County Welfare Officer National Conference 2019 – Update

A quick preview of updates from the recent conference that will be effecting clubs in the future regarding Safeguarding.

The ECB continues to raise the profile and importance of Safeguarding after
issues that have come to light in other sports recently and as a result have appointed a new Safeguarding Manager based at Lords Sara Niblock her role will be to promote Safeguarding on behalf of the ECB to County Boards and Clubs.

In respect of club roles their are new proposed job descriptions for Club Welfare Officers and also one for Chairs/Committees and their responsibilities towards Safeguarding. A new online course is being implemented for Chairs and Committees and hopefully this will be available by start of the new season.

The role descriptions are only in draft form at present and likely to change
following consultation with County Welfare Officers when agreed I will
circulate these for your information.

In respect of Courses we in Suffolk have not insisted on Club Welfare Officers attending SPC course as well as Safe-hands for sometime. The ECB have recognised the issue and agreed that CWO no longer have to attend SPC course but must complete an on-line Course Keeping young people Safe. The Coaches Course is also being updated inline with the above course.

In respect of Captains role ECB is still working on an online course for them as they appreciate their role that they play in open age cricket in respect of Safeguarding. Can we ensure Captains are aware and also that they have a
current DBS.

Social Media issues concerning this continue to increase especially in
respect of youngsters. Clubs are asked to make members aware of their Social Media Policy and Anti-Bullying Policy sample of both these can be found in Safe-hands document and can be used, if you do not have your own Club polices.

Safeguarding and Overseas Coaches more responsibility to fall on Chairs for
ensuring correct procedures are adhered to and that Coaches from overseas
are correctly registered with ECB and checked. DBS on-line system have introduced find a verifier link and ask that we encourage applicants to use it. Elaine Jarrett is now the ECB contact for DBS helpline on 0800 085 7998 .

Live Streaming of games issues have arisen concerning permission of youngsters to be filmed it includes 16/17 yr olds. In Suffolk it mainly effects
those Clubs in EAPL and County teams who use this technology and are being encouraged to do so by the ECB. The ECB are devising separate
Safeguarding guide lines but suggest until published ,using the current advice in Safe-hands regarding Polices for Photographs..

Youngsters playing in open age cricket the ECB view is that no one under 13
should be playing in open age cricket . The current advice does allow U12
(Yr7) to play if selected for County team. The updated advice is likely to
remove this as ECB do not recognise County competition matches below
U13 and feel these matches are more about participation then being
competitive.

Most leagues already state U13 (yr8) only can play in open age cricket.
I know of some cases last year where youngsters who were not County
Standard and U12 played in matches this cannot be accepted and it has
substantial financial risks as any insurance would be void if youngster under age is injured .

I hope you find this useful any questions regarding the content please do not hesitate to contact me

Regards
Graham Moss
Suffolk County Welfare Officer
gmoss@suffolkcricket.org
07752415619

Tags: Safeguarding, Suffolk, Welfare

Categorised in: Welfare