Issue - meetings

Social care officers explained that adult safeguarding was defined as people and organisations working together to prevent abuse or neglect. This was made a statutory responsibility of Local Authorities under the Care Act 2014 and this had led to the formation of a Safeguarding Adults Board. It was agreed that the annual report of the Safeguarding Adults Board should be brought to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee. 

The focus was on the prevention of incidents and minimisation of risks such as homelessness or county lines exploitation. Individuals were able to refer themselves to social care and visits to vulnerable people were undertaken where necessary. It was noted however that social care officers did not have any right of entry to properties. The largest proportion of safeguarding referrals to social care came from the Police. 

Safeguarding referrals to social care had increased from 293 to 890 in the last six years. This was partly due to better reporting and also due to the threshold for a section 42 investigation now being lower. The most common type of abuse reported was neglect or acts of omission which were usually seen in care or nursing homes.

The service aimed to deliver positive outcomes for people from safeguarding and to empower people to be in control. It was aimed to give people information or advocacy where required in order that informed decisions could be made. There was a very high number of safeguarding cases and a number of factors were considered in how cases were dealt with including family issues, safeguarding of carers and risks to staff. Work was also undertaken in conjunction with Healthwatch and the voluntary sector. 

The thresholds for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) had now changed and this had resulted in more referrals – some 1,607 per year in Havering. This also reflected the large elderly population in Havering. The Liberty Protection Safeguards were due to take over from DOLS in October 2020. These would start from 16 years of age rather than 18 and be more longer lasting than DOLS. The Council would not be receiving any extra funding to implement these.

It was accepted that Police resources were stretched but local Police Community Support Officers had been effective in deterring some instances of anti-social behaviour.

The Sub-Committee AGREED:

1.    That the annual report of the Adult Safeguarding Board should be brought to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee.

2.    That Councillors Smith, Sargent, Van den Hende and White should form the Safeguarding Adults topic group.