New safeguarding unit created 'out of the blue' says children's charity

Finance | Gareth Jones | 28 Jan 2009

Umbrella organisation Fair Play for Children has criticised the government for a lack of consultation on the new Safeguarding Unit for the Third Sector, to be run by the NSPCC.

Children's minister Baroness Delyth Morgan (pictured) announced the creation of the £2.2m unit, which will establish a framework of child protection standards specifically for charitable and voluntary organisations, last week.

The plan arose following last year's Staying Safe consultation, but Fair Play for Children, which carries out Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and provides guidance on child protection to its member organisations, said it knew nothing of the Unit itself until it was announced.

‘Could be awkward for us'

"It's disappointing to us," said national secretary Jan Cosgrove. "They may have consulted others and we realise it's a big task, but if they had consulted the CRB network we suspect we would have heard of it.

"If it's going to work in partnership with organisations like ours then that will be welcome, but if it cuts across what we're doing then it could be awkward to us.

"I think there's a lot to be said for pooling knowledge and experience, and for the NSPCC to take a lead role seems perfectly sensible.

"But there are many different views on how child protection should be handled, and frankly, with it coming out of the blue like this we would like to know from NSPCC how they would like us to be involved."

One-stop-shop

The new unit is intended to act as a "one-stop-shop", providing information and advice via a website and by telephone, and will be based in the NSPCC National Training Centre in Leicester.

The NSPCC referred enquiries to the government, which did not respond by deadline.

Who's Who: Gareth Jones

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Geoff
Executive director
Aid 4 Africa
29 Jan 2009

The NSPCC is becoming more like a government quango every day. It advertises in Scotland where it has no legal mandate, it makes regular press statements that sound more like government edicts than that of a major charity, and finally in my opinion it compromises all those cherished ideals of charities/NGOs remaining free of government interference.

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