5.2 Person in Position of Trust (PiPoT) Policy

1. Purpose

This policy applies to all agencies who are members of the Hull Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board (HSAPB) and who have responsibilities for responding to allegations or concerns raised about a person, whether an employee, volunteer or student, paid or unpaid who works with or cares for adults with care and support needs.

These individuals are known as People in Position of Trust (PiPoT).

Positions of trust may include, but are not limited to any staff working on behalf of:

• • Social Care;
  • Health Services;

• Police and Criminal justice;
• Housing; and
• Education.

The member agency of the HSAB which first identifies or becomes aware of the allegation of concern regarding a PiPoT will have first responsibility for responding in accordance with this policy and making the referral to the Safeguarding Adults Team.

2. Background

The Care and Support Statutory Guidance states that each Safeguarding Adults Board should establish and agree a framework or process for organisations to respond to allegations and issues of concern that are raised about a person who may have harmed or who may pose a risk to adults with care and support needs.

All agencies are obliged to raise a safeguarding concern under the multi-agency safeguarding procedures where they become aware of concerns that a PiPoT may have:

• Behaved in a way that has harmed an adult at risk; or
• Committed a criminal offence against an adult at risk; or
• Committed a crime or behaved in a way towards any child or adult that indicates they may be unsuitable to work with adults at risk;
• Been or is subject of a formal safeguarding enquiry into allegations of abuse or neglect and is employed or is a student in another settings where there are adults with care and support needs who may also be at risk of harm.

This may include safeguarding concerns raised through someone’s personal life and may be disclosed by the police under Common Law Police Disclosure arrangements (gov.uk).

When a person’s conduct towards an adult may impact on their suitability to work with or continue to work with children, this must be referred to the local authority designated officer (LADO).

The concerns in relation to the PiPoT should be considered within the context of the ten types of adult abuse identified in the Care Act 2014:

• Physical;
• Sexual;
• Psychological;
• Neglect;
• Self-neglect;
• Domestic abuse;
• Financial and material abuse;
• Modern slavery;
• Discriminatory;
• Organisational.

Consideration should also be given to other acts or behaviours which are a cause for concern such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and radicalisation.

This policy should be used to response to consider the response to concerns which related to behaviour outside of the PiPoT’s day to day job role. Any concerns relating to the person’s conduct, behaviour or actions towards adult’s with care and support needs within their job role will already be known to the employer and should be dealt with via a Safeguarding Adults referral.

3. Process

All organisations should have clear internal policies and procedures for managing PIPOT. It is the responsibility of the individual organisation to follow their own procedures to assess and manage risk to adults with care and support needs who use their services, and to take any required action to safeguard those adults. To ensure the immediate safety of the adult at risk, if the reporting organisation is also the employer of the person posing the risk and there are sufficient grounds, consideration needs to be given as to whether the person posing the risk should be suspended. This should be done in line with each organisation’s policies and procedures and in consultation with human resources.

In the first instance, the person raising the concerns should immediately discuss the allegation with the Local Authority Safeguarding Adults team (see Local Contacts). The person raising the concerns should us the PiPoT Referral Form  to gather sufficient information in order to make a decision on whether further action is required under the PiPoT process.

Minimum information gathered should include:

• name, address and contact details for the adult who is subject of referral.
• confirmation that the subject of the referral is aware of the referral to Adult Social Care.
• Where the subject of the referral works or volunteers, consideration also needs to be given as to whether the person works or volunteers in multiple settings and/or for multiple employers/organisations;
• specific reason why the referrer feels the PiPoT process is required, specifically risks and reason for concern

Where the referrer has not been able to supply all of this information, consideration should be given to whether it is still possible to make a decision to be made about whether the criteria for PiPoT is met. If necessary, the referrer can be asked to provide further information.

Allegations against people who work with adults with care and support needs must not be dealt with in isolation. Any corresponding action which is needed to address the welfare of adults should be taken without delay and in a coordinated manner, to prevent the need for further safeguarding in future.

Local authorities should ensure that there are appropriate arrangements in place to effectively liaise with the police and other agencies to monitor the progress of cases and ensure that they are dealt with as quickly as possible, consistent with a thorough and fair process.

Decisions on sharing information must be justifiable and proportionate, based on the potential or actual harm to adults or children at risk and the rationale for decision-making should always be recorded (See Information Sharing and Confidentiality).

When agencies are sharing information about adults, children and young people at risk it should only be done so:

• where relevant and necessary, not simply all the information held;
• with the relevant people who need all or some of the information;
• when there is a specific need for the information to be shared at that time.

Following discussion with the person making the referral, the case should be allocated to an appropriate person to gather information. Advice and guidance should be provided through usual line management routes; with the option to escalate if the situation is particularly complex or contentious.  Special consideration should be given to whom the case is allocated if the referral is about a member of staff working for the local authority to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. It would not be appropriate for a case to be allocated to someone in the same team or for the direct line manager to be involved in giving advice. The line manager(s) should not be made aware of the referral unless / until it has been agreed that the employer should be advised of the potential risk.

Usual practice should be to involve the referred person in this process. Only where discussion with the referred person may be considered harmful to them or others should this not take place. A decision not to involve the person requires management authorisation. In most cases, the referred person should be made aware from the outset that a referral has been received and their involvement and engagement in the process sought. Reassurance should be given that whilst information will be gathered, no disclosure will be made to the employer without the referred person being made aware. The exception to this is where the alleged concern indicates that the risk is so high that there is sufficient justification to contact the employer / voluntary organisation without making prior contact with the referred person. In all such instances, there needs to be a discussion with a manager in advance of the contact.

The allegation should be recorded by the local authority Safeguarding Adults Team within a secure space on the adult social care recording system, Liquidlogic, in line with PiPoT enquiry process. All recording should be done in a timely way.

There will be occasions when the allegation spans across both adult’s (PIPOT) and children’s (LADO) processes. In such circumstances, it should be agreed which process will take the lead, with a commitment to appropriate and proportionate information sharing.

3.1 Managing the allegation

Following the fact finding and information gathering process, a management decision needs to be taken in terms of whether, and what, to disclose to the person’s employer / voluntary organisation. Legal opinion should also be sought, as required, on a case-by-case basis.

The rationale for decision making needs to be clearly recorded for assurance and audit purposes.

If it is decided that the employer needs to be informed, an appropriate manager within the employing organisation should be contacted. Initial contact can be verbal but should be followed up in writing.

The PiPoT should be kept updated throughout the process and informed of the outcome. If the decision is taken to inform the employer / voluntary organisation, any information shared should be proportionate and the person should be advised what information will be shared. Wherever possible, the referred person should be encouraged to share the information with their employer / voluntary organisation themselves, although this will need to be followed up to ensure this has occurred.

3.2 Working with the employer

Once the employer or voluntary body has been informed, they are responsible for assessing the risks in the context of their service or organisation. Only the employer has the authority to suspend, redeploy or make other changes to the person’s working arrangements. Each organisation will have policies or procedures in place for investigating concerns about staff, such as disciplinary processes and these should be the employer’s primary source of guidance.

The employer should be advised of their duty to assess and effectively manage the potential risk of harm posed by the staff member to adults with care and support needs, considering the nature and seriousness of the allegation.

If an organisation permanently removes an individual (paid worker or unpaid volunteer) from work with an adult with care and support needs (or would have, had the person not left first) because the person poses a risk of harm to adults, the organisation must make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service. It is an offence to fail to make a referral without good reason.

It should be considered whether the PiPoT is a registered professional with a governing body. This may include but is not limited to anyone registered with:

• Social Work England;
• Health and Care Professionals Council;
• General Medical Council;
• The Nursing and Midwifery Council;
• General Teaching Council;
• Care Quality Commission.

If there is sufficient evidence, a referral should be made reporting the concerns to the relevant body in line with their policies and procedures.  This can be done by anyone involved in the process and initiated at any time within the process as appropriate.

3.2 End of the process

The PiPoT process ends either once a decision has been taken not to disclose to the employer on the basis that the criteria is not met, or  when, following the disclosure to the employer, a response has been received as to the outcome of the referral. At this point the interventions should be reviewed and case closed.

If the original referrer has concerns about how the employer has responded to the referral, and they are not able to resolve these with the employer, the concerns should be escalated to the Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board if they believe adults remain at risk.