Strategic plan 2022 to 2024
The strategic plan 2022 to 2024 outlines the 6 strategic priorities of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board for 2022 to 2024 and what they mean for people living and working in York. Strategic priorities are the key areas that City of York Safeguarding Adults Board wants to work on over the next 2 years.
Our vision
For individuals, communities and organisations to work together to ensure that the people of York can live fulfilling lives free from abuse and neglect and to ensure that safeguarding is everybody’s business.
We'll embed into our priorities the 6 principles as set out in the Care Act 2014:
- Empowerment - person is asked what they want as an outcome from the safeguarding process and is informed of what happens. Making Safeguarding Personal.
- Protection - support and protection for those in greatest need. I know where to find clear and simple information of what abuse is and how to seek help.
- Prevention - it’s better to act before harm occurs.
- Proportionality - will only become involved when necessary, work with my best interests.
- Partnership - there is a multi-agency approach for people who need safeguarding support and I am confident professionals will work together.
- Accountability - I am supported to understand the roles of professionals in my life and professionals involved understand each other’s roles in the process. They will only share my personal information where necessary and what is helpful to keeping me safe.
Our priorities
Read more about each of our 6 priorities:
Priority 1
To develop an all age approach to safeguarding which maximises the potential and skills of teams and reduces the risks to young people transferring between services.
An all age approach to safeguarding is needed because:
- safeguarding children and adults has been governed by different laws meaning being considered a child at 17 years 364 days and an adult at 18 years can lead to a sharp end to support on a person’s eighteenth birthday
- harm experienced in childhood can make some adolescents and young adults vulnerable to harm which can persist into adulthood
- we need an approach which not only protects, but also prepares young people for their adult lives
We'll use a range of strategies to better safeguard all ages:
- creating a joint vision of safeguarding across the life course between Children’s and Adults’ Social Care alongside partners
- children’s and Adults’ Social Care will learn together and have better partnerships
- we'll strengthen use of the Mental Capacity Act; those aged 16 and over will be assumed to have capacity to make important decisions in their lives
Importantly, we'll take a wider view of safeguarding with a greater focus on safety of those that don’t necessarily meet the criteria for support from Adult Social Care.
Priority 2
Preventing abuse and neglect by adopting best practice, locally, regionally and nationally. Ensuring that all the learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews are implemented in a timely manner.
The Care Act 2014 states that Safeguarding Adult Boards (SABs) must arrange a Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) when an adult in its area dies as a result of abuse or neglect, whether known or suspected, and there is concern that partner agencies could have worked together more effectively to protect the adult. This is a statutory responsibility.
The overall purpose of a Safeguarding Adult Review is to promote learning and improve practice, not to re-investigate or to apportion blame.
The objectives include establishing:
- lessons that can be learnt from how professionals and their agencies work together
- how effective the safeguarding procedures are
- learning and good practice issues
- how to improve local inter-agency practice
- service improvement or development needs for one or more service or agency
We'll work with individuals and families to involve them in local reviews where that is possible and where they wish to do so and gain feedback on their experience. We'll also carry out safeguarding adult reviews where appropriate and identify and share learning with partners from our review. In addition, we'll ensure our partners and organisations have carried out their actions from reviews and can show the Board how they have done this.
Priority 3
Ensure that commissioners and service providers deliver a consistent high quality of care.
The council have a duty under the Care Act 2014 to ensure market management and high quality care is provided to individuals and that care providers are equally supported to have the right qualified staff to enable good care to be delivered.
We'll do this by ensuring that consistent high levels of care to ensure individuals have a good quality of life and live well for longer. We'll also have oversight of the delivery of care also reduces the number of safeguarding and cases of abuse and/or neglect.
We'll work with partners and the care quality commission to share information ensuring good quality care is being delivered, and meet on a quarterly basis to ensure any actions raised are completed.
Priority 4
To ensure the person is clearly heard and create opportunities for an approach where co production is at the heart of future safeguarding policy.
The person and their support network have been through a safeguarding process. As a result there are always opportunities to improve by empowering individuals to shape the future of the service.
We want to give the people of York a voice and the opportunity to feedback to the Board to help us improve and develop our services to help keep adults at risk safe. We'll do this by supporting individuals through networks or one to one opportunities to talk openly about how they felt and were they listened to, and as a result was the safeguarding process effective in delivering appropriate outcomes.
Priority 5
Agencies (like and health and social care providers) have to prove they provide good quality services and be asked to prove this.
Individuals should receive good quality services at all times. The Safeguarding Board will ask agencies (such as health and social care providers) on a regular basis about the services they provide to ensure that they are of good quality.
Priority 6
Work together with the City of York Council Community Safety Partnership, to support work to raise awareness of, and reduce the harm caused by ‘Hidden Harms’, and abuse associated with County Lines activity, domestic abuse and modern slavery.
This is important because individuals in specific communities will feel safer and be safer. In addition, individuals in specific communities and places will have more confidence that what they report generates an action focused response, giving them greater trust and confidence in the police.
We believe we can prevent high harm by working with others, to intervene earlier and solve problems in specific communities and places, before they escalate
More effective approaches to problem solving will support the partnership to better identify and support vulnerable people, and to identify and target those who repeatedly cause crime/harm in our communities.