Agenda item

Report ACH23-001

The Committee considered an overview of the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board’s (BSAB) Annual Report 2021/22.

The Chairman highlighted that this was a great example of partnership work, particularly through a difficult period, and welcomed members of the Bromley Safeguarding Adult Board to the meeting – Teresa Bell – Independent Chair of the Bromley Safeguarding Adult Board (“Independent Chair – BSAB”), Bulent Djouma – Bromley Safeguarding Adult Board Manager (“BSAB Manager”), Dirk Holtzhausen – LBB Assistant Director for Safeguarding, Performance and Provider Relations (“Assistant Director”), Fi Martin – Detective Superintendent BCU, Claire Lewin – Head of Safeguarding, NHS SEL ICB (Bromley) and Paul Sibun – Adult Safeguarding Manager/MCA Lead, NHS SEL ICS (Bromley) (“Adult Safeguarding Manager/MCA Lead”).

A video providing an overview of the Annual Report was shared with Members, and can be viewed via the following link: BSAB Annual Report 2021-22. The Independent Chair – BSAB noted that the video would be uploaded to the BSAB website, along with the full Annual Report and the Easy Read version. Members thanked the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board for providing an excellent report, which was well laid out and easy to digest.

In response to questions relating to Trading Standards, the Independent Chair – BSAB said that Trading Standards were an active member on the Board. The BSAB Manager advised that they were exploring various methods of raising awareness of the Trading Standards alerts, and there was a dedicated Trading Standards section on the BSAB website. The BSAB had also been working closely with the Trading Standards team to develop bespoke training sessions targeted at those in the community with a learning disability. They were also using the opportunities provided by road show events to spread these messages. The Detective Superintendent BCU confirmed that Trading Standards did prosecute rogue traders, and this could be discussed in further detail following the meeting.

A Member considered that the data collection needed to provide an idea of the severity of an issue. The Independent Chair – BSAB agreed that it would be useful to have more information on how the statistics compared regionally, and with national comparator groups. It was noted that this could be considered for future reports, and looked at by the Board when reviewing performance data. The Assistant Director advised that, in terms of hospitals, referrals were sent through quickly and a with low threshold, which was positive. There was a multiagency forum held every 4 weeks in Bromley, where all providers were discussed – this was very well attended, and the hospital had not been identified as an institution with a systemic problem. In response to questions regarding the data on modern slavery offences, the Detective Superintendent BCU advised that these cases were likely to have been picked up from county lines investigations, then fed back into the system.

In response to a question regarding the Board’s business plan, the Independent Chair – BSAB advised that they had moved to having a 2-year business plan. Previously they had operated to a 1-year business plan, which they had recognised was unrealistic and unhelpful as a lot of the work undertaken spanned a longer timescale. The 2-year business plan was reviewed each year as national and global context changed and to ensure this was reflected. The self-assessment tool, referred to in the report, was one of the ways in which they reviewed the business plan – partners completed a self-assessment of where they thought the Board was in delivering to the business plan and this was evaluated during a development workshop. The Independent Chair – BSAB confirmed that the BSAB was entering into the second year of the business plan, and were currently reviewing there position.

A Member enquired as to how the publication of the report could be expedited. The Independent Chair – BSAB said she recognised the frustration with the report being published well into a different context. It was noted that Boards each did things differently, and they had followed a format that ensured the report included validated data, but they were open to looking at other ways to communicate trends during the year. It was suggested that this could be discussed by the BSAB.

The Chairman reminded Members that a Prevent training session, run by the Head of Service for Trading Standards and Commercial Regulation, would be held for Members on 20^th February 2023. A Member enquired if Prevent training was mandatory for adult social care providers. The Assistant Director Strategy, Performance and Corporate Transformationsaid that there was not mandatory training for providers, in terms of their awareness around signs of extreme thoughts. Prevent was a statutory referral process which enabled anyone to report concerns regarding any individual and refer them into a safeguarding process. The Adult Safeguarding Manager/MCA Lead advised that all NHS commissioned services had to comply with the NHS standard contract – this had a section that referred to safeguarding in general and included aspects of Prevent. Providers were required to comply with statutory Prevent guidance, have a Prevent Lead and provide all staff with guidance on Prevent during training. The Member further questioned if Prevent training was promoted to providers. The Assistant Director said that within Adult Services, regular provider forums were held and used to share information – it was agreed that this would be raised at the next forum, and a presentation could be delivered on Prevent.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked members of the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board for their presentation and expressed gratitude for the important work they undertook.

RESOLVED that the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board’s 2021/22 Annual Report be noted.