Serious incident reporting for students’ union – what, when and how to report

The Charity Commission has recently updated its serious incident reporting guidance.

What is a serious incident?

The Charity Commission defines a serious incident as an “adverse event, actual or alleged, that results in or risks…”:

• harm to people who come into contact with your charity through its work – including but not limited to beneficiaries, staff and volunteers. “Harm” in this context can include physical harm, sexual harassment or assault, bullying and other safeguarding concerns;

• loss of your charity’s money or assets – such as financial crime, fraud, theft and cyber crime (“assets” including data for these purposes);

• damage to your charity’s property

• harm to your charity’s work or reputation – this can be very wide ranging

In practice, this will look different for every students’ union, taking into account the size, governance and specific activities of the student’s union.

Increased risk factors for students’ unions

As many student’s unions operate venues, run large scale events, welcome a diverse range of visiting speakers, and/or have a vocal and politically active membership, such activities may increase the risk of serious incidents occurring, particularly in safeguarding and reputational matters.

Matters which are more prevalent for students’ unions, and where reporting ought to be considered, might include:

• reputational impact from the actions of connected parties (e.g. trading companies, the University, contracted firms;

• visiting speakers, student officers or staff appearing to promote extremist messages;

• breakdowns in governance, such as improperly managed conflicts or election/appointment irregularities;

• student officers engaging in conduct outside of their role, which harms or places others at risk, and which becomes known to the students’ union;

• (following investigation) systemic bullying or hazing cultures in societies operating under the students’ union.

Why is it important to report?

Trustees are responsible for reporting serious incidents, although in practice this may be delegated to senior leadership or advisers. The Charity Commission expects matters to be reported in a timely manner, and will hold the trustees accountable for doing so.

Reporting a serious incident is generally considered to demonstrate good practice, in that it is indicative of the incident being managed in line with good governance principles, appropriate steps being taken to resolve the matter.  

It is also a requirement for most students’ unions to confirm in their annual return that all incidents which should have been reported have in fact been reported.  

If the trustees consider that a serious incident report is not necessary in the circumstances, they should ensure that they have clearly documented their decision, including the rationale for the decision.

How does reporting work?

There is a fine balance between reporting as soon as possible and taking some time to ensure that the students’ union has gathered all of the necessary information and put a plan in place to deal with the incident. For more complex incidents, it can help to produce a timeline.

The report will need to cover what has happened, the impact on beneficiaries and the charity’s activities, the steps taken to deal with the incident, and the learning taken from the incident to prevent similar incidents occurring in future.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact the Students’ Union team on 0113 244 6100 or by emailing halyley.marsden@wrigleys.co.uk.

You can also keep up to date by following Wrigleys Solicitors on LinkedIn.

The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature.  The law stated is correct at the date (stated above) this article was first posted to our website.

Specific advice should be sought for specific situations. If you have any queries or need any legal advice please contact Wrigleys Solicitors.