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The Legal Requirements for Youth Groups

By: Tom King - Updated: 20 Jun 2023 | comments*Discuss
 
The Legal Requirements For Youth Groups

The importance of the safety of children in all environments cannot be overstated, and youth groups are no exception. There are many legal provisions to ensure that any vulnerable person is suitably protected, and this article will lay out the requirements for youth groups in particular. It is essential that these requirements are met in order for a youth group to run, as without them, it should be impossible either to receive funding or for parents to entrust their children to the group. There are three main areas in which legal documents are required.

Child Protection

Whether paid or voluntary, it is legally necessary that any leaders or helpers with a youth group should be thoroughly checked for suitability before they start working. The correct way of doing this is to obtain a Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau. Any person who is going to be working with children or vulnerable adults has to go through this process by law; it reveals any inappropriate or criminal behaviour in the past that would preclude the person from working with children again.

Employees should also sign a copy of the youth group’s Child Protection Policy. It is good to draw these up after consulting the advice of a legal representative, as he or she will be able to ensure that the policy is sound and up to date with the latest legislation. A Child Protection Officer will also need to be appointed; this is a big responsibility as it may well mean reporting other employees, or even children’s parents, to the authorities.

Liability Insurance

Assuming the youth group meets in the same venue regularly, it is standard legal practice to acquire liability insurance for the building, the individual members of the group, and the staff. This means that everything is covered in the event of a mishap, whether it is an accident with paint or an injury sustained while playing a particularly active game. Hopefully, of course, you will never have to use the policy, but it makes good legal sense to have it there just in case.

Health and Safety

It is the legal responsibility of the leaders of the youth group to ensure that the entire group is aware of the health and safety regulations within the building. That means fairly regular updates on best practice in case of fire – you can easily do this by organising fire drills.

It is advisable to check frequently with staff that they are aware of their roles in such an event. It is also a good idea from a legal point of view to ensure that everyone is working together to make the environment safe. We live in an increasingly litigious society, so to have trailing wires, unsound furniture or any other dangers is an extremely bad idea. However, this is really a question of common sense on the part of youth group leaders, so do not panic too much!

This may seem like rather a lot of legal requirements to take in, but do remember that when you start a youth group, you will be able to draw on the experiences of other leaders and the expertise of the local council. Assuming they are looking favourably on your group (as most councils do), they will provide you with the advice and often the paperwork you will need to maintain the legal side of things. Do not underestimate the importance of these legal requirements, but do not panic either; after the first flurry of administration, many of these conditions will simply look after themselves, freeing you up to do the really important job: looking after the children!

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What should I have in place to run clubs for Home Educated children for a few hours a week-say x2 one hour clubs? Would I need GDPR, Public Liability Insurance? Any other considerations? I have a DBS and First Aid as part of my other job- do these transfer and if not how do I get DBS checked if it’s my own business? Thanks
Kb - 20-Jun-23 @ 11:46 PM
Hi Am I right to think to open a Youth club we will need PVG checks done Child Protection Awareness Training for all staff/volunteers 1st aid trained member A Child Protection policy and Child Protection officer Youth work experience or training. TIA
Morag - 21-Sep-22 @ 10:41 PM
Hi, I recently dismissed 2 of my volunteers (husband and wife) after a disagreement and them trying to always undermind me and turn kids and parents against me in hope they could take over the group. Now they have gone they are now setting up their own group and are trying to take all my students, ideas etc after I have worked so hard to build a big and sucessful academy. Is there anyhing I can do to stop them doing this. I have everything professionally set up and believe they wont run things professionally, is there anywhere to report them too if they do not meet legal requirements? keith
keith - 30-Apr-19 @ 6:49 PM
Hi there, What are the initial costs for setting up a youth club? I want to be able to have somewhere for kids to come to 7 days a week in the evenings weekdays and during the day weekends, would that be practical? Kids need a safe space to just be kids I want to enable this for them. How do I go about it?
Hannah - 2-Apr-19 @ 10:22 AM
Nigel - Your Question:
What is the minimum temperature that a youth organisation can operate without heating please ?

Our Response:
There are no legal minimum or maximum temperatures. In general 16 ºc is seen as an acceptable minimum for guidelines.
YouthGroupGames - 14-Nov-16 @ 2:40 PM
What is the minimum temperature that a youth organisation can operate without heating please ?
Nigel - 12-Nov-16 @ 8:50 PM
Are there any regulations stipulating the youngest age non qualified volunteers are able to work with? (2 hr sessions) Thank you
Tina - 16-Jun-16 @ 1:45 PM
Yes - Your Question:
We (classmates) are trying to set up a youth foundation, but we do not know the exact procedure!! Would you please make it a bit clear and give guidelines?

Our Response:
Do you mean to set up a group as a charity? It's not really clear what your purpose it.A good start would be this Government Page . The page you're on gives an idea of the legal requirements and you might want to take a look at this page as well.
YouthGroupGames - 17-May-16 @ 10:19 AM
We (classmates) are trying to set up a youth foundation, but we do not know the exact procedure!! Would you please make it a bit clear and give guidelines?
Yes - 14-May-16 @ 3:32 AM
I am currently trying to set up a youth group and was wondering the legal requirement when it comes to the age of leaders. Me and my team would really appreciate your view so we can set up our youth group. Thanks Samuel
Samuel - 5-Apr-16 @ 3:05 PM
Max - Your Question:
Following a fight (actually one boy hitting another) our youth leader decided to temporarily ban the person she concluded to be the aggressor. The aggressor's father has said that he 'doesn't accept' the ban, unless the other boy is also banned. Do we have the right to make summary decisions and ban those whom we decide are in the wrong?I believe our Youth Leader (we're a church) to have acted properly but I'd be grateful to hear views.ThanksMax

Our Response:
Is there a written policy for this kind of thing? In general, you (as with schools) can choose to ban/exclude anyone who breaks the rules as you see fit.
YouthGroupGames - 1-Feb-16 @ 12:41 PM
Following a fight (actually one boy hitting another) our youth leader decided to temporarily ban the person she concluded to be the aggressor.The aggressor's father has said that he 'doesn't accept' the ban, unless the other boy is also banned. Do we have the right to make summary decisions and ban those whom we decide are in the wrong? I believe our Youth Leader (we're a church) to have acted properly but I'd be grateful to hear views. Thanks Max
Max - 29-Jan-16 @ 4:31 PM
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