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Contents

1. Introduction 
2. Adding a Warning for Individuals Who May Pose a Risk to Staff
3. Adding a Warning for Individuals Who May Pose a Serious Risk to the General Public
4. Adding a Warning for Individuals Who May Pose a General Risk to Children
5. Annual Audit and Review of Warnings on Open Cases 
6. Warnings History  
7. Removal of Warnings from Closed Cases 
8. Data Security 
9. Sharing Warnings with Other Business Groups within the Council
10. Shared Warnings with External Agencies  
11. Appeal Procedures 
12. Victims of Violent and Abusive Behaviour 

1. Introduction

From time to time, it is necessary to alert staff to the risk of physical or verbal abuse from certain individuals to record details of individuals who may pose a serious risk to the public (MAPPP Notifications) and those individuals who may pose a more general risk to children and vulnerable adults (safeguarding concerns). The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates the processing of personal data such as this. It gives rights to individuals and places obligations on those who control the processing of personal data. Whilst is it legitimate for us to record a warning about individuals who may pose a risk to our staff and others, we must ensure that we do so lawfully.  Advice from the Data Protection Commissioner’s Office is that, in order to comply with our statutory obligations, we must ensure that:

• Decisions about adding a warning about an individual should be made by a nominated person according to criteria clearly laid down
• Unless it is considered inflammatory to do so, the individual must be informed that he/she is considered to be potentially violent, why he/she is considered to be so, to whom the information may be passed, and when the their warning will be reviewed.
• Information must be kept secure, and only be disclosed to those who need to know.
• Warning should be reviewed regularly.
• Details can passed to other agencies on a case by case basis where there is a risk or an unlawful act (such as assault)

Therefore, these guidance notes are intended to provide a pragmatic and workable response to the Directorate's obligations under the Data Protection Act.

2. Adding a Warning for Individuals Who May Pose a Risk to Staff

1. Before considering adding a warning to any electronic or manual personal record, you must be satisfied that the individual concerned poses a credible risk either because of known past violent or abusive behaviour, or that you believe that their domestic arrangements or known associates represent a threat. You must also complete a Risk Assessment form (called Risk Assessment Form – Dangerous Incident). The form can be found on the intranet in the A-Z of Forms List. For more information about the assessment process refer to Staff Safety Procedure
2. Seek the permission of your Team Manager (as the nominated officer) before adding a warning. Your Team Manager is also required to sign the Risk Assessment Form. Once permission has been obtained, pass the warning information to your Business Support Officer who will add the details to the relevant record on the Person Index (PI). Please ensure that the details of the warning are factual and clear.
3. Unless considered inflammatory to do so (and, therefore, increase the potential risk to staff), inform the individual concerned (using the example text below) that a warning has been assigned to them, the reasons for doing so, under what circumstances the warning may be passed on to others, and when the warning will be reviewed.

Example Proforma Text

Dear xxxx

The Royal Borough has a duty to protect our staff from the threat of abuse and assault. I am writing to inform you that a cautionary “warning” has been assigned to your name because we believe that you represent a credible risk to our staff. The reason why we believe this to be the so is given below:

Reason for Registering A Warning

Add the reason here

In addition, we may share this information with other health and social care agencies involved in providing services to you where we believe that you also represent a credible risk to their staff. If we do so, we will write to you again to inform you when this information was passed on, and to whom.

The warning assigned to you name will be reviewed in 12 months at which time we will decide whether to remove or retain the warning assigned to you. If we decide to retain the warning we will write to you again to explain why we think this is necessary and when the warning will be reviewed again.

You have the right of appeal against this decision to assign a warning to your name, which should be made in writing.

3. Adding a Warning for Individuals Who May Pose a Serious Risk to the General Public

Notifications received from the Multi-Agency Public Protection Panel for individuals who may pose a serious risk to the public are added to P1 as MAPPP Warnings as a matter of course and do not require prior permission. In general, the Child Protection Team does this with the warning narrative.

For further information please contact the Child Protection Unit on 0207 361 2064

Precise details of the warning are held manually by the Child Protection Unit

4. Adding a Warning for Individuals Who May Pose a General Risk to Children

From time to time information comes to the attention of Family Services concerning an individual who may pose a more general risk to children. The Bichard Enquiry recommendations require use to record information on such individuals. Seek the advice of the Child Protection Unit concerning the information you have received. If the individual is judged to represent a credible risk, the Child Protection Unit will add a warning to P1 under the category 'Safeguarding Concerns' with a warning narrative as follow:

For more information please contact the Child Protection Unit on 0207 361 2064

The precise details of the warning will be held manually by the Child Protection Unit

Unless considered inflammatory to do so (and, therefore, increase the potential risk). The Child Protection Unit will inform the individual concerned that warning has been assigned to them, the reasons for doing so, under what circumstances the warning may be passed on to others, when the warning will be reviewed and how to appeal against the warning.

5. Annual Audit and Review of Warnings on Open Cases

Warnings relating to the protection of staff should be reviewed annually by the Business Support Service who will:

1.

Audit the list of current warnings to ensure consistency of practice; and

2.

Check each warning with individual workers/Teams/Managers as appropriate. Individual teams are responsible for judging the currency of each warning and to either: End the warning where no credible threat still exists or is known, or Confirm that a credible risk still exists and, if not considered inflammatory to do so (and , therefore, increase the potential risk to staff), write to the individual concerned to inform them (using the proforma text below) that a warning has been retained, the reasons why and when the warning will be next reviewed.

Example Proforma Text

Dear xxxx

You will recall that we wrote to you about 12 months ago to inform you that a cautionary “warning” has been assigned to your name. We have now reviewed this decision and have decided to retain a warning against your name because we believe that you still pose a credible risk to our staff. The reason why we believe this to be the so is given below:

Reason for Registering a Warning

Add the reason here

In addition, we may share this information with other health and social care agencies involved in providing services to you where we believe that you also represent a credible risk to their own staff. If we do so, we will write to you again to inform you when this information was passed on, and to whom.

The warning assigned to you name will be reviewed again in 12 months at which time we will decide whether to remove or retain the warning assigned to you. If we decide to retain the warning we will write to you again to explain why we think this is necessary and when the warning will be reviewed once again.

You have the right of appeal against this decision, which should be made in writing.

Warnings relating to MAPPP Notifications are (usually) retained indefinitely.

Warnings relating to Safeguarding Concerns should be reviewed annually by the Child Protection Unit who will check the currency of each warning with individual workers/Teams/Managers, and either:

1. End the warning where no credible threat still exists or is know, or

2. Confirm that a credible risk still exists and, if not considered inflammatory to do so (and, therefore, increase the potential risk), write to the individual concerned to inform them that a warning has been retained, the reasons why, when the warning will be next reviewed and how to appeal against the warning.

Please note that the process for reviewing warnings does not preclude the ending of any warning at any time within the annual review cycle.

6. Warnings History

Warnings should never be removed completely. Even where an individual not longer poses a risk (and therefore, no longer has a current warning), a record of past warnings should be retained on file as part of the historic record.

7. Removal of Warnings from Closed Cases

All current warnings should be ended on closed cases after six years from the date of closure except for those relating to MAPPP Notifications that are (usually) retained indefinitely. Warnings will only be removed completely when a case is destroyed in accordance with the Directorate's File Retention Policy.

8. Data Security

As with all confidential personal data, details of warnings must be kept safe with password-protected systems, secure storage for manual records and access provided on a needs to know basis only.

9. Sharing Warnings with Other Business Groups within the Council

The Council has a duty to protect all Council staff and to alert other services where an individual may pose a risk to the public. Therefore, warnings on P1 are routinely passed to a corporate cautionary warnings database.

10. Sharing Warnings with External Agencies

Sharing a warning with another agency should be considered on a case by case basis and only with permission of your team manager (for warnings concerning personal safety) or the Child Protection Unit (for MAPPP warnings and safeguarding concerns.)

11. Appeal Procedures

Recipients of a warning have the right of appeal against a warning assigned to them. Refer to the “Responding to Complaints” intranet site under “Doing my Job”

12. Victims of Violent and Abusive Behaviour

Any member of staff who has suffered violent or abusive behaviour in the course of their work must complete an incident report (Corporate Form CF001)

End