Safeguarding Responsibilities for Charity Trustees in Early Years Settings
- Sally Gridley
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Why the Bright Horizons Case Matters
The recent shocking case involving a former staff member, Vincent Chan, at a London nursery operated by Bright Horizons has put a harsh spotlight on the safeguarding responsibilities of organisations caring for children. Chan recently pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault of toddlers under his care, children aged just two to four, and possession of thousands of indecent images.
This devastating failure will undoubtedly shake public confidence in early years settings, and has stirred outrage among parents and the broader community. Concerns have been raised about how such prolonged abuse could go undetected, despite purported background checks and safeguarding procedures, prompting calls for a full review of safeguarding practices across nurseries.
For trustees of charities involved in early years and childcare this is a moment to re-examine and recommit to their safeguarding duties. As well as ensuring our procedures are robust we need to ensure we are fostering a culture where staff feel able to question, speak up and have their concerns listened to. The incidents at Bright Horizons are a tragic reminder of what can go wrong when governance, vigilance or culture fails and safeguarding becomes a tick box exercise.
Below is a guide for trustees on what their responsibilities are, why they matter, and practical steps to uphold them informed by official guidance from the Charity Commission and related bodies.
What the Charity Commission Expects: Trustees’ Safeguarding Duties
Legal and Regulatory Foundations
According to the Commission’s guidance “Safeguarding for charities and trustees” all charities must ensure they don’t cause harm to anyone who comes into contact with their work including staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, and, especially, children or adults at risk. Trustees retain overall responsibility, even if some duties are delegated to the settings designated safeguarding lead.
Safeguarding must be a governance priority for the entire board. Even if specialised staff deal with day-to-day safeguarding, trustees must oversee, challenge, and assure that the charity’s policies and their implementation are both adequate and effective.
If a safeguarding incident occurs or is alleged to have occurred that results (or risks) significant harm, trustees have a duty to report it as a “serious incident” to the Charity Commission, as well as to statutory safeguarding agencies or regulators if relevant (e.g., social services, police, education regulators).
Key Trustee Duties in Practice
The guidance outlines a set of core responsibilities for trustees.
Identify and manage safeguarding risks — Understand who the charity works with (e.g., children, vulnerable adults), where services are delivered (e.g., nurseries, community settings), and what activities are carried out. With early years settings, this means recognising risks inherent to childcare: abuse, neglect, exploitation, unsupervised access, digital risks, etc.
Have suitable policies and practices in place — Ensure there are clear, up‑to-date safeguarding policies, codes of conduct, whistleblowing procedures, child‑protection policies, health & safety, digital safety, complaints procedures, and more.
Carry out necessary checks on staff, volunteers and trustees)— This includes conducting appropriate background checks (e.g., Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks), verifying references and gaps in work history, and ensuring suitability for working with children/vulnerable people. Read my blog – Understanding DBS Requirements for Committee Members.
Ensure a culture of safeguarding — Make safeguarding part of the charity’s culture: ensure everyone knows how to recognise and report concerns; there are clear lines of accountability; safeguarding is a regular agenda item at board/ trustee meetings; and there is regular training/refresher for staff, volunteers and trustees.
Handle and report incidents appropriately and promptly — If an incident occurs, the charity must act quickly to stop further harm; investigate thoroughly; report to statutory authorities (police, social services, regulators) if required; and report to the Charity Commission as a serious incident if the harm is significant. Trustees must ensure these processes are followed, documented and transparent.
Review safeguarding policies and governance regularly — Policies should be reviewed at least annually, and especially after any serious incident or “near miss.” Trustees should undertake periodic evaluations of safeguarding performance and compliance, possibly including external reviews.
Why Trustees Must Take This Seriously — Lessons from Recent Failures
The events at Bright Horizons show what happens when safeguarding fails: catastrophic harm to children, lives ruined, trust destroyed, regulatory scrutiny — and a public outcry.
From a trustee’s standpoint:
It’s not enough to have policies on paper. Even passing background checks and having procedures in place cannot substitute for a vigilant culture, effective supervision, and regular review. The Bright Horizons case reportedly involved a staff member who “passed enhanced vetting”, yet committed repeated abuse over several years.
Trustees must regard safeguarding risk, especially in early years settings, as a core governance issue, not a peripheral compliance matter. Failure to do so can amount to serious regulatory failure.
After any incident, trustees must act promptly, transparently and take remedial action including external review, reporting as required, and updating policies. Delay or inaction can put more children at risk, damage public trust, and invite regulatory action. The Commission has made clear that failures to manage safeguarding risks could be judged as mismanagement or misconduct.
Practical Steps for Trustees in Early Years Settings
If you are a trustee for a charity that runs, funds or works with early years settings here’s a practical checklist to ensure you meet your safeguarding responsibilities:
Conduct a safeguarding risk audit — Review the types of activities, premises, staff roles, interactions with children, digital and physical environment, and identify all potential risks. Update the risk register accordingly. Our friends at Jigsaw Early Years Consultancy have a safeguarding audit which you can get here
Review and, if needed, revise safeguarding policies — Make sure you have robust policies for child protection, whistleblowing, staff conduct (including use of technology, devices), complaints, digital safety, health & safety, data protection, staff recruitment and supervision. Ensure policies reflect current legislation and best practice, and are publicly available.
Ensure rigorous recruitment and vetting — Use DBS checks, references, verification of employment history, and identity and right-to-work checks. Do not rely solely on a “clean check”: consider how ongoing supervision and safe‑working practices reduce risk. For example, are staff and trustees on the update service and how often is this checked or do they have to complete a suitability declaration that nothing has changed that would affect their suitability to work with children.
Establish and support a safeguarding lead / team — Consider appointing a designated safeguarding lead within the trustees and ensure they have explicit remit, training, and authority. Trustees should regularly review safeguarding matters as part of governance for example, make safeguarding a standing agenda item at board meetings.
Create a culture of openness and accountability — Encourage staff, volunteers, parents and stakeholders to speak up about concerns. Provide training and refreshers on safeguarding, child protection, boundaries, signs of abuse, and reporting procedures. Ensure whistleblowing procedures are clear and accessible.
Ensure clear incident‑handling and reporting procedures — Confirm that there are processes for handling allegations: who investigates, how evidence is preserved, how confidentiality is upheld, when and how statutory agencies are notified, how affected parties are supported. Trustees must also be ready to submit serious‑incident reports to the Charity Commission if required.
Regular review and external scrutiny — Even if no incident has occurred, conduct periodic reviews (at least annually) of safeguarding practice: assess training records; review staff turnover; sample practice; consult with staff, volunteers, families; and commission an external audit or safeguarding review if possible.
Final Thoughts: Trustees Cannot Delegate Away Ultimate Responsibility
The case of Bright Horizons is a deeply painful and shocking reminder.
As a trustee of a charity operating in early years or childcare, you cannot treat safeguarding as a “nice‑to-have” or peripheral compliance box. The law, the guidance from the Charity Commission, and basic morality require that safeguarding be a central, ongoing, active priority. Even if day‑to‑day tasks are delegated, trustees retain ultimate responsibility.
It is your duty, legally, ethically, and morally, to ensure the children entrusted to your care are safe. Failure to do so can lead not just to regulatory consequences, but to life‑changing harm for children and families, and irreparable damage to public trust.
In light of recent events now is the time for every trustee of an early years charity to ask: Would our policies and culture have prevented what happened at Bright Horizons? If the answer is anything other than a confident “yes”, then urgent action is needed.
Comments