Agenda item

Councillor Worby presented the Barking and Dagenham Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) Annual Report for 2022/23 on behalf of the Independent Chair of the SAB who was unable to attend the meeting.

Councillor Worby referred to the role of the SAB, its close relationship with the three statutory partners of the Council - the NHS North East London Integrated Care Board (NEL ICB) and the Police - and the key achievements of the SAB and its three committees during 2022/23.  The SAB had established the following six main priorities for 2022/23, which were each supported by a range of actions:

1)  Support for Hoarding and Self Neglect;

2)  Implement a Learning and Development Committee to deliver joint multi agency learning;

3)  Preparing for CQC regulation;

4)  Joining up with children’s social care on key cross cutting themes;

5)  Develop governances, safeguarding and quality interfaces with NEL ICB;

6)  Develop a community safeguarding offer and preventative offer for adults.

The Annual Report included data on enquiries under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 relating to individuals experiencing, or at risk of, abuse and neglect.  The data showed that Barking and Dagenham received 1,511 adult safeguarding concerns in 2022/23, 252 of which (17%) led to a Section 42 enquiry.  Councillor Worby welcomed the relatively low level of referrals that resulted in a Section 42 enquiry, which also compared favourably with the overall national rate of 30%.  However, she did express a slight concern at the low level of referrals from agencies such as the Police and also remarked upon a disproportionate level of white adults being referred in comparison to other ethnic groups, which suggested that more targeted information was needed to raise awareness amongst minority ethnic groups.  A further observation was made relating to the low level (3%) of domestic abuse-related referrals.

In response to a question regarding the Police’s priorities around safeguarding, Councillor Worby confirmed that the local Police were an active member of the Borough’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and took shared responsibility for safeguarding.  It was acknowledged, however, that the recent position taken by the Metropolitan Police regarding responses to mental health-related ‘crisis’ incidents was a cause for concern, particularly in terms of the added pressure that may have on other parts of the overall system, such as health providers and local authorities.  Other issues raised during the discussions included:

·  The increasing number of hunger-related cases being experienced;

·  The need for robust transitional arrangements for young people turning 19 years of age who move from children’s social care services onto adult social care;

·  The importance of using meaningful language when communicating on ‘safeguarding’ issues, so that the entire local community, including minority ethnic groups, can understand what safeguarding means for them and their families, the various types of abuse that can be experienced such as financial abuse and ‘cuckooing’, the support services available and the experience that they can expect;

·  The particular vulnerabilities amongst the 18-25 year old group, many of whom were not known previously known to Children’s social care;

·  The “integrated front door” multi-agency project being developed amongst partner organisations.

Summarising the discussions, Councillor Worby called on all partners to proactively use the information in the SAB’s report and the issues raised at this meeting to contribute to a system-wide response to support vulnerable adults.  In that regard, she agreed to discuss with the Independent Chair of the SAB the development of an action plan.  Dr Sharma also referred to the health inequalities work being led by the Primary Care network, citing examples of drop-in centres and youth pop-up clinics, which could form part of a Borough-wide action plan.

The Health and Wellbeing Board and ICB Sub-Committee resolved to note the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) Annual Report 2022/23 at Appendix 1 to the report.