Safer recruitment for parishes and churches

We are committed to excellence in safeguarding practice

The Diocese and Church of England are committed to safely recruiting and supporting all workers and volunteers.  The Church of England’s Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance (see section below for links to each section of the guidance) must be followed for all new appointments for paid and volunteers working with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults.   For roles which support ministry and offer a profile in the church please see the relevant section for recruitment guidance.
 

Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance – comprises of 16 sections, each of which includes

• Requirements – The minimum standards that everyone must adhere too
• Good practice advice – Information about why the requirements must be met, and how to meet them to a good level
• Toolkit – Templates and resources that can be used
   

Click here to view the Church of England Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance.

The Diocese have produced a guide which sets out in easy to understand stages the recruitment process for all volunteers, to download a copy click on the following link ‘Liverpool Diocese Volunteer Safer Recruitment Guide’

Links to template documents for use when completing the safer recruitment process:

• Volunteer role description
• Person Specification Template
• Application form template 
• Confidential declaration form and Privacy Notice (as per Diocese guidelines this should be completed by anyone taking on a volunteer or paid role in the church)
• Example Interview Questions
• Reference request template
• Letter of appointment template
• Example volunteer agreement
• Induction Checklist
• Sample Volunteer Support Meeting Agenda
• Recruitment, DBS and training record keeping template
• Code of Safer Working Practice

Please remember if someone completes a confidential declaration form and answers yes to any of the questions asked then you must contact the Safeguarding team for advice before proceeding any further with the recruitment process.
 

Roles which support ministry and offer a profile within the church eg: welcomers, homegroup leaders, tea and coffee servers 

These roles still require a form of safer recruitment.  The Diocesan Safeguarding Team’s advice, in line with the House of Bishops safeguarding policies is that all such roles should follow a basic 4-step safer recruitment process:

1. A short role description is given to the volunteer
2. The volunteer completes a confidential declaration form which is reviewed by the Parish Safeguarding Officer and the privacy notice to accompany.  Both these documents can be downloaded from the following page of the Diocese Web Site –  Safer recruitment for parishes and churches
3. The volunteer commits to undertaking basic online safeguarding training which can be accessed via the Church of England Safeguarding Training Portal – Safeguarding Training Portal (cofeportal.org)
4. The volunteer is given a code of safer working practice – available here

NO PERSON SHOULD COMMENCE IN ANY ROLE UNTIL THE APPROPRIATE SAFER RECRUITMENT PROCESSES HAVE BEEN COMPLETED AND THEY HAVE ALSO COMPLETED BASIC ONLINE SAFEGUARDING TRAINING 
 

New Activities 

If your church is setting up a new activity then please ensure you have covered the following before the activity commences:

• Your church insurance is aware you will be running the activity
• The activity has been authorised by the PCC and recorded in the minutes
• All volunteers/paid workers must complete the safer recruitment process appropriate to their role
• An activity risk assessment should be completed and reviewed regularly for each activity which is associated with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults which are run in the name of the church – you can download this here
   

Other useful template documents

• Model Activity Risk Assessment
• Model Personal Risk Assessment tool
• Model Registration form – Activities and Trips for children, young people, adults, church groups, day visits, camps, residential holidays
• Model Risk Assessment Checklist for Home Visiting
• Model Volunteer Driver Agreement when undertaking voluntary driver transport for children and vulnerable adults in private cars on behalf of the PCC/Church
• Model Recording Safeguarding Concerns Form 
• Model Passenger Consent Form when being transported in private cars on behalf of the PCC 
• Model Release Form, Photography and Privacy Notice
• Model safeguarding provision that can be attached to any hire of church premises agreement
• A3 Safer Church Poster
   

Recruitment of Ex-Offenders

Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us. But we do follow strict guidelines and procedures for the recruitment of ex-offenders which we expect all parishes to follow – read our policy here
 

Recruitment of Overseas Applicants

Overseas applicants must complete the Church of England Safer Recruitment Process before commencing their role.  For information relating to DBS checks for overseas workers and volunteers please see the following page of the Diocese Web Page – DBS checks

Recruitment for Parish Safeguarding Officers

All new appointments to the role of Parish Safeguarding Officer should complete the following Safer Recruitment Process: 

• Have their appointment approved by PCC – this should be recorded in the minutes.
• Provide them with the role description which they should read and understand.  For details of the tasks involved in the role of the PSO please read the PSO’s role description. 
• Complete an application form and provide two references which should be requested and verified
• Complete a confidential-declaration form
• If eligible obtain an enhanced dbs check, see the following guidance  – DBS checks for Parish Safeguarding Officers to help you decide if your PSO is eligible for a DBS check.
• Once the above are complete issue a volunteer agreement and letter of appointment.
• Whilst waiting for the recruitment process to be completed take the online basic and foundation safeguarding training via the Church of England Safeguarding Portal – https://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/ and then once in post complete the additional required safeguarding training applicable for a PSO (for details of required training please see the section on safeguarding requirements)

Recruitment for PCC Trustees

As PCC trustee are elected to their role they must once elected to role complete a Trustee Eligibility Fit and Proper Persons Eligibility and the Charity Commission recommends that if the governing body sponsors in its own name work with children, young people and vulnerable adults the trustees always obtain an enhanced without barring dbs check for child and adult workforce.  They must then complete the relevant level of safeguarding training which for PCC trustees is Basic, Foundation and Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse which can all be completed online via the Church of England Safeguarding Training Portal – https://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/.  The Diocese does offer some face to face sessions of these safeguarding trainings for details please contact Karen Williams or Debbie Doran.

Volunteering for Asylum Seekers & Refugees

Asylum seekers & refugees can volunteer whilst their claim is being considered. For the government guidelines regarding volunteering please refer to the following government guidance ‘permission to work and volunteering for asylum seekers‘.  They must complete the safer recruitment process which is applicable to their role and the relevant level of safeguarding training applicable to their role.

For further information or queries relating to Safer Recruitment contact Debbie Doran, Safeguarding Support, tel 0151 705 2124 any Tuesday or Wednesday or email: deborah.doran@liverpool.anglican.org or the Safeguarding team via email: safeguarding.teams@liverpool.anglican.org 

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