FAQ

If the above criteria has been met then contact needs to be made with the LADO. Please complete the Tower Hamlets Referral Form and email it to LADO@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

The Tower Hamlets LADO regularly checks the LADO mailbox. They will contact the referrer as soon as possible to discuss the case and decide on a course of action.

In cases where it is necessary to speak directly to the Tower Hamlets LADO, you can call 020 7364 0677. Referrers may reach the LADO Business Support Officer or a voicemail. They should leave a message which will be returned as soon as possible.

Complete the LADO form. You can also download the risk assessment framework.

You should also notify the LADO using the LADO form when any person who works or volunteers with children:

• has behaved in a way in their personal life that raises safeguarding concerns – these concerns do not have to directly relate to a child but could, for example, include arrest for possession of a weapon
• as a parent or carer, has become subject to child protection procedures
• is closely associated with someone in their personal lives (e.g. partner, member of the family or other household member) who may present a risk of harm to the child or children for who the member of staff is responsible in their employment or volunteering

Whilst the LADO provides advice on a wide range of safeguarding issues, they must give priority to cases which meet the statutory criteria for LADO oversight. We encourage employers to use their internal resources such as:

• Designated Safeguarding Leads
• Managers advice
• HR services

When someone makes an allegation against an employee or volunteer it is the responsibility of the employer to notify the individual. The employer is also responsible for keeping them updated in relation to any investigation process and possible outcomes.

View the guide for organisation.

LADO: Telephone 020 7364 0677 or by email LADO@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Children’s Social Care: MAST Telephone 020 7364 5006, Option 3

Local Police: Non-emergency telephone dial 111. Emergency telephone 999 By following these guidelines, your organisation will ensure a safe environment for children, support staff appropriately and meet your statutory obligations for safeguarding.

Complaints

To initiate a complaint related to the LADO service, please contact in the first instance by email SQA@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Immediate action

• Ensure the child is safe
  Take immediate steps to protect the child. This might involve temporarily removing the staff member or volunteer from their duties.
• Contact the LADO
  Report the allegation to the LADO within 24 hours of becoming aware of it.

Initial discussion with LADO

• The LADO will assess whether the allegation meets the threshold for further investigation and advise on the next steps
• The LADO may involve the police and/or Children’s Social Care at this stage.

Fact-finding/Investigation

• Fact-finding should be a neutral gathering of information to help decide the next steps. It is crucial that no formal disciplinary actions (e.g., interviews) are taken without guidance from the LADO, as this could interfere with any potential police investigation.

Risk assessment and safety planning

• A risk assessment should be carried out to evaluate the risk posed by the staff member or volunteer to children
• Safety planning may involve temporarily reassigning the staff member, additional supervision, or other protective measures while investigations are ongoing.

Outcomes:

After looking into the allegation, there are four possible outcomes:

1. Substantiated
   This means there is enough evidence to prove the allegation.
   What happens next: the individual concerned may face disciplinary action, be referred to regulatory bodies (like the DBS), or even face criminal prosecution. Further training or supervision may be required if the person remains in their role.
2. Unsubstantiated
   This means there isn’t enough evidence to prove or disprove the allegation.
   What happens next: no immediate action is taken, but the individual may remain under supervision. The allegation may still lead to discussions about improving safety practices or supervision.
3. Unfounded
   This means the allegation is shown to be false.
   What happens next: no action is taken against the individual.
4. Malicious
   This means the allegation was made with the intent to cause harm and is entirely false.
   What happens next: no action is taken against the individual concerned; however, action might be taken against the person who made the false allegation.

Timelines

• Initial reporting: Report to LADO within 24 hours
• Allegations management meetings (if necessary): Within five working days
• Resolution: Aim for resolution of the case within four weeks where possible.

Data controller and purpose

This privacy notice applies to you ("the service user") and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (“the council”). The council takes the privacy of your information very seriously. This privacy notice applies to the council’s use of any and all of the data provided by you or collected by the council in relation to your use of this service. It is important that you understand that sometimes we will need to share your data with other agencies where necessary or appropriate and by engaging with our service you understand that that your data may be shared.

There may be times where we will request that we make an audio recording of our conversations with you, this will only occur with your recorded consent.

The information you provide will be used by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ Adult Social Care Service to process incoming referrals to adult social care and to assess your care and support needs. It will also be used to process information about risk to adults and children in order to safeguard them. Some parts of Adult Social Care are provided jointly with the NHS and the participants are Joint Controllers of the data you provide.

We process your data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and if you have any concerns the council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted on DPO@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

Condition for processing personal data

It is necessary for us to process your personal data (name, address, contact details, health, personal and household circumstances), under GDPR article:  

1. 6(1)(a) consent
2. 6(1)(b) performance of a contract
   6(1)(c) compliance with a legal obligation
   6(1)(e) task in the public interest or official authority vested in the controller
   9(2)(b) employment, social security or social protection law, collective agreement
   9(2)(g) substantial public interest on the basis of Union or Member State law
   9(2)(h) preventative or occupational medicine, working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or management
   9(2)(j) archiving in the public interest, or scientific and historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

Other specific legislation and reasons for processing information:

1. Care Act 2014
2. Mental Health Act 2007
3. Mental Capacity Act 2005
4. Human Rights Act 1998
5. Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996

A delay in you providing the information requested may result in a delay in providing appropriate services.

How long do we keep your information?

We will only hold your information for as long as is required by law and to provide you with the necessary services. This is likely to be for up to 20 years after the case is closed, depending on your situation. For further details, you can view our retention schedule.

Audio recordings will only be held for two months before being automatically deleted.

We may also anonymise some personal data you provide to us to ensure that you cannot be identified and use this for statistical analysis of data to allow the council to effectively target and plan the provision of services.

Information sharing

Your personal information may be shared with internal departments or with external partners and agencies involved in delivering services on our behalf. As stated above this will include:

Internally

1. Initial Assessment and Hospital Service
2. Short Term Services
3. Personalisation the review service
4. Occupational Therapy Service
5. Safeguarding Service
6. Mental Health Service
7. Learning Disability Service
8. Brokerage Service
9. Children’s Service
10. Financial Assessment Team
11. Client Financial Affairs Team
12. Integrated Commissioning Service
13. Housing Services
14. Policy, Programmes and Community Insight Team
15. Safeguarding Adults Board

External

1. NHS and other Health Services
2. Police
3. Courts and Judicial Agencies
4. External Housing providers
5. Probation Services
6. Other Local Authorities
7. Commissioned domiciliary and residential care providers
   - information and advice provider
   - advocacy providers
   - carers support provider
   - direct payment provider
   - community equipment provider
   - transport providers
   - domiciliary care providers
   - residential care providers
   - older people day care
   - preventative services
8. Home Office/UKBA

The council has a duty to protect public funds and may use personal information and data-matching techniques to detect and prevent fraud, and ensure public money is targeted and spent in the most appropriate and cost-effective way. Information may be shared with internal services and external bodies like the Audit Commission, Department for Work and Pensions, other local authorities, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Police. This activity is carried out under Article 9(2)(b) of the GDPR, under social protection law.

We have a duty to improve the health of the population we serve. To help with this, we use data and information from a range of sources including hospitals to understand more about the nature and causes of disease and ill-health in the area. This data would normally be anonymised and never used to make decisions on a specific individual or family.

Your rights

You can find out more about your rights on our data protection page and this includes details of your rights about automated decisions, such as the ranking of Housing Applications, and how to complain to the Information Commissioner.