During the past few months we have been looking at ways of simplifying Safeguarding Hubs.

This has not been an easy task, because the Church of England's safeguarding guidance is quite complex.  Different parishes also make conflicting requests - some ask us to "keep it simple", while others ask for more features.

Nevertheless, we have found three ways of making Hubs simpler.
 

Hub stages

Safeguarding Hubs  were developed in three distinct stages, which we called Stages 1, 2 and 3.  However, now that the development is almost complete, we no longer require these stage numbers.

We have simplified the Hubs by removing the need for a parish to move from Stage 1, to Stage 2, to Stage 3.
 

Role Descriptions and Person Specifications

A Safeguarding Hub  can be used to create a Role Descriptions and Person Specification.  However, the Hub required that a Responsible Person approved it twice.

We have simplified the Hub by removing the need for a Role Description and Person Specification  to be formally approved at the beginning of the recruitment process.  Now a Responsible Person only needs to approve it at the end of the recruitment process (as part of the Recruitment Summary).
 

Legal names

A Safeguarding Hub  can keep a record of DBS certificate numbers, dates and the level of check.  However, we no longer consider it necessary to record the full legal name of a volunteer.

We have simplified the Hub by removing he need to enter full legal names in DBS records.