What to do if there is a Child Protection matter in your club

If you have Child Protection concerns you should:

• Report any information or concerns to your Club Welfare Officer
• Ensure that you have obtained as much information about your concerns or an incident as possible
• Complete an Incident Reporting Form and submit it to the County Welfare Officer

Safe Hands - Incident Reporting Form (172 KB)

• Ensure that any umpire reports or statements accompany this information
• Contact the Police / Ambulance / Children’s Social Care immediately if any child is in danger or has been hurt at the club and then report the matter to the County Welfare Officer

League Discipline

Until the introduction of the ECB Safeguarding Policy it was the responsibility of a League to discipline any person who had offended against a person regardless of age.

However, with the introduction of the ECB Safe Hands Policy it is not the responsibility of those in cricket to determine whether abuse of a child or young person has taken place but it is their responsibility to report it.

Any incident that takes place during the course of a cricket match that results in verbal, physical or sexual assault on a person under the age of 18 years must be referred to the County Welfare Officer for advice. An Incident Reporting Form must be completed.

Child Welfare Officer Notification

The requirements from the ECB are as follows:All clubs must identify and appoint a club welfare officer which must be notified to the County Welfare Officer by the 1 April 2005. Those clubs that do not notify such appointment must realise that responsibility for child protection will fall to their Chairman. I am aware of the varying responsibilities and capabilities of boards and leagues. A significant number of counties have enlisted the assistance of their leagues. The leagues have appointed welfare officers and have changed their constitutions to adopt the ‘Safe Hands’ policy and state that any club that is not complying with ECB guidance on CRB and Club Welfare Officers will either be fined or will not be permitted to partake in competitions. I will say that this has worked extremely well but equally I understand the difficulty experienced with co-operation of some leagues. Again I need to state that I am not here to enforce any of the above suggestions but have mentioned them in order to try and assist the process. However, for clubs that have not complied and an incident happens the insurance company has agreed to come to the ECB to determine whether a pay out should be made. If clubs are not complying then it is very unlikely that their claim would be successful. Furthermore, the ECB have agreed that clubs that do not comply will jeopardise their affiliated status which the RMG can agree to remove.

Rebecca Ledingham (ECB)