A wide number of organisations will be involved with the process of safeguarding vulnerable adults. These include but are not limited to:
- social workers
- police officers
- immigration officers
- care staff
- probation staff
- medical staff
- financial staff
If your organisation is included on that list, you need to be particularly aware of the process by which safeguarding is co-ordinated, who is in charge of that process and where you should refer safeguarding enquiries if they arise to ensure that your legal and regulatory responsibilities are met.
What is safeguarding?
Adult safeguarding is defined by the Care Act 2014 Statutory Guidance as “protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.”
As can be imagined, this is a wide-ranging term and it includes action taken to prevent harm occurring and reduce the risk of abuse, preventing abuse or neglect – wherever that’s possible.
It also means making sure that there is access to a resolution and recovery process, as well as giving families and communities the support they need to reduce the risk of abuse, looking at the reasons behind the abuse or neglect and working to increase how different kinds of abuse are understood and addressed.
What does the law say?
Under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014, the local authority has a duty to carry out a safeguarding enquiry if it has “reasonable cause” to suspect that an adult in its area:
- needs care and support,
- is experiencing – or is at risk of being – abused or neglected, and
- because of the need for care and support, is currently unable to protect themselves against the abuse or neglect (or the risk of that)
The suspicion usually arises from an allegation of abuse or neglect, and as we have noted above, that can come from a variety of sources, as well as from concerned members of the general public.
If the local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that the three key tests listed above are met, that will trigger the duty to hold an enquiry.
Once this has happened, any actions that follow will be covered by Section 42 of the Act.
The aim of the enquiry is to find out whether any action needs to be taken to prevent or stop abuse or neglect and if so, what action should be taken and by whom.
Co-ordination
The local authority must take the lead role in co-ordinating safeguarding enquiries. They can do this either by carrying out the enquiry themselves or by making sure that other bodies do so.
How is that co-ordination achieved?
Section 43 of the Care Act says that local authorities must set up a Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) for its area. The SAB must include the local authority, the police and the NHS, and it must organise regular meetings where discussions can be held and action taken on safeguarding issues in the local authority’s area.
The SAB must also develop shared plans for safeguarding; this means working with local people to determine the best way of protecting adults who are in vulnerable situations.
The safeguarding plan, once developed, must be published and the SAB must report to the public annually on its progress. This is so that various concerned organisations can determine that they are co-operating in the best way for all concerned.
What does the board do?
The board will:
- ensure partners are accountable for their actions and responsibilities;
- monitor concerns, outcomes and the effectiveness of any response;
- set up and maintain links to other safeguarding forums;
- look at trends and patterns of abuse – this is so that a preventative agenda can be developed;
- co-ordinate multi-agency safeguarding training and learning activity, including organising links to bodies such as the Health and Wellbeing Boards and the Integrated Care System boards.
The SAB is ultimately responsible for making sure there are local multi-agency policies and procedures that can assist local agencies and individuals in helping to protect adults with care and support needs at risk of abuse or neglect.
Which council is responsible?
If an area has both county councils and local councils, the county council has the responsibility for adult social care and safeguarding.
For areas such as towns and cities, this will be covered by one council.
Safeguarding Adult Reviews
It’s also the job of the SABs to organise what are known as Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs), if it’s found that there are gaps in co-ordination that might have led to, or failed to prevent, abuse.
The SAB must then develop the findings in these reviews and make sure all partners embed those findings into their own organisations.
What should you do now?
If your organisation is involved in any way in the safeguarding process and you would like specialist legal advice and guidance on your responsibilities, policies or procedures, then contact our Business Crime and Regulation team who will be happy to discuss matters with you and confirm your compliance with the requirements of the law.