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Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO)
The Role of the LADO – Allegations Against People in a Position of Trust
Working Together to Safeguard Children refers to local authorities having a designated officer or a team of designated officers involved in the management and oversight of allegations against people that work with children.
The role of the LADO:
The LADO has management and oversight of the investigation process from beginning to end following an allegation against people in a position of trust who work with children.
The LADO is not the decision maker – this remains with the employer, but they will provide advice and guidance to employers and voluntary organisations, liaise with police and other agencies and monitor progress of cases to ensure they are dealt with as quickly as possible, consistent with a fair and thorough process.
The LADO process applies to everyone who works or volunteers with children.
LADO Referrals
If you have concerns about an adult working with a child under the age of 18 that you would like to report, please follow this link:
It is essential that any allegation of abuse made against a person who works with children and young people including those who work in a voluntary capacity are dealt with fairly, quickly, and consistently, in a way that provides effective protection for the child, and at the same time supports the person who is the subject of the allegation. The framework for managing allegations is set out in statutory guidance contained in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015.
This policy applies to allegations against local authority foster carers and local authority residential workers.
Local Authority Designated Officers can be contacted for allegations against all staff and volunteers via:
Email on LADO@suffolk.gov.uk or
LADO central telephone number 0300 123 2044
Concerns or Allegations about Staff in School
For more information
Good Practice guidance for LADO's in Managing allegations and concerns in Manager-less Organisations
The National LADO Network provides some best practice guidance for LADOs on how to manage allegations and concerns about manager-less organisations.
LADO's often receive referrals from professionals or families where there are concerns about a person who provides a service working with children but where they do not work for a specific organisation.
These might relate to individuals who are not contractually linked to a line management structure or HR arrangements.
Examples of managerless organisations may include providers of private tuition in the home, people who have set up their own businesses to provide a service such as sports or music coaches, or self-employed nannie services that are not on any register.
It is important that responses to these situations are as robust as they would be for other sectors of the children's workforce, but they may pose several challenges for the LADO.
This may be because the concerns relate to a person who is self-employed or where the concerns relate to a manager or owner of an organisation and there is no person or Professional Association that they are associated with who can help in managing any concerns.