguarding? Easy Read’ 2011
3 – Whilst the ASA does not have statutory obligations under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, we nevertheless support the intention of the new statutory duty, that is to report sexual abuse when they are made aware of it and to not to prevent someone reporting child sexual abuse.
Glossary of Terms
Beneficiary of Assistance
Someone who directly receives goods or services from Advice Services Alliance’s programme. Note that misuse of power can also apply to the wider community that the Advice Services Alliance serves, and also can include exploitation by giving the perception of being in a position of power.
Child
A person below the age of 18
Harm
Psychological, physical and any other infringement of an individual’s rights
Psychological harm
Emotional or psychological abuse, including (but not limited to) humiliating and degrading treatment such as bad name calling, constant criticism, belittling, persistent shaming, solitary confinement and isolation
Safeguarding
In the UK, safeguarding means protecting peoples’ health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect
Sexual abuse
The term ‘sexual abuse’ means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.
Sexual exploitation
The term ‘sexual exploitation’ means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. This definition incudes human trafficking and modern slavery.
At risk adult
Sometimes also referred to as vulnerable adult. A person who is or may be in need of care by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation.