Colchester City Council has developed training courses to increase understanding of all forms of modern slavery.
Greater understanding helps colleagues develop professional curiosity, be more proactive and provide effective support to victims. This helps reduce the risks victims experience.
In June 2023, the Council launched a new learning management system, Learning Pool, with new safeguarding training packages.
CAMS training is also delivered to relevant staff.
This is detailed in the Safeguarding Training Plan.
Staff
The Council has a programme of mandatory training that all employees must complete.
This enables officers in community-facing roles to identify and report suspected incidents of abuse and neglect, including modern slavery and trafficking.
This year, the completion rate for the organisation’s safeguarding course was 67%.
Modern slavery has been included in mandatory staff safeguarding awareness training since 2016.
A Level 3 Safeguarding course was most recently delivered to 20 Designated Safeguarding Officers in February 2022.
A Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Workshop was delivered by the Essex Police Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Officer to 23 staff in June 2022. This included Designated Safeguarding Officers, Licensing and Private Sector Housing teams.
Councillors
E-learning training on safeguarding is mandatory for councillors and includes reference to modern slavery.
A Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Workshop was delivered by CAMS to councillors as part of their Members’ Briefing in July 2024.