Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Independent Chair of the Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Adults Board (LRSAB) for 2023/24. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Ms. Seona Douglas, Independent Chair of the LRSAB to the meeting for this item. During the presentation of the report a Safeguarding ‘Hidden Harms’ video highlighting domestic abuse against older people was shown.

Arising from discussion and questions, the following points were made:

1. Members welcomed the report and the Hidden Harms video which had been brought to their attention.
   
   
2. A Member commented on the impact on partnership working if representatives from some organisations, such as district councils and the Department for Work and Pensions, did not attend regularly. The Independent Chair confirmed that, as requested by the Committee the previous year attendance figures had been included and meetings arranged with the different representatives to try and encourage improved attendance.  It was acknowledged that people were not being fairly represented and information would not be disseminated if not all partners were regularly present.

3. Members noted that success was measured in several ways. For example, through the work of sub-groups which operated under the Board, by assessing feedback from people who had received a safeguarding service and through delivery of action plans resulting from reviews which were measured in terms of quality data. The Board had developed a high-level dashboard of performance indicators that related to everyday practice and priorities and these gave an indication as to whether the Board was doing well or not.
   
   
4. The threshold audit had recorded that two thirds of cases were considered to be successful.  However, the Board would look at those not meeting that threshold to understand why, and to consider what could be done to address this. Categories of abuse and the measures of success around safeguarding were reported.  For example, the number of people taken out of risk, which was considered to be a good measure of success. Members requested that consideration be given to including in future reports the number of cases resolved successfully (or not).
   
   
5. Until recently the Department had recorded a number of contacts received as ‘safeguarding alerts’ which should have been recorded as a ‘concern for welfare’.  This had distorted the Council’s safeguarding figures when compared to other authorities for some years and was now the reason for the significant drop in figures this year.  The Department had introduced clearer guidelines on what should qualify as a safeguarding alert compared to a concern for welfare which was more in line with the approach of other authorities. 
6. Conversely, the number of safeguarding alerts which were then turned into enquiries (i.e. those recorded safeguarding alerts deemed to meet the threshold for needing a proper assessment under the safeguarding route) had risen from 10% to 46%.  This compared to a national rate of 30%, and the average for the East Midlands at 45%. The methodology for recording alerts and enquiries had only been in place for two quarters and so the Council’s overall position would be clearer at the end of the year.  

7. Members were informed that, when comparing demographics, first and foremost comparisons with the East Midlands were made, which contained 10 authorities across the geographic area. There was also a peer group of 15 shire county councils, chosen with similar demographics to the County Council that could be compared against, and finally there was the national picture as an option for comparison.

8. Members asked if in the table of key deliverables at Appendix B to the report, response and outcomes to the impact measures and timescales could be included in the document. The Independent Chair reported that the action plan would be included as an appendix in the annual report which would capture this added information.

9. A Member queried what would a person should search for when looking for contact information or assistance online, if they or a family member had concerns about abuse or harm. The Independent Chair reported that there were a number of videos on the Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Adults Board YouTube pages and people could search for keywords, such as Safeguarding Adults Leicester. More videos would be added onto the website to cover global issues and provide additional contact information. Attention was drawn to one particular video called ‘Was Not Brought’.  This highlighted the issue of people not being taken to or arriving at various appointments with professionals but not then following these up.  The intention was to find out why,

The Chairman thanked Ms. Douglas for the report.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the annual report of the Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Adults Board LRSAB) for 2023/24 be noted and welcomed.

(b)  That the Director be requested to consider how to keep Members informed of useful material to be found on the Safeguarding website.