Agenda item

Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board - Annual Report

Minutes:

The Assistant Director - Adult Social Care and Integration and the Safeguarding Adults Board Manager attended the meeting to present the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board 2019/20 Annual Report.

 

It was noted that the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board (RSAB) worked to protect adults with care and support needs form abuse and neglect with its key objective being to ensure that local safeguarding arrangements and partnerships acted to help and protect adults at risk or experiencing neglect and/or abuse. The report stated that the RSAB was a multi-agency strategic, rather than operational, partnership that was made up of senior/lead officers within adult social services, criminal justice, health, housing, community safety, voluntary organisations. It was noted that the main role of the RSAB was to coordinate the strategic development of adult safeguarding across Rotherham and to ensure the effectiveness of the work undertaken by Partner Agencies in the area.

 

The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager made a presentation to the meeting that included information on:

 

·       The priorities of the Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board.

 

·       Achievements during 2019/20, including:

 

·       Completing the first joint self-assessment with the Rotherham Children's Safeguarding Partnership.

·       Carrying out a training needs analysis across the partnership to develop a refreshed safeguarding training offer.

·       Holding a successful Safeguarding Awareness Week in 2019.

 

·       Plans for future activity.

The Assistant Director - Adult Social Care and Integration advised that a key area focus of activity for the RSAB in the coming year would be the issue of hoarding and self-neglect with the objective to improve the level of support provided in this area. The Assistant Director stated that work would also continue be carried out in order to ensure that all safeguarding activity was based around the individual needs of each service user.

 

The full Rotherham Safeguarding Adults Board 2019/20 Annual Report had been included in the agenda pack for the meeting.

 

Members asked for further information on the training that had been provided across the RSAB membership and whether training had been provided to voluntary sector organisations. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager stated that training had been provided to voluntary sector organisations and noted that a new training provider was now working with the RSAB, with the training programme due to be relaunched in Spring 2021. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager noted that the demands of the pandemic had resulted in a reduced take up of training but advised that the imminent relaunch of the training would aim to increase the uptake of training opportunities.

 

Members noted the multiagency approach of the RSAB and asked for further information on the different organisations that had accessed safeguarding training. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager stated that it was a key objective of the RSAB to deliver safeguarding awareness training as widely as possible, noting that banks and supermarkets held leaflets on to increase awareness on safeguarding issues and advised that banks had assisted in the delivery of awareness training regarding financial abuse.

 

The Chair asked for further information on the work that was being carried out to address the issues highlighted by a safeguarding adults review that had been detailed in the annual report following the death of a vulnerable 60-year old woman. The Assistant Director noted that the case had highlighted a series of failures including a lack of clarity for the service user and her support network. The Assistant Director advised that this case had shown the need to ensure that service delivery was always based around individual needs and to ensure that their needs were met rather than being based around set delivery methods and processes.

 

The Chair noted the misleading use of the term “honour-based violence” in the annual report, as such activity was simply violence against women and girls. The Chair asked whether this type of violence was an increasing problem in Rotherham. The Assistant Director advised that there was currently no evidence of this type of violence increasing in Rotherham. The Chair asked how confident the Board was that they had the processes in place to ensure that they knew about all victims of this type of violence. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager provided information on the reporting procedures used and assured members that the processes were robust and that the Board was confident that they had a good understanding about the victims and the prevalence of this type of violence.

 

Members also sought assurance about the data collection methods used by organisations supported by the RSAB and the reporting methods to the RSAB. The Safeguarding Adults Board Manager assured members that all organisations had clear processes for recording and reporting safeguarding concerns and detailed the processes and methods used by the RSAB for analysing and understanding cases and data.

 

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director Adult Social Care and Integration and the Safeguarding Adults Board Manager for attending the meeting and answering members’ questions.

 

Resolved: -

 

1)    That the report be noted.

 

2)    That the Independent Chair of the Rotherham Safeguarding Adult’s Board attends the July 2021 meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission to present a report on how the Board is working to identify and support hidden female victims of violence.

 

3)    That the report presented at the July 2021 meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission also includes an analysis of cases that resulted in no further action being taken.

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