Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Annual Report 2023/24

The annual report must demonstrate what both the SAB and its members have done to carry out and deliver the objectives of its strategic plan. Some of our key activities for 2023/24 are documented below and are aligned to the following SAB Strategic Priorities.

Quality Assurance Challenge Event

The board held its annual challenge event in September 2023. All statutory partners were represented at the event along with wide representation from other agencies.

The focus of the event was to:

• agree the boards governance and accountability arrangements. The board has developed a governance framework
• review membership and strengthening engagement
• develop the Strategic Plan and Future Priorities for the Safeguarding Adults Board
• agree the format of the Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Board annual report
• review the data which is presented to the Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Board.

The boards Strategic Plan for 2024-2027 was developed from the feedback from partners during the event. Partners were asked to deliver a short presentation on:

• what is working well
• what is not working well (obstacles, barriers and system pressures)
• what the 3 priorities should be from that agency's perspective

The priorities for the new Strategic Plan for 2019-2024 were agreed as:

• strengthening safeguarding
• learning and development 
• data and information
• prevention of harm 
• involvement and engagement

The outcomes from this plan will be shared in the 2024/25 annual report.

Following the event the board started to develop its governance and assurance framework to ensure there was clear evidence of accountability across the partnership. The framework was agreed by the Board in June 2024. Governance data is contained with the Safeguarding Adults Board Data Dashboard to ensure all board meetings are quorate and to ensure we have broad partnership attendance at meetings

The Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Board, Community Safety Partnership and the Gateshead Children's Safeguarding Partnership have worked over 2022/ 23 to improve and strengthen engagement across the partnerships. See Linking with Other Parts of the System Slide for further information.

It was agreed that the annual report should be in a format which is easily accessible and contains the relevant information to evidence the board has worked to meet its strategic priorities and capture the wider work of the partnership.

The board and the local authority performance team began work to improve the Safeguarding Adults Board Data Dashboard which was historically very data heavy. The Dashboard now contains graphs and charts which are used to identify areas of concern and where further analysis is required. Dashboard now contains data from Northumbria Police, TWFRS, Health as well as training information, communication and engagement and assurances around out of borough placements. Work continues to develop the Data Dashboard to ensure it provides useful information, data and assurance to the board.

Prepare Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Board the CQC Inspection

The Safeguarding Adults Board has received regular updates on progress with the preparations for the LA CQC Assurance inspections which Safeguarding Adults Boardwill include "How Gateshead ensures safety within the system":

The Safeguarding Adults Board has provided information which has been included in the local authority selfassessment and the Local Authority Information Return (LAIR) which will form part of the CQC overall Assurance Framework.

The Safeguarding Adults Board Independent Chair and Business Manager took part in the LGA ASC Preparation for Assurance Peer Review which took place in March 2023, and supports the local authority's preparations for the formal CQC assurance inspection from the position of a 'critical friend'. The challenge involved exploring the local authority's ambitions and performance and helped to highlight improvements and where effective practice can be shared more widely.

"New Independent Chair has introduced appropriate challenge within the board, with SARs progressed, better use of data and a Learning Register" feedback from LGA ASC Preparation for Assurance Peer Review

Feedback from the LGA ASC Preparation for Assurance Peer Review

Following the peer challenge the board were provided with feedback which suggested that further work needed to be undertaken on:

• developing a robust governance framework
• developing a risk register to ensure the board was aware of and able to monitor any risk which may prevent it from meeting its statutory responsibilities
• monitor learning from SARs and ensure assurances are received from partners on the learning identified following reviews is acted upon
• how do we know people in Gateshead are safe, how do people in Gateshead tell us what makes them feel safe
• review and improve our SAR process

Understanding safeguarding 

The number of inappropriate safeguarding concerns being received by the Local Authority Safeguarding Team in 2023/24 continues to remain high. In response to this the Safeguarding Adults Board developed the Understanding Safeguarding guidance which aimed to provide practitioners with clear guidance on when they should raise a safeguarding concern.

The guidance details the safeguarding concern criteria as defined in the Care Act 2014, and if the case does not meet the criteria what actions the practitioner can take such as requesting an initial care assessment or request a care and support review. The guidance promotes the use of multi-disciplinary meetings as way to bring practitioners together to support an individual.

The guidance gives case examples which help practitioners to reflect on cases they may have had and to consolidate and embed the learning from the guidance.

Exploitation awareness

Following the completion of a learning review in 2022 the NENC ICB Exploitation Nurse developed a short video on Exploitation Awareness, which was launched during 2023/24.

The learning review of a young adult male identified that he had been the victim of exploitation. The video illustrates how to recognise exploitation and also that consideration should be given to gender bias, that exploitation extends beyond the age of 18 and that it often may seem consensual. Helping to recognise the factors which make an individual more susceptible to exploitation is a key feature of the video, along with practical steps that practitioners can take to support someone. The video also raises the complex issue of executive dysfunction and how to deal with capacity issues, all things which were factors in the learning review conducted by the SARCC subgroup.

This short video can be used for any of our multi-agency partners to highlight with employees, volunteers and the public the dangers of not recognising exploitation.

Financial abuse and scams

Following a presentation and discussion at the QLP subgroup in April 2023 from the Gateshead Trading Standards Team information advice and guidance was added to the Safeguarding Adults Board website on the Financial Abuse and Scams page.

The information was aimed at supporting the public to recognise scams, who to do if they have been scammed and how they can support others by becoming Scam Champions or Scam Marshalls.

This additional information enhanced the information already provided on financial abuse and the guidance provide in the care act statutory guidance.

Multi-agency Learning and Development Gap Analysis

In February 2023 the QLP sub-group were tasked with reviewing the Safeguarding Adults Board multi-agency training offer through undertaking a training gap analysis to review the multi-agency training offer, identify the safeguarding training which partners were providing for their workforce, identify any gaps in our training offer, agree how to provide assurances to the board that multi and single agency safeguarding training is the required quality and standard and discuss the possibility of interagency working and sharing resources.

A task and finish group was set up with representatives from Northumbria Police, NENC ICB, Gateshead Council Safeguarding Adults Team, Gateshead Council Housing Services, TWFR and Gateshead Recovery Partnership.

The group are planning to present their report and recommendations at the board meeting in September 2024.

Partnership Reduction of Exploitation and Missing (Previously MSET)

The JSEG was involved in the regional review of Missing Sexually Exploited and Trafficked (MSET) procedures, which was undertaken towards the end of 2023 and start of 2024. The aim of MSET, introduced in 2018, was to have a corporate approach across the 6 LA's to safeguard and protect those children who were regularly going missing and at risk of or suffering from sexual exploitation. Through the review it was agreed that adult cases would be included in the revised processes.

Partners in Gateshead were key to a multi-agency task and finish group to consider improvements to the system so that the process was standardised across all six LAs in the Northumbria Police area; to include adults in the process; to be outcome focussed; to not only focus on the victim, but also on the offender to remove/resolve the issue and the location.

As a result, a new process was agreed - Partnership Reduction of Exploitation and Missing (PREM) which will put the onus on each local authority to gatekeep cases, which will give back several hours back to partners and ensure a multi-agency problem solving meeting to work together to reduce risk, tackle perpetrators and disrupt hot spot locations. The PREM meeting will be chaired by a Detective Inspector from the Prevention Department, Northumbria Police to ensure a corporate and consistent approach. Following agreement to proceed on this basis in June 2024, a roadshow, training and raising awareness with partners will be undertaken in summer 2024 before the new process is launched in the autumn of 2024. The impact of this new process will be monitored at a strategic level.

Transitional Safeguarding

The JSEG oversaw and supported the review of the vulnerable adolescents' services and supported the developing of a new group which will report into the JSEG - the Contextual Safeguarding Group is chaired by the JSEG deputy chair and Local Authority's Practice Lead for Innovation, Transformation and Vulnerable Adolescents. This group collectively informs and influences updates to the JSEG. It focuses on 5 key strands of work: Safeguarding of individual young people; Development of safeguarding places and spaces; Response to child protection; Transitional safeguarding; and Serious Youth Violence.

The Safeguarding Adults Board Business Manager attends the meetings and is the chair of the task and finish group for Transitional Safeguarding.