Agenda item

Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, the Independent Chair of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (OSAB), Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Karen Fuller, Director of Adult Social Services, Victoria Baran, Deputy Director Adult Social Care, and Steven Turner, OSAB Strategic Partnerships Manager, have been invited to present the OSAB Annual Safeguarding report and to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, the Independent Chair of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (OSAB), Cllr Tim Bearder, Cabinet Member of Adult Social Services, Karen Fuller, Director of Adult Social care, Victoria Baran, Deputy Director of Adult Social Care, and Lorraine Henry, Safeguarding Mental Health Service Manager, were invited to present the OSAB Annual Safeguarding Report and answer the Committee’s questions.

The presentation was led by the Independent Chair, who stressed that safeguarding was a collective responsibility, regardless of any staff shortages and budget limitations. A decrease in safeguarding enquiries was also observed. The importance of quicker and more effective learning from reviews to prevent future incidents was highlighted, pointing out recurring issues such as insufficient professional curiosity and poor multi-agency risk assessment. The Independent Chair identified three key priorities for OSAB, derived from over 200 recommendations: understanding barriers to learning, embedding acquired knowledge, and monitoring effectiveness.

The Cabinet Member stressed that professional curiosity was crucial, particularly when staff were overworked and underpaid, and that it was important to grasp the broader context of challenges faced by frontline workers, such as staff shortages and more complex cases.

Members of the Committee made the following observations, and raised a number of questions and concerns, including:

·       What strategies were in place to ensure adequate time was provided for individuals at risk?

The Director of Adult Social Care emphasised that care was individualised, with no fixed time allocated per person. This flexibility ensured that care was tailored to the unique requirements of each person.

·       Members observed that a substantial number of concerns surfaced in both 2022/23 and 2023/24, prompting curiosity about the underlying reasons.

The team had begun to conduct an in-depth review of these cases to understand the nature of the concerns, assess any similarities or differences between the years, and determine whether the issues were resolved or continued. Following this analysis, steps would be taken to address the concerns, prioritising the identification of barriers to resolution and enhancing the safeguarding process for the affected individuals.

·       The objectives and interplay of the Multi-Agency Risk Management (MARM) process and the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) was explored with the MASH described as a central point where all referrals for adults and children, including those from the police, were received. It served as a coordinating hub for safeguarding concerns whereas MARM was a process intended for individuals who may not have had traditional care and support needs but still presented recurring risks. It involved multi-agency teams discussing the most effective pathway to safeguard the person involved.

These processes formed part of a comprehensive safeguarding framework, ensuring that at-risk individuals were identified and supported through coordinated efforts from multiple agencies.  Additionally, it was noted that the Oxfordshire MARM process had been commended by other local authorities due to its significant positive outcomes, highlighting interest in how the process operated.

·       Members noted the significant reduction of the number of open enquiries, compared to the previous year, especially the number of enquiries open for over 12 weeks. 

Despite the substantial decrease in cases and the implementation of new measures to identify, measure, and monitor them, a major reason for this reduction was the enhanced process for recording inquiries and streamlining how information was reported and documented.

It was acknowledged that effective safeguarding processes naturally involved several ongoing inquiries. Efforts had been made, and would continue, to enhance the team's overall performance to ensure that cases were resolved both swiftly and efficiently.

·       Members questioned whether effective whistleblower schemes were in place for staff to communicate issues up and down the chain.

The County Council had whistleblower policies allowing staff to report concerns anonymously if they felt unable to escalate them through regular channels. These policies enabled anonymous safeguarding referrals, ensuring that concerns about care or service provision could be investigated and addressed.

The discussion emphasised that anonymous safeguarding referrals were taken seriously and thoroughly investigated to address any issues. This process was part of the wider safeguarding framework, ensuring that individuals at risk were identified and supported through coordinated efforts from various agencies.

·       The Independent Chair stressed, in response to a question about proposed changes to the Integrated Care Board’s operating model which the Committee was mindful that the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had strong concerns about, that it would be important to carefully monitor and understand the effects of the proposed service resign.

·       Members concluded the discussion, seeking advice for members of the public concerned about an individual in their community.

The Independent Chair highlighted the need for public awareness on reporting safeguarding concerns and noted efforts to increase awareness, especially during Safeguarding Awareness Week, using the telephone or online. The Independent Chair stressed that anyone, including families and friends, could report any concern, no matter how small, to help protect vulnerable individuals.

The Committee requested the following ACTIONS:

·       Update of social worker pay, and compare to national rates of social worker pay, including:

-       A summary of the recent recruitment process, what is being done to recruit local and train new staff

·       Data of staff vs people in care

·       Once the National Adult Safeguarding Data has been reported in April 2025, the data and Oxfordshire comparisons will be fed back to committee.