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Getting Started with Compliance

A practical guide for churches to help meet respective legal duties as we look to partner together. This specifically relates to the areas of Health and Safety, Data Protection and Safeguarding.

This guide is intended to help inform churches about their responsibilities in key areas of compliance and highlights key requirements in each area. It is particularly aimed at churches who may be considering a Ministry Church Partnership with London City Mission and focuses on the areas most impacted by such partnership. We do not cover other areas of compliance such as governance or financial reporting requirements.

We acknowledge that success in these areas is greatly influenced by the organisations with whom we partner. At LCM, we are aware that the churches we partner with have a range of backgrounds and resources available to dedicate to these. We hope this guide will help all our partner churches. While we want to support as much as possible, the information below does not constitute legal guidance of any kind.

Background

In the UK, Churches are viewed as being their own legal entities and should be registered as such. This brings with it several benefits and protections (particularly for leaders), as well as specific legal requirements and the need to get appropriate insurance in place.

Health and Safety, Data Protection, and Safeguarding are practical outworkings of Jesus’s call to love our neighbours (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Galatians 5:14) as well as areas in which we must submit to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1-7).

Health and Safety

Health and Safety (including fire and food safety) is primarily about protecting people from harm. Health and Safety law requires organisations to ensure employees, volunteers, contractors and anyone else who may be affected by their activities are safe from harm that might arise from those activities or the associated equipment or environment. The main relevant legislation in the UK is the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974, with most other regulations covering specific aspects of safety sitting under this act.

To keep people safe and ensure legal compliance, clear plans should be in place which are communicated with all those who might be affected and monitored to ensure these are followed. Here are the key areas you should be considering as you implement or review your Health and Safety arrangements:

Plan – written policy

A health and safety policy sets out your general approach to health and safety. It explains how you will manage health and safety in your organisation. It should clearly say who does what, when and how. If you have five or more employees, this must be written down, although you can of course do this with fewer employees to demonstrate good practice, especially if most workers are volunteers - as is the case in most churches.

Manage Risks – Risk Assessment

Assessing risk is just one part of the overall process used to control risks. It is about:

1) identifying what could cause injury or illness

2) deciding how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously

3) taking action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn't possible, controlling the risk

Provide information and training

You must give your workers clear instructions and information, as well as adequate training and supervision. You should make sure everyone has the right level of information on how to carry out tasks safely, any hazards or risks in their work areas (and what you are doing to control these), and what the emergency procedures are.

Report accidents and illnesses

By law, you must report certain incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/ for more information). Depending on the size of your organisation, you may also be required to keep a record of all accidents in an accident book or similar.

These records can also be helpful if you are dealing with your insurance company or to help prevent other incidents from occurring. Make sure you protect people's personal details by storing records confidentially in a secure place.

Appoint a competent person

You must appoint a 'competent person' to help you meet your health and safety duties. They should have the skills, knowledge and experience to be able to recognise hazards and help you put sensible controls in place to protect workers and others from harm. This can be someone with the organisation, an external advisor, or both (https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/gettinghelp/ for more information).

Fire Safety

There are similar duties placed on those in charge of buildings for Fire Safety, including carrying out and regularly reviewing Fire Risk Assessments, and ensuring plans are in place should a fire happen in premises they are responsible for. It can be helpful to ensure that fire safety is included as you consider the points listed above.

Food Safety

Food Safety legislation covers where and how food is stored, prepared, and served, to ensure it is done in a safe and hygienic way, so no one is harmed, including from known allergens. You may need to register as a Food Business with the local authority depending on how often you prepare and serve food, even if within the church family.

Useful Links

Partnership Expectations

As outlined in our “Commitment to Excellent Partnership” document, we expect the churches we partner with to have arrangements in place for ensuring the safety of all those involved in partnership actives. This includes sharing the contact details of your Competent Person and any incidents that may occur.

Data Protection

Data Protection and is concerned with ensuring the privacy of those who’s information we hold is respected and is regulated under the UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and Data Protection Act 2018. These are an outworking of Human Rights principles and a practical way we can show love to those we interact with.

Below is a summary of the duties placed on organisations. In most cases, organisations will need to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

To help with these areas, you will need to appoint a Data Protection Officer. This can be someone internal or external.

Useful Links

Partnership Expectations

As outlined in our “Commitment to Excellent Partnership” document, we expect the churches we partner with to have arrangements in place for the appropriate collection and processing of data during partnership activities. This includes sharing the contact details of your Data Protection Officer and any concerns that may occur.

Safeguarding

As well as ensuring wellbeing of those within our organisation, by ensuring they (workers and volunteers alike) have a safe space to thrive, we have a duty to ensure all those we come across can thrive too, particularly those who may be more vulnerable.

There is a specific duty of care placed on organisations that provide services to anyone who has specific vulnerabilities, either due to age (young or old) or other factors. This includes having procedures in place on how to respond to suspicions of abuse or neglect. We all have a role to play in ensuring that all those in our communities are treated with dignity and respect.

Clear policy / processes

These are needed to protect the organisation, and to set out the ways in which those working with those with additional care and support needs are expected to work.

Safer recruitment

This must ensure those who work for us (as staff or volunteers) do not put any of our service users at risk. A big part of this involves carrying out criminal records checks, though this in only a part of what needs to be done. This applies to both paid worker, volunteers, and anyone involved in any activity where they might interact with vulnerable individuals.

Training to identify signs of abuse or neglect.

This should be in place to ensure all those working for the organisation are aware of the signs of abuse and neglect, along with how and who to contact to report any concerns.

Appoint a Safeguarding Lead

You should appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead, and Deputy/ies to ensure the policy is implemented. They will also be involved in investigating any concerns.

Useful Links

Partnership Expectations

As outlined in our “Commitment to Excellent Partnership” document, we expect the churches we partner with to have arrangements in place for safeguarding the wellbeing of all those involved in or impacted by partnership actives. This includes sharing the contact details of your Designated Safeguarding Lead and any concerns that may occur.

Getting Help!

You should initially ask for support from your wider body, network, or denomination. Some of the larger national denominations, fellowships, and insurance companies have made a range of practical resources available online you may find useful even if you are not affiliated with these. You will need to ensure any advice is suitable to your specific context.

In addition, our own advisors may be able to offer some support and guidance (some of our advisors are independent consultants and may charge for their services). There are also third-party organisations that specialise in supporting churches in some of the areas above. LCM does not endorse or recommend any particular organisation or professional.

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LCM shares the gospel alongside the local church of London, equipping everyday Christians to lovingly bring a message of hope in Christ to those least likely to hear it.

Registered Charity No. 247186