Agenda item

To consider the annual report of the Haringey Safeguarding Adults Board for 2021/22.

Dr Adi Cooper, Independent Chair of the Haringey Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB, introduced the Board’s annual report for 2021/22. She explained that the Board had a statutory responsibility to produce a plan and an annual report to explain how the plan was being delivered. The Board’s activities were delivered through a range of sub-groups and this included a Covid task and finish group which had met frequently during this period but had now ceased. However, there was a recognition that Covid had not gone away and so there was an open agenda item at the Board which enabled any Covid-related issues to be raised.

Dr Cooper explained that one of the Board’s statutory responsibilities was to commission Safeguarding Adults Reviews. One had been published during 2021/22 and the learning from previous reviews was continuing to be implemented. The thematic review from homelessness had continued and most of the action plan had been delivered. The cover report included an update on the issues that had been raised by the Panel in the previous year.

The report also demonstrated the actions against the strategic priorities for the previous year, the approach for which was to aim high with the recognition that not everything would necessarily be delivered. Partnership working was also set out, including the regular meetings between the HSAB and the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) to improve the way that the two Boards worked together, particularly on transitions between the two services.

Dr Cooper then responded to questions from the Panel:

• Cllr Connor requested further details on the nature of the safeguarding issues relating to the Homes for Ukraine scheme and what alternative accommodation was offered. Dr Cooper agreed to provide further details about this in writing. (ACTION)
• Helena Kania raised concerns about the risk of additional safeguarding issues causing by lack of resources. Dr Cooper said that she was equally concerned about this issue which would be included in the strategic plan for this year. It was also important to consider how this might translate, for example through financial abuse because of lack of financial resources or because of domestic abuse because of tensions between family members. This would then help to prioritise resources across the partnership.
• Helena Kania asked about safeguarding issues that related to how the police dealt with autistic people. Dr Cooper said that she had spoken to the Joint Partnership Board (JPB) earlier in the day about co-producing the safeguarding strategy for the next 3-5 years. She acknowledged that the issue of the police dealing with autistic people was a good example of an area of input from the JPB that hadn’t previously been raised through the HSAB but could be included in future strategies and was part of the complex area of debate about vulnerability and criminality.
• Asked by Cllr Iyngkaran about how robust the safeguarding training for the Police was, Dr Cooper said that this would be for Police colleagues to comment on the impact and effectiveness of the training as this was not commissioned by the Board. (ACTION)
• Vicky Murphy commented that the department had pledged to promote a deeper dive into the work with vulnerable adults around crime. She added that significant investment had been put into the team that coordinated the safeguarding referral process. There had also been work carried out with the Corporate Leadership Team and Senior Management Teams to strengthen the basics around safeguarding being everyone’s business.
• Cllr Connor asked for further detail on the cases of child to parent domestic abuse cases referred to in the report. Dr Cooper said that significant increases had been reported by the Police during the lockdown period and, while it remained an area of concern, there seemed to be fewer cases now. It was important to understand that domestic abuse was understood not just as within intimate relationships but also could occur intergenerationally within families. 
• Cllr Connor asked for further detail on the action being taken to address the concerns raised in the report about the risk of young people being exploited by organised crime gangs and about the engagement with young people in the transition stage between children’s and adult services. Dr Cooper said that there was clear evidence of the ongoing work being done through the recent update at the joint boards with new protocols and forums set up to discuss some cases. Vicky Murphy added that systems had been set up across both Children’s and Adult services to manage some of these areas. There was a Preparing for Adulthood Strategy and a Transitions Strategy and there was a meeting taking place the following week to look at developing a transitions team that would work with the 14-25 age group. Cllr Connor recommended that the Panel should look at this piece of work in more detail as part of a future meeting. (ACTION)
• Cllr Connor referred to the section of the report on housing need and homelessness which stated that co-production would be a means of strengthening the residents’ voice and asked how this would work in practice. Dr Cooper said that this question would need to be directed to Gill Taylor to comment specifically on homelessness. (ACTION) More generally, Dr Cooper had recently met with the Joint Partnership Board to look at co-production of the new strategy as it was important to model co-production at a strategic level.
• Cllr Connor asked whether there were additional safeguarding risks caused by the pressure on adult social services caused by hospital discharges. Dr Cooper said that the Board had the learning from the Covid-19 pandemic about the safeguarding risks associated with appropriate and inappropriate discharge from hospital. There were different challenges at the present time but she expressed the hope that this learning was now embedded. Vicky Murphy added that the NHS was under significant pressure nationally and so there was a need to free up access to beds for those that needed them. However, there was actually quite a good relative position in the NCL area with small numbers of escalations compared to other areas. Maintaining such a position depended on looking as a whole system at the options for discharge with quality as a key component. There were also teams in place such as the Crisis Response Team that could respond to any issues quickly.
• Cllr Connor noted the data in the report showing that Section 42 inquiries were up by 32% and abuse in the home up by 22%. Dr Cooper responded that it was tricky to interpret the figures but that the increase in Section 42 inquiries could potentially be a reflection of more appropriate referrals coming in and also because they could take some time to come through and there was now additional staffing capacity. This did not necessarily indicate a difference in what was happening in the community. Dr Cooper said that the increase in the abuse in the home figures reflected that more people with care and support needs were now living at home rather than move into residential and nursing care. Asked by Cllr Connor what proportion of the abuse reports related to care staff, family member or others, Dr Cooper said that she would provide a more detailed response in writing. (ACTION) As the Independent Chair of the HSAB, she said that she relied on the quality assurance subgroup to look underneath the data and report back on any issues. This was then monitored regularly through the Board meetings and deep dives requested where necessary.
• Asked by Cllr Connor why some of the strategic objectives in Appendix 1 were not yet being met, Dr Cooper said that some were due to external reasons such as delay to the implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards legislation (objective A3) and delays caused by Covid (objective P2). There was also a resource issue with partner agencies being very stretched and while pushing for an ambitious strategic plan. It was also necessary to acknowledge the challenges currently being faced across the system.
• Cllr Connor asked for clarification about the disparity between the 22 reports of modern slavery concerns referred to on page 80 of the agenda pack and an estimate of 858 victims of modern slavery in Haringey on page 83 of the agenda pack. Dr Cooper observed that the issue with modern slavery is that we were still not seeing as a society what was in front of our eyes which was why the training and awareness raising work was needed. The data had come from colleagues specialising in this area of work and while it was shocking, it was also necessary as there was still a lot of denial in this area. Understanding and addressing issues of modern slavery was under the exclusive remit of the HSAB and information was shared across a number of partnerships including the Community Safety Partnership. Cllr Connor recommended that the Panel look at the issue of modern slavery in more detail as part of its future work, including input from the Community Safety Partnership. (ACTION)

Cllr Connor thanked Dr Adi Cooper and all those involved in the high amount of work and information that had gone into producing the annual report.

RESOLVED – That further information be obtained on safeguarding issues relating to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, Police safeguarding training, co-production on housing need and abuse in the home.

RESOLVED – That future updates on developing a transitions team and on modern slavery be added to the work programme.