Safeguarding: What Should Charity Trustees Be Checking Now?

Boardroom Matters 

Short, practical reflections on governance, safeguarding and assurance across different sectors and operating environments.

The Charity Commission's Safeguarding Guidance has been updated, providing a timely opportunity for charity trustees to review how safeguarding is managed, monitored and challenged within their organisations.

Safeguarding is not simply a question of having the right policies in place. It is a fundamental governance responsibility, extending to organisational culture, risk management, accountability and the protection of everyone who comes into contact with a charity through its work.

The Commission's guidance makes an important distinction between the existence of safeguarding arrangements and the assurance trustees should obtain about their effectiveness.

Trustees are expected to maintain oversight of safeguarding performance, drawing not only on statistics and management reports but also on qualitative information capable of identifying recurring concerns, weaknesses and emerging risks.

This raises an important question for every charity board:

How do trustees know that their safeguarding arrangements are actually working?

A policy may be comprehensive, training may be up to date and reporting procedures may be clearly documented. None of these, individually or collectively, necessarily establishes whether concerns are being recognised, whether people feel safe reporting them or whether lessons from previous incidents have been put into practice.

The guidance identifies several ways in which trustees can strengthen their assurance, including reviewing past concerns, listening to beneficiaries and staff, examining safeguarding risks and commissioning external reviews where appropriate.

Separately, recent changes to Disclosure and Barring Service arrangements require attention, including the removal from 1 September 2026 of the supervision exemption for certain regulated work with children. Charities should review affected roles and their checking arrangements.

For charities operating internationally, safeguarding responsibilities extend to overseas activities, delivery partners and organisations receiving funding. Appropriate due diligence, reporting arrangements and oversight remain essential.

Five questions for charity trustees

At their next board meeting, trustees may wish to consider:

1. When did we last review our safeguarding arrangements? Have we considered recent legislative and regulatory changes?
2. What evidence do we receive that our safeguarding policies work in practice? Are we relying on management assurances, or do we have information that enables us to test their effectiveness?
3. Are people genuinely confident about raising concerns? How do we know that staff, volunteers and beneficiaries feel safe speaking up?
4. How do we identify patterns, emerging risks and lessons from previous incidents? Can we demonstrate that concerns have led to meaningful improvements?
5. Would independent scrutiny help us understand where our arrangements are effective and where improvement is needed?

Effective safeguarding depends on more than compliance. It requires an organisation to recognise concerns, respond appropriately, learn from experience and maintain a culture in which people are protected and heard.

For trustees, the central question is not simply whether safeguarding arrangements exist, but whether the board has sufficient evidence and assurance that these arrangements are effective.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.