Welcome to Adults

Core Duties of Safeguarding Adults Boards

Safeguarding Adults Boards statutory core duties under the Care Act 2014 are to:

• develop and publish a strategic plan setting out how they will meet their objectives and how their member and partner agencies will contribute
• publish an annual report detailing how effective their work has been
• commission Safeguarding Adult Reviews for any cases which meet the criteria for these

The SAB meets these statutory objectives by:

• setting out annual priorities for assurance and improvement
• measuring the effectiveness of local safeguarding arrangements
• ensuring that safeguarding practice is person-centred, proportionate, and focused on improving outcomes
• supporting partners and enabling them to work collaboratively in preventing harm and abuse
• seeking assurances of continuous improvement with regard to safeguarding arrangements both as single agencies and as a partnership
• undertaking, learning and driving improvements from Safeguarding Adults Review

Purpose of the Board

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding is mainly aimed at people with care and support needs who may be in vulnerable circumstances and at risk of abuse or neglect by others. In these cases, local services must work together to spot those at risk and take steps to protect them.

Specific adult safeguarding duties apply to any adult who:

• has care and support needs
• is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect
• is unable to protect themselves because of their care and support needs.

Local authorities also have safeguarding responsibilities for carers and a general duty to promote the wellbeing of the wider population in the communities they serve.

Safeguarding duties apply regardless of whether a person’s care and support needs are being met, whether by the local authority or anyone else. They also apply to people who pay for their own care and support services.

An adult with care and support needs may be:

• an older person
• a person with a physical disability, a learning difficulty or a sensory impairment
• someone with mental health needs, including dementia or a personality disorder
• a person with a long-term health condition
• someone who uses substances or alcohol to the extent that it affects their ability to manage day-to-day living.

This is not an exhaustive list. In its definition of who should receive a safeguarding response, the legislation also includes people who are victims of sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and modern slavery. These are all largely criminal matters, however, and safeguarding duties would not be an alternative to police involvement, and would only be applicable at all where a person has care and support needs that mean that they are not able to protect themselves.

Adult safeguarding duties apply in whatever setting people live, with the exception of prisons and approved premises such as bail hostels. They apply regardless of whether or not someone has the ability to make specific decisions for themselves at specific times. There may be times when a person has care and support needs and is unable to protect themselves for a short, temporary period – for example, when they are in hospital under anaesthetic.

People with care and support needs are not inherently vulnerable, but they may come to be at risk of abuse or neglect at any point due to:

• physical or mental ill-health
• becoming disabled
• getting older
• not having support networks
• inappropriate accommodation
• financial circumstances
• being socially isolated.

Local authorities have a duty to make sure that the care and support services they commission are provided safely and to a high standard, while also recognising and tackling the abuse and neglect that happens in community and domestic settings.

Working with their partner organisations – including housing organisations, the National Health Service (NHS) and the police – local authorities should make sure that adults who may be at risk of abuse or neglect are enabled to live as safely and independently as possible, making their own decisions and taking control of their own lives.