Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care, Councillor Janet Campbell

Officer: Interim Corporate Director of Adult Social Care & Health, Annette McPartland

Key decision: no

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To note the Annual Report of the Croydon Safeguarding Adult Board (CSAB).

Councillor Oliver Lewis left the meeting at 8.55pm.

Cabinet considered a report which detailed the activity and effectiveness of the Croydon Safeguarding Adult Board (CSAB) from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. The report was submitted by the CSAB Independent Chair, Annie Callanan. It ensured that the statutory partners (Council, Health and Police), residents and other agencies were given objective feedback on the work and effectiveness of local arrangements for safeguarding adults. The report covered the 2020/21 priorities, demonstrating what had been achieved and the work which needed to continue throughout 2021/22. The Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care (Councillor Janet Campbell) provided Cabinet with an introduction which set out:

• The CSAB was statutory multi-agency board which had the responsibility for overseeing adult safeguarding across the agencies in Croydon;
• The report had been considered and agreed by the Board in October 2021 and had been presented to the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee;
• The report outlined the work of the agencies during the preceding year and included the work of the Voice of the People sub-group; and
• It was noted that the pandemic had presented major challenges to adult safeguarding but it was stated that those challenges had been met and embraced.

Councillor Muhammad Ali left the meeting at 8.56pm.

The Independent Chair of the CSAB (Annie Callanan) provided Cabinet with context to the report and set out:

• The CSAB was made up of mainly of three statutory partners: the Police, the NHS and the local authority. It was the local authority who retained the lead responsibility for adult safeguarding under the Care Act;
• The Board’s core duties were to publish the report, publish a strategic plan and commission safeguarding adult reviews when things went wrong;
• The Board provided assurance that the arrangements which were in place were effective and were working;
• The Board worked with agencies across Croydon to prevent neglect and abuse and took timely and proportionate responses when neglect or abuse had occurred;
• The report was produced by the Board which was overseen by the Independent Chair;
• It was noted that there had been a large volume of interest in the report at scrutiny;
• The voice of the people and the voice of those with lived experiences were highlighted and it was noted that work continued to ensure all residents were represented; and
• She was humbled by the work during the pandemic to ensure that safeguarding continued during difficult circumstances.

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Hamida Ali) thanked the Independent Chair for all of her work.

Councillor Muhammad Ali returned to the meeting at 9:01pm.

During the consideration of the recommendations, the following points were made:

• The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning (Councillor Alisa Flemming) welcomed the work of the CSAB and noted the interlinking work with the Children’s Safeguarding Board to ensure the residents of Croydon were protected and that families were supported holistically;
• The Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care noted that the work of the Board had been cross party and thanked Councillors Hopley and Bird for their input. Additionally David Williams (Metropolitan Police Service) was thanked for all of his work and well wishes were provided for his retirement; and

Councillor Oliver Lewis returned to the meeting at 9:04pm.

• The Shadow Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care (Councillor Yvette Hopley) thanked the Independent Chair for her hard work, and in particular throughout the pandemic. She noted that the Board was an example of good cross-party working and stated that she was looking forward to the working party day which was due to take place.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To note the Annual Report of the Croydon Safeguarding Adult Board (CSAB).