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Everyone is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
If you think a child is being abused or neglected, please contact the council’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) during office hours:
Leave your name and number and we will call you back as quickly as possible.
Hampshire County Council provides alternative useful phone numbers for child protection concerns.
We share information and practices with other organisations, such as health, police and children’s services, to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
If you are unsure whether a child is suffering and are worried that the child has suffered harm, neglect or abuse, the information below may help you decide whether the child is at risk:
Signs of physical abuse
Signs of sexual abuse
Signs of emotional abuse
These signs may be present in children whose parents are over-critical, emotionally distant, or unable to meet their child’s emotional needs:
Signs of neglect
We support early years and childcare providers in their policy and practice for safeguarding and child protection. The Department for Education defines safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as:
If you think a child is being abused or neglected, please contact the council’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) during office hours:
The links below will help ensure safeguarding children policies and procedures are robust and cover all relevant areas – for further information about your safeguarding policy and practice, contact your linked Childcare Development Officer.
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), also known as the designated officer, is a role set out in the government guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (March 2015).
Portsmouth’s LADO is Hayley Cowmeadow, who can be contacted by:
The LADO should be alerted to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:
The LADO role applies to paid, unpaid, volunteers, casual, agency or anyone self employed and they capture concerns, allegations or offences emanating from outside of work. More information is available on the PCSB website.
For details of how the council uses information about allegations against Persons in Positions of Trust, please visit our Data Protection Privacy Notice page.