SAPAG Vulnerable Adults Protection Policy

SAPAG is committed to ensuring that vulnerable people who participate in the A Team are not abused and that working practices minimise the risk of such abuse. Volunteer parents/carers and the Management Committee of SAPAG have a duty to identify abuse and report it.

Definition

Vulnerable adults are people who are over 18 years of age and are getting or may need help and services to live in the community. Vulnerable adults may be unable to take care of themselves and unable to protect themselves from harm or exploitation by other people.

Abuse can include:

  • physical,
  • financial,
  • material,
  • sexual,
  • psychological,
  • discriminatory,
  • emotional abuse
  • neglect.

Abuse can take place in any setting, public or private, and can be perpetuated by anyone.

Rights & Responsibilities

Responsibilities of  SAPAG Management Committee:

  • To ensure volunteer parents/carers are aware of vulnerable adult’s need for protection
  • To notify the appropriate agencies if abuse is identified or suspected
  • To support and where possible secure the safety of individuals and ensure that all referrals to services have full information in relation to identified risk and vulnerability
  • To ensure that all activities and events run by SAPAG for the A Team have parents/carers who have been Criminal Records Board (CRB) checked leading or coordinating that activity.
  • To ensure that A Team activity coordinators/leaders have appropriate training

Responsibilities of  SAPAG Volunteer parents/carers:

  • To be familiar with the vulnerable adult protection policy
  • To take appropriate action in line with the policy of SAPAG
  • To declare any existing or subsequent convictions.

Support for those who report abuse

All those making a complaint or allegation or expressing concern, whether they are volunteer parents/carers &/or service users &/or carers &/or members of the general public should be reassured that:

  • They will be taken seriously
  • Their comments will usually be treated confidentially, but their concerns may be shared with the appropriate authorities if they or others are at significant risk

The Vulnerable Adult has the right:

  • To be made aware of this policy
  • To have alleged incidents recognised and taken seriously
  • To receive fair and respectful treatment throughout
  • To be involved in any process as appropriate
  • To receive information about the outcome

Reporting incidents or concerns

The named person responsible for reporting incidents or concerns is

 Judith Birkett.

Concerns will be reported following the guidance found at https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/social-care/adult-abuse

and concerns will be reported to

First Contact team on 0114 273 4908, 24 hours, 7 days a week

Howden House

1 Union Street

Sheffield

S1 2SH

Office Opening times

Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm

A Concerns Form can also be found at the Sheffield website above.

We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

Chair’s Signature: _________________________________

Updated on:                 28 June 2023

Review date                  28 June 2024

Data Protection Policy

SAPAG Data Protection Policy & Procedures

A) Definitions

1.         Personal data is information about a person which is identifiable as being about them. It can be stored electronically or on paper, and includes images and audio recordings as well as written information.

2.         Data protection is about how we, as an organisation, ensure we protect the rights and privacy of individuals, and comply with the law, when collecting, storing, using, amending, sharing, destroying or deleting personal data.

B) Responsibility

1.         Overall and final responsibility for data protection lies with the management committee, who are responsible for overseeing activities and ensuring this policy is upheld.

2.         All volunteers are responsible for observing this policy, and related procedures, in all areas of their work for the group.

C) Overall policy statement

1.         SAPAG needs to keep personal data about its committee, members, A Team members, and other volunteers in order to carry out group activities.

2.         We will collect, store, use, amend, share, destroy or delete personal data only in ways which protect people’s privacy and comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other relevant legislation.

3.         We will only collect, store and use the minimum amount of data that we need for clear purposes, and will not collect, store or use data we do not need.

4.         We will only collect, store and use data for:

•          purposes for which the individual has given explicit consent, or

•          purposes that are in our our group’s legitimate interests, or

•          contracts with the individual whose data it is, or

•          to comply with legal obligations, or

•          to protect someone’s life, or

•          to perform public tasks.

5.         We will provide individuals with details of the data we have about them when requested by the relevant individual.

6.         We will delete data if requested by the relevant individual, unless we need to keep it for legal reasons.

7.         We will endeavour to keep personal data up-to-date and accurate.

8.         We will store personal data securely.

9.         We will keep clear records of the purposes of collecting and holding specific data, to ensure it is only used for these purposes.

10.       We will not share personal data with third parties without the explicit consent of the relevant individual, unless legally required to do so.

11.       We will endeavour not to have data breaches. In the event of a data breach, we will endeavour to rectify the breach by getting any lost or shared data back. We will evaluate our processes and understand how to avoid it happening again. Serious data breaches which may risk someone’s personal rights or freedoms will be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours, and to the individual concerned.

12.       To uphold this policy, we will maintain a set of data protection procedures for our committee and volunteers to follow.

D) Review

This policy will be reviewed every two years

Date 31 May 2022

Signature (Chair)  

Signature (A Team Coordinator)