Policies and procedures What are they for and when to use them

Why is there a need for P&P’s? Each service needs to have Policies and Procedures in place to help guide the actions of all individuals involved in that service. Policies and Procedures provide a framework for the activities within an organisation and should be viewed as additional tools to quality assure a service or provision Policies and Procedures should be working documents that are kept ‘live’, are relevant and applicable and not things that are kept in the back of a cupboard

Policies and Procedures should provide clarity to the reader when dealing with accountability issues or activities that are of critical importance to the organisation, such as health and safety, legal liabilities, regulatory requirements or issues that have serious consequences

What Policies should we have? There will be some policies that are going to be generic across most organisations and will likely include: Health and Safety Data Protection Equality & Diversity Equal Opportunities In considering the other key policies for BBO you should also include: Safeguarding Customer Complaints Quality Assurance

What other Policies could be considered? In addition to the ‘MUST HAVES’, other policies which should be considered include: Discipline and Grievance Learning and Development Lone working Sustainability Volunteer Policy Whistleblowing

Is there anything else? Organisations have to decide if there should be a Policy or Procedure written for specific activities or issues which are applicable to them. For example, as Landau delivers accredited qualifications, we have policies which apply to Learning and Development, Malpractice, Maladministration and Plagiarism, Reasonable Adjustments and Student Appeals. You have to decide if there is a need for a Policy or Procedure for your organisation

WHEN TO USE P&P’S

All staff should be familiar with the organisations’ Policies and Procedures, and should know how they apply to the day to day activities If there are procedures attached to the Policy for example, Safeguarding, then all staff should know what to do if they need to reference this. Business continuity has to be considered, and staff should feel confident in accessing the P&P’s as these are in effect guidelines as to what to do in the event of an issue If there is an issue that needs to be addressed, Policies and Procedures are crucial in providing the framework for actions and process

what next?

As part of Due Diligence, all partners need to have key policies in place – it is up to you to decide if you need to add to those with additional policies that may be applicable to your service If you are unsure about creating your own Policies, you can adopt Landau Policies and these are available on the Extranet As part of our Internal Quality Assurance I would like to come out and visit some of you to see how you’re using your Policies, how you communicate these to staff and to see if staff know what to do if they have a question or need to address an issue

Any questions?