To receive a presentation from the chairman of the Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB) on the work of the board in 2016/17.

The chair of Herefordshire’s Safeguarding Adults Board presented the annual report for 2016/17. It was noted availability of the chair taken with capacity on cabinet agendas had led to this report being presented later than intended. The information in the report was therefore historical but presented an opportunity to reflect on practice and progress.

The chair of the board noted that adults safeguarding had historically had a lower profile than safeguarding of children but that this was an important area of work, protecting not only elderly adults but also adults with other care and support needs, such as learning difficulties, who were unable to protect themselves. 

The collective responsibility for safeguarding was emphasised, along with the specific responsibilities of the council. The role of partner agencies was noted. For example the proactive extension of fire safety checks by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service to include other areas such as preventing trips and falls.

The potential direct and indirect consequences of safeguarding failures were noted, for example where vulnerable adults were victims of scams and lost substantial sums of money this could impact on their ability to fund their own care needs and resulted in greater reliance on the system. It was recognised that there had been a shift for social care staff in working with individuals rather than doing things to them, and in acknowledging that individuals might choose to live in risky circumstances.

It was noted that performance information was still largely predicated on information provided by the council. It was a struggle to get information from the police services and health services, partly reflecting the way data was recorded and lack of national policy in some areas. Work was continuing with these key partners to improve recording of information.

Cabinet members raised a number of queries regarding the report and work of the safeguarding adults’ board. It was noted that:

·         the performance sub-group of the board was considering what further information was needed and how to better gather information from partners;

·         it was difficult to compare performance in Herefordshire with other areas due to inconsistencies in how performance was recorded;

·         there was some concern about the impact of the takeover of the fire and rescue service by the police and crime commissioner on safeguarding work, it was an ongoing dialogue to raise awareness of adults safeguarding across all government departments and with the PCC’s office;

·         despite good attendance from key partners there was ongoing work with some board members to consider alternative reporting arrangements where physical attendance was difficult;

·         it was acknowledged that the budget supporting the safeguarding boards business unit was getting tight but dialogues around this were already under way, if there was a need to commission a case review this would be a one off spend but could be quite expensive and hard to predict;

·         the workforce competency framework formed part of the commissioning framework for partner agencies, there had been feedback that it was a robust document but long and detailed, work was under way to try and make the document easier to use for front line supervision.

Group leaders were invited to present the views of their groups. Views expressed included:

·         concerns regarding deprivation of liberty cases, which were a national issue and which had been recorded on the corporate risk register of the council since 2014;

·         concerns that it could become more difficult to ensure safeguarding where increased numbers of residents were receiving care in their own homes rather than in institutions; and

·         that there should be follow up to preventative work to judge its effectiveness.

Further clarification was provided that:

·         the extended checks provided by the fire service were a 12 month pilot and some end of pilot follow up visits would take place to assess how effective they had been and how to take the scheme forward; and

·         deprivation of liberty was a complex area of work and recognised as an issue nationally, the sub group to the board reported regularly on this issue.

The 2016/17 annual report of Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board was noted.