The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) must be informed of all allegations that come to the employer’s attention and appear to meet the criteria set out in Section 9.1. The Local Authority Designated Officer should also be informed of any allegations that are made directly to the Police (which should be communicated via the Police Force’s Designated Senior Manager).
The LADO should first establish that the allegation is within the scope of these procedures and may have some foundation. The LADO and the DSM should therefore consider together whether the allegation is verifiable and whether any further details may be needed to establish the facts of the allegation.
If the allegation is not demonstrably false at the outset and there is cause to suspect that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm the LADO will immediately make a referral to the Children’s Social Care Duty Team (if the case is not known to Children’s Social Care and initial enquiries have not already commenced) and request the initiation of child protection enquiries following the Basic Safeguarding Children Procedures.
If the referral is established as meeting the criteria set out in Working Together a LADO Strategy Meeting will be convened within 72 hours. If action is required under the Basic Safeguarding Procedures to safeguard any children involved, this action must not be delayed pending the LADO Strategy Meeting but must take account of other ongoing investigations e.g. criminal investigations by the Police.
The Police must be consulted about any case in which a criminal offence may have been committed. Where the threshold for significant harm is not reached but a police investigation may be needed, the LADO should discuss with the police the timing and conduct of any criminal investigation and whether any disciplinary process can run in parallel or may need to await the outcome of police enquiries.
In advance of the LADO Strategy Meeting, if the parents/carers of the child concerned are not already aware of the allegation, the LADO will discuss how and by whom they would best be informed. In cases where the Police and Children’s Social Care are involved, the LADO should consult these colleagues about how to best inform parents. The parents/carers should be told of the allegation as soon as possible.
There are some circumstances where the employer may need to directly advise parents of an incident involving their child e.g. if the child was injured while in the organisation’s care and requires medical treatment. In these circumstances the employer should take care not to say anything that could jeopardise the ability to conduct a proper investigation.
The employer should inform the person against whom the allegation is made as soon as possible. The LADO will advise the employer about the point at which a person against whom the allegation has been made can be informed as it is important that the timing of this does not impede any investigations. The employer will then decide what action to take in relation to suspension of the employee.
If the referral does not meet the criteria here, the LADO will advise the employer on the next steps that may be taken which include:
- taking no further action;
- more supervision for the employee;
- training;
- disciplinary action/Not using person’s services in the future.
