Safeguarding Statement
Version 1.0. Published 24th September 2026.Our commitment
Every child we see has the right to be safe. Keeping children safe is part of our clinical work, not a separate administrative exercise, and everyone who works with us is trained and expected to act on a concern.
Who is responsible
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Dr Tasha Cullingham. Everyone who works with children on our behalf, including associate clinicians, holds an Enhanced DBS check with a Barred List check, and completes safeguarding training appropriate to their role.
What we would do if we were worried about your child
Assessments involve talking in detail about a child's life, so things sometimes come up. If we became worried that a child was at risk of harm, we would:
Write down what we saw or were told, in the child's own words where we can.
Talk to you about it first, and agree what happens next, unless we believed that telling you would put your child at greater risk.
Where necessary, share our concern with children's social care in the area where your child lives, or with the police in an emergency.
We would not promise a child that we'd keep something secret. If a child tells us something that means they or someone else may not be safe, we will explain to them that we have to pass it on to keep them safe.
Confidentiality
Everything else you tell us is confidential. Safeguarding is the one circumstance in which we may share information without your agreement, and we would only do it where a child's safety required it. Our privacy notice sets out the legal basis.
During the assessment
Children are seen at our clinic by a trained clinician. A parent or carer remains on the premises throughout. Most parents wait outside the room during the structured observation, because children often engage more freely, but you are welcome to stay, and you can ask for the session to stop at any point.
If you have a concern about us
If you are worried about the behaviour of anyone working for us, tell us immediately at info@welhamautismcentre.co.uk. Concerns of this kind are referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer for Manchester, who is independent of us. You can also contact them directly at LADO@manchester.gov.uk.
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Our full policy
This is a summary. Our full Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy is available on request, just email us.