Low-level concerns can be about behaviour that’s inappropriate at work or outside of work. They can also be about behaviour that causes a sense of unease or a “nagging doubt”.
Low-level concerns are different from allegations, which are concerns that meet the harm threshold.
However, multiple low-level concerns can add up to form a pattern that meets the harm threshold.
We therefore encourage clubs to report ALL concerns to your County Safeguarding Officer and have provided the following list of examples to support any queries or doubts as to whether you should report.
This list is NOT exhaustive. Always remember, if in doubt, report.
- Adult walking through the changing rooms whilst children in the club are changing
- Aggressive Behaviour
- Being overly friendly (e.g. tagging a player on personal social media profiles, hugging players, inappropriate banter etc.)
- Captain/coach enforcing a humiliating team bonding/initiation activity
- Coach offering a child a lift home or waiting alone with a child for their parent/carer to arrive
- Coach using a social media account to interact with young players, for instance, liking their posts or direct messaging to
- discuss one on one coaching
- Coaching with alcohol on the breath
- Conduct of parent/carer
- Engaging on a one-to-one basis in a secluded area
- Having favourites – being connected on personal social media platforms
- Humiliating children
- Inappropriate behaviour
- Inadvertent or thoughtless behaviour (e.g. showing aggressiveness in front of children)
- Medical Incident
- Mental health concerns
- Not paying due care and attention to all participants
- Playing underage players
- Taking photographs of children, contrary to club policy
- Unauthorised person (e.g. someone not recognised from Club hanging around the ground/training session)
- Using inappropriate sexualised, intimidating, or offensive language.
Low-level does not mean that it is insignificant, it means that the behaviour does not meet the harm threshold for a referral to the Cricket Regulator Case Management Team. If ever in doubt, speak with your Club or County Safeguarding Officer.
We need to commit to fostering a culture of transparency and openness in reporting and this includes self-reporting that protects an individual from misunderstandings and/or allegations (e.g. occasions whereby a coach finds themselves in a situation that is unavoidable and unintentional but happened to breach best practice guidance).
The report of the Social Services Inspectorate investigation into the case of Martin Huston (1993) states:
“Organisations providing services to children should ensure that a culture of openness and trust is fostered within the organisation in which staff can share any concerns about the conduct of colleagues and be assured that these will be received in a sensitive manner.”
Remember that by sharing concerns, it allows trends and patterns of inappropriate/problematic and concerning behaviours to be identified sooner.
For support with managing low-level concerns at your Club, get in touch with the Yorkshire Safeguarding Team: safeguarding@yorkshireccc.com.
