Benefice Safeguarding Policy

Rector:          Revd Canon Sharon Potter
Benefice Safeguarding Officer (BSO):    Andrew Price
Further contact details:
Bishop’s Advisor:     01473 298522
NSPCC:                       0800 800500
Childlike:                   0800 1111
Social Services:        01473 715111
Customer First:       0808 8004005

Benefice Safeguarding Statement
The Cockfield Benefice is committed to safeguarding as an integral part of the life and ministry of the Church.  All the Churches in the Benefice adopt the safeguarding policy for children, young people and adults as set out in the ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ document issued by the Church of England and the House of Bishops’ and Diocesan safeguarding policies and practice guidance.  The safeguarding policy statements and practice guidance can be found at www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding.

The PCCs and the incumbent have a duty of care to ensure the protection of the vulnerable in our church communities.  In terms of safeguarding the Incumbent and the PCCs will:

• Promote a safer Church for all in the Church community, and ensure there is a plan in place to raise awareness of, promote training and ensure that safeguarding is taken seriously by all those in the Church community.
• Appoint at least one appropriate experienced designated Benefice Safeguarding Officer (BSO) to work with the incumbent and the PCCs.  This BSO should be a lay person, it cannot be the incumbent.  The BSO may also be the DBS administrator for church officers who work with children or vulnerable adults but if not, the Benefice Council should appoint another individual.  Th BSE should be supported, trained and given a copy of the Benefice Safeguarding Policy and procedures.

For further details on roles and responsibilities within the parishes refer too ‘Key Roles and Responsibilities of Church Office Holders and Bodies Practice Guidance (section 3), available on the Diocesan Website at www.cofe.suffolk.org

Concerns
When there is a disclosure of harm or there are concerns about the welfare of any children, young people or vulnerable adult, all adults in our church community are expected to share their concerns with the Benefice Safeguarding Officer or the Rector.  Any referrals should be made without delay to Suffolk County Council Customer First – 0808 800 4005 (freephone from landlines and some mobiles).  If a child, young person or vulnerable adult is at risk of immediate harm, the police should be informed immediately – 999.  Please refer to the flowchart below for more contact details.

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