Agenda item

To present the Annual Report of the Blackpool Safeguarding Adults Board to the Committee.

Mr Stephen Ashley, Chair of the Blackpool Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB), presented BSAB Annual Report to the Committee outlining its work, role, structure and priorities.

Mr Ashley informed Members that Covid-19 had had a disproportionate effect on vulnerable adults in Blackpool and that report showed how partners had undertaken lots of hard work to address the challenge. He added that the BSAB had praised the Council’s Adult Social Care team for its work and not taking up the easements made available by Government, instead continuing to provide all of its services.

The Committee was also informed that Lancashire Constabulary had improved its ways of working with the inclusion of vulnerability experts on each working shift.

Domestic Abuse was reported as an ongoing area of concern with an increase in reports over the lockdown period. Partners had reacted well to this and it was noted that national recognition had been received for the use of Individual Domestic Violence Advisors to assist the Police in engaging with victims.

Mr Ashley also reported that the BSAB had continued the organisation of training for partners. As part of this the Fire and Rescue Service had taken over providing safeguarding training, as it had been recognised that the service was one of the most trusted partners of the BSAB.

Blackpool Coastal Housing Ltd was reported as having increased engagement with BSAB work. This had involved ensuring safeguarding training for its maintenance staff, which would help enable issues to be identified and referrals made.

It was also reported that lots of work had been undertaken to ensure local Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) had been properly assessed. This had resulted in there being no backlog of cases in Blackpool, which represented a better position than nationally.

The priorities for 2021 were also reported as being under consideration by the BSAB. Issues under consideration included; the restoration of services following Covid-19, the monitoring of Domestic Abuse and Mental Health referrals, improvement to self-neglect safeguarding and how to capture and make greater use of the voice of vulnerable people in safeguarding.

Mr Ashley informed Members that the report would be submitted to the BSAB Board and that a business case with greater detail on its priorities for 2021 was being developed. The Committee asked that more detail on Domestic Abuse, Mental Health and Self-Neglect be included in the business case going forward. Mr Ashley agreed that he would share a copy of the business case once it had been signed off by the Board with Members of the Committee.

The Committee asked if work had been planned on the issue of coercive control, which had been noted as an increasing problem. Mr Ashley replied that coercive control was a difficult area to identify and address. However a piece of work was underway to develop ways of addressing the issue including more training to help front line workers recognise its signs. Councillor Jo Farrell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, added that the local Domestic Abuse Group had restarted and would be picking up coercive control as an issue, including what services were available and if any gaps in provision existed.

The Committee also noted the 25% increase in cases of financial abuse in the report. Mr Ashley explained that the number of cases was relatively small and therefore even a small increase in cases could lead to a large percentage change. He would therefore ask that the raw data be shared with the Committee to better demonstrate the number of financial abuse cases.