The No secrets Review Consultation

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The No secrets Review Consultation

• Date
• Lucy Bonnerjea, Anna Morgan and Leo Quigley

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The Consultation Document

• Entitled Safeguarding Adults A consultation on
  the review of No Secrets Guidance
• Launched on 16th October by Phil Hope, Minister
  for Social Care
• Signed by 4 ministers Phil Hope (DH), Maria
  Eagle (MoJ), Vernon Coaker (Home Office) and Vera
  Bird (Solicitor General)
• Available to download from the DH website

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Focus of the review

• How does society keep people safe from abuse or
  harm?
• And in particular, how do we combine keeping
  people safe with three wider Government policy
  goals
• (i) increasing independence, choice and
  control for users of health and social care
  services
• (ii) increasing access to meaningful
  community empowerment and safer housing in wider
  society and
• (iii) increasing access to criminal justice
  for all

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Recent Housing Cases (I)

• Steven Hoskin (Cornwall)
• moderate learning disability
• lived alone
• supported by a housing association
• rejected help from social services
• murdered by youths who moved into his tenancy
• never referred into safeguarding

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Recent Housing Cases (II)

• X Y (Hounslow)
• moderate learning disability
• couple with small children
• supported by social services
• pleaded for re-housing, assisted by social worker
• tortured by local youths who took over their
  tenancy
• never referred into safeguarding

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Recent Housing Cases (III)

• Mr. P. and Mrs. S. (South Tyneside)
• each had tenancy in over 60s sheltered housing
• complained of ongoing bullying and harassment by
  their warden
• Housing Authority offered some protections but
  failed to investigate wardens actions
• were eventually moved to another scheme
• never referred into safeguarding

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Where is risk fromin Housing?

• Self harm and self neglect
• Other tenants
• Others who target and exploit vulnerable tenants
• local youths
• rogue tradesmen and distraction burglars
• Family and friends
• Support staff

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Some challenging questions ...

• Housing services offer scope for early
  identification (and prevention) of harm and
  exploitation, but
• Do we have workable local agreements about when
  to refer housing cases into Safeguarding?
• Do we know what a desirable outcome from
  safeguarding activity actually looks like?
• What are the respective responsibilities (and
  freedoms to choose) of local authorities,
  housing providers, the police and tenants when
  risk is recognised?
• Does personalisation have the same objectives
  as community empowerment?

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Consultation Questions

• Q 7a Do we need stronger policy links between
  safeguarding and community development and
  empowerment?
• How can this be achieved at the national and
  the local level?
• Q 7b How can housing providers contribute to
  safeguarding?
• What could housing departments, housing
  associations and supported housing/living
  providers do to enable their tenants and
  residents to live safer lives?

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What you can do

• Attend regional and national consultation events
  being organised by CSIP (details)
• Hold your own local or regional events (we will
  attend if possible)
• Send a response the consultation to
  nosecretsreview_at_dh.gsi.gov.uk
• Send a response to your professional leadership
  (ACPO, ADASS, RCN etc.) to be collated with other
  responses

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In your response you can

• Address all of the questions
• Address some of the questions
• Tell us about examples of good practice
• Raise any other issues you think are relevant

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• THANK YOU