To receive a verbal update on the work undertaken by the BCP Safeguarding Adults Board during the last year as well as the development of a new Strategic Plan for the Board. The item will also provide opportunity for the Committee to consider how it would like to engage in future scrutiny opportunities relating to the Safeguarding Adults Board.
Minutes:
The Business Manager of Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) and the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board introduced the Market Position Statement for Adults report. The main points raised were as follows:
· The full annual report was to be approved next week at the SAB meeting.
· Sian Walker took over as the new SAB Independent Chair following Barrie Crook’s departure.
· Statutory partners of the SAB are BCP Council, Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, Dorset Police and more.
· The SAB’s three statutory duties are: 1) Commissioning a Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) when someone with care and support needs experiences abuse, neglect or harm and as a result has died; or where the Board may agree a SAR. 2) Agreeing a Strategic Plan each year and demonstrating how this is delivered to all of the partners. 3) Publishing an Annual Report and delivering said report to the Health and Wellbeing Board.
· The SAB work jointly with Dorset’s SAB. The cooperative work includes the Joint Strategic Plan 2018-2021 and the Joint Business Plan 2020-2022.
· The Joint Strategic Plan 2018-2021 includes: working with the care provider market around safeguarding concerns, ensuring closer working around Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding, committing to a process known as ‘Whole Family’ working, ensuring lessons from the SARs impact on changing practice.
· The Joint Business Plan 2020-2022 involves the following priority themes: safeguarding in the care sector, domestic abuse, neglect and self-neglect, SAB Governance Review; and the following associated themes: implementing learning from SARs, DHRs and LeDeR reviews, exploitation, homelessness and substance abuse.
· So far, progress has been made on the 2020-2021 Plans.
· Partner agencies supported the provider market throughout the pandemic with practical help. An example of this was the supply of PPE. Strategic hep was also provided through the Local Resilience Forum.
· The SAB continued to work with the Community Safety Partnership on Domestic Abuse and contributed to the new Domestic Abuse Strategy.
· Whole Family working had been further embedded into the training and working practices across all partner organisations.
· Work on actions arising from SARs was ongoing, as well as the unpublished SARs from the previous year.
· Working with the local authority had taken place and steps had been taken to better understand the safeguarding categories of Neglect & Acts of Omission. This meant that preventative work would be improved.
· The SAB had focused on Homelessness and would continue to do so throughout 2021 and into 2022.
· The SAB had participated in a nationwide project run by Alcohol Change UK which continued to focus on improving preventative work.
· 2020-2021 had been the busiest year to date in terms of Safeguarding Concerns received by BCP Council. This included 7560 concerns received throughout the period, with 941 of those being converted to Section 42 enquiries. This was an increase of 84% from 2019-2020 with a 15% increase in volume of S42 Enquiries.
· The SAB’s plans for 2021-2022 included working with the new independent chair to finalise the governance review, as well as other partners, to ensure that the Board is effective and maximises opportunity for joint working. To continue to seek assurance from the Board Member organisations in safeguarding work. To encourage flexible working to allow for organisational priorities throughout the pandemic. To publish revised procedures with Dorset SAB and to review the other key policy documents including the SAR policy. To ensure that the SAB are engaging with providers and the voluntary/community sector, specifically engaging those who have lived experience of a safeguarding intervention.
· The SAB’s Strategic Plan going forward would refresh how work is conducted as two SABs across the BCP and Dorset areas respectively. It would also review the structure and process to deliver a focused plan that is easy to understand for professionals and citizens alike. Transitional Safeguarding and Homelessness would remain key priority areas for work. More citizens would be involved in the work of the Board and the plan would account for the challenges which citizens and partners had been facing in the pandemic.
The Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions following the report. Answers to the question raised were provided by Business Manager of Safeguarding Adults Board and the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board:
· A member asked a question on self-neglect. The Committee were informed that an individual can report a safeguarding concern when it is on another’s behalf. It was emphasised that it is always important to talk to the person who is of safeguarding concern and to speak to them in a positive way to frame the intervention as something that will help and improve their lives. The Mental Capacity Act is a law to allow services to take actions on the individual’s best interests. It is always important to communicate and inform what self-neglect is and members heard that the SAB would be working on their communication strategy in the coming year. It was explained to the Committee that the law clearly states that self-neglect is when an adult with care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from their own mental health or physical needs. Not all referrals will result in a full safeguarding intervention taking place.
RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report.
Voting: Unanimous