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Closing a concern is the sign-off. Pigeonhole records who closed each concern and when. Depending on your setting’s sign-off rules, it also records who read the concern first and each DSL’s signature.

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Concern Statuses

  • Active: the concern is open and being worked on.
  • Awaiting sign-off: a DSL has proposed closing it, and it is waiting for more signatures. It is still open, so you can keep adding actions and editing it.
  • Closed: the concern was resolved and signed off.
  • No Action: the concern was reviewed and no further action was needed.
Closed and No Action both record who closed the concern and when, and both can be reopened.

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Who Can Close a Concern

Only a Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Safeguarding Lead can close, sign or reopen a concern. Managers can’t open safeguarding records unless they also hold one of those roles.

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Seen By

Each concern shows a Seen by panel under its actions. It lists every DSL who can see the concern, with the last time each opened it, or Not yet seen.
A record of concern with the Seen by panel highlighted, showing two DSLs not yet seen and one last seen today
Opening a concern marks it as seen by you. It still counts if the concern is edited afterwards. Signing a concern also counts as reading it. If your setting has a read rule, the Close concern button stays greyed out until everyone it names has opened the concern. A note underneath says who you are waiting for.
The Close concern button greyed out, with the note "Waiting for Jenifer Mayert, Morgan Hayes to read it before it can be closed"

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How to Close a Concern

  1. Open the record of concern from the Records of Concern list.
  2. Click Close concern at the bottom of the concern card.
  3. Choose an Outcome:
    • Closed (resolved): the concern was dealt with.
    • No action required: reviewed, but nothing further was needed.
  4. Optionally add Close notes describing how the concern was resolved.
  5. If your setting needs a signature, sign in the box and type your full name. If you have a saved signature, you can click Use my signature instead.
  6. Click the button at the bottom of the dialog. Its label depends on your setting’s rules:
    • Close concern or Mark no action: no signature is needed.
    • Sign and close: your signature is the only one needed.
    • Sign and propose close: other DSLs need to sign too.
The Close concern dialog with Outcome, Close notes, a drawn signature, the signer's name and the Sign and propose close button
The dialog’s description tells you what your setting needs, for example “Your setting needs signatures from any 2 DSLs to close a concern.”

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When More Than One Signature Is Needed

If your setting needs signatures from several DSLs, closing happens in two steps.

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1. The first DSL proposes the close

When you click Sign and propose close, the concern changes to Awaiting sign-off. The concern page shows who proposed it, the outcome, and how many signatures are still needed. When the rule names people, it also shows who still has to sign.
The Awaiting sign-off panel: Site Owner proposed marking this as closed, it needs signatures from any 2 DSLs, 1 more to go, with a Cancel close button
Pigeonhole emails the DSLs whose signature could complete the close, with a link to the concern (“Safeguarding concern awaiting your sign-off”).

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2. The other DSLs sign

  1. Open the concern. It shows Awaiting sign-off in the list and on your dashboard.
  2. Click Sign to close.
  3. Read the proposed outcome and close notes, then sign and type your name.
  4. Click Sign.
The Sign to close dialog showing the proposer's close notes, a signature and the Sign button
The concern closes automatically on the signature that meets the rule. The last DSL to sign is recorded as the person who closed it.

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Cancelling a proposed close

Any Safeguarding Lead or deputy can click Cancel close while a concern is awaiting sign-off, for example if new information comes in. The concern goes back to Active. The signatures collected so far are voided. They no longer count towards closing, but they are kept on record rather than deleted. The next close starts again from scratch.

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Signatures on the Record

Every signature is shown on the concern under Signatures: the raiser’s, if your setting asks for one, and each DSL who signed it off, with the date and time.
A closed concern showing Raised by, two Signed off by signatures, and Closed by Jenifer Mayert
The safeguarding history PDF lists who signed and when, but not the drawn signatures.

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Reopening a Concern

If new information comes to light, a Safeguarding Lead or deputy can reopen a closed concern.
  1. Open the closed record of concern.
  2. Click the Reopen icon next to the status and confirm.
The concern returns to Active. The closure details are cleared: who closed it, when, and the close notes. One DSL can reopen a concern, whatever your sign-off rules.
Reopening clears the previous closure details and close notes. If you need to keep a record of the original outcome, add it as an action before reopening.

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Older Records

Concerns closed before sign-off tracking was introduced show “Closed by legacy record” instead of a person’s name. The concern and its history are unaffected. Only the name of the person who closed it wasn’t captured at the time.