Agenda item

The Independent Chair of the TSAB, Adrian Green, will be in attendance to present the TSAB’s Annual Report 2024-2025. 

 

A copy of the TSAB Strategic Business Plan 2025-2028 is attached for information only.

 

The Panel received the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB) Annual Report, presented by the Independent Chair of the Board, which set out activity during 2024/25 to safeguard adults with care and support needs across Teesside.  TSAB worked on behalf of the four local authorities and statutory partners to prevent abuse, promote good practice and ensure effective multi-agency responses.

 

Training and Development

 

TSAB continued to deliver a comprehensive multi-agency training programme.  During the year:

 

·        7,582 learners from 631 organisations accessed safeguarding learning.

·        Over 23,000 e-learning courses were completed, with an 82% completion rate.

·        1,427 learners completed Safeguarding Adults level 1.

·        558 delegates attended virtual or face-to-face courses, and 180 workbooks were completed.

·        21 webinars were delivered, providing 84 hours of structured learning.

 

Feedback indicated increased practitioner confidence in involving adults, responding to complex cases and applying trauma-informed practice.

 

Priority 1: Joint Working

 

The TSAB strengthened multi-agency collaboration by:

 

·        Delivering a programme of multi-agency audits on exploitation, transitions and high-risk cases.

·        Reviewing the Teeswide Inter-Agency Safeguarding Adults Procedure.

·        Developing a new Adult Exploitation Strategy and establishing an implementation group.

·        Holding a multi-agency workshop on transitions for young people at risk.

·        Supporting local Domestic Abuse Strategy activity and wider community engagement.

·        Producing updated guidance on collaborative working and information sharing.

 

Priority 2: People

 

Workforce development remained a core focus.  The TSAB:

 

·        Introduced impact assessments to evaluate training effectiveness.

·        Embedded learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) and Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs).

·        Delivered public-facing campaigns during Carers Week, Elder Abuse Day and Transitional Safeguarding. 

·        Launched a new Hidden Harms learning resource.

·        Delivered GP engagement sessions and broadened voluntary-sector access to TSAB training.

 

Priority 3: Communication

 

The TSAB continued to improve the accessibility of safeguarding information for the public and practitioners.  Work included:

 

·        Conducting an annual survey that received 697 responses.

·        Commissioning ‘Inclusion North’ to produce new Easy Read safeguarding resources.

·        Making improvements to the TSAB website to enhance accessibility.

·        Delivering a series of public-facing campaigns throughout the Safeguarding Adults Week.

·        Expanding and strengthening the Safeguarding Champions network to reach seldom-heard groups.

 

Priority 4: Services

 

TSAB worked to ensure that adults at risk had access to appropriate services.  Activity included:

 

·        Redeveloping the Safe Place Scheme training video using insight from people with lived experience.

·        Updating the ‘Find Support in Your Area’ webpage.

·        Strengthening the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) for commissioned services.

·        Delivering awareness sessions for providers and community organisations.

·        Monitoring partner performance through the multi-agency data dashboard.

 

Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs)

 

Three SARs were published during 2024/25.  The SAR Sub-Group:

 

·        Considered eight notifications, with four progressing to SARs and four requiring no further action under the Care Act.

·        Monitored fourteen open cases.

·        Reviewed learning from local, regional and national SARs.

·        Oversaw implementation of actions through updated guidance, new training, audits and campaigns.

 

A national CPS-related recommendation remained incomplete due to an absence of a formal response at both national and local levels.

 

Partner Contribution

 

The Panel noted strong contributions from all statutory partners:

 

·        Hartlepool Borough Council continued to promote safeguarding practice, supported TSAB campaigns and received positive external feedback.

·        Middlesbrough Council delivered wide-ranging training and engagement during Safeguarding Adults Week and supported on the exploitation strategy.

·        Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council strengthened Making Safeguarding Personal and embedded SAR learning.

·        Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council developed transition pathways, promoted community engagement and achieved strong Quality Assurance Framework outcomes.

·        Cleveland Police provided subject-matter expertise, strengthening Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) arrangements and supported TSAB campaigns.

·        NHS Trusts and the ICB improved safeguarding supervision, embedded learning and strengthened health-sector pathways.

·        Healthwatch, Hartlepower and Thirteen Group supported awareness-raising, training and community engagement.

 

Safeguarding Activity Data

 

The Panel noted continued high volumes of safeguarding concerns and Section 42 enquiries across Teesside, reflecting differing levels of need, types of provision and reporting behaviour across the four areas.  Demand for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) also remained high.

 

Members discussed Middlesbrough’s data, noting 2,865 safeguarding concerns and 1,875 Section 42 enquiries, and queried the data.  It was clarified that this was not a national KPI and that the Council had limited control over the volume of concerns received.  The key requirement was to understand the data and apply thresholds consistently.

 

Although Middlesbrough is a smaller authority, its safeguarding numbers were higher than Redcar & Cleveland’s.  The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration explained that this reflected higher levels of need, greater deprivation, and more complex presentations in the borough.  Providers sometimes reported cautiously, submitting concerns that did not always meet the safeguarding threshold.  While some organisations raised concerns to manage their own risk, the local authority was required to apply the statutory threshold under the Care Act.

 

It was emphasised that under-reporting carried its own risks, and it was therefore preferable that concerns were raised, even if triaged out.  The increase in reported concerns was describes as a process issue rather than an increase in actual harm.  Domestic abuse, homelessness and wider social pressures continued to drive reporting activity.

 

Members also noted that providers did not always understand safeguarding thresholds or alternative intelligence-sharing routes.  Despite the Council’s overall ‘Requires Improvement’ Care Quality Commission rating, safeguarding performance remained strong.  The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration was reviewing resourcing options to support the service given the sustained pressure and demand.

 

The Panel noted the new three-year TSAB Strategic Business Plan, which set out priorities under:

 

1.     Information, Engagement and Involvement

2.     Confident, Competent Practice

3.     Emerging Challenges and Enabling Solutions

 

The Strategic Business Plan was received for information only.

 

Members acknowledged the scale of safeguarding activity delivered across Teesside and commended the strength of the multi-agency partnership and its continued focus on improving outcomes for adults at risk.

 

NOTED.