Professionals
Information for Professionals
Information for Professionals
The information in this section is for all staff engaged in safeguarding adults at risk. It gives practical pointers to help people assess the risk of abuse, recognise it when it does occur and respond to it appropriately. It will also help put front line safeguarding in a context of multi-agency, cross-borough work to prevent and investigate abuse across London.
While there are similarities between practice with children and adults at risk, there are significant differences and, to a large extent this is reflected in the definition of adults at risk which contributes to that complexity.
Services have a duty to safeguard all of their service users but provide additional measures for service users who are less able to protect themselves from harm or abuse.
‘Safeguarding adults’ covers a spectrum of activity from prevention through to multi agency responses where harm and abuse occurs.
Safeguarding Resources
The Lewisham Adult Safeguarding Pathway has lots of helpful adult safeguarding resources built into it and gives you a step by step guide.
The Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board produces leaflets and posters on adult safeguarding which you can download for free.
Think Family
In April 2023, the Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board (LSAB) and Lewisham Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) jointly agreed to focus on Think Family as a strategic priority. Learning from Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and Safeguarding Adults Reviews have highlighted the importance of adult and children’s services working collaboratively and taking a joined up, whole family approach.
Read more about Think Family in Lewisham
Skills for Care have collated practical and useful safeguarding resources for the Private Voluntary and Independent Sector. The information available includes recommendations, standards, guides and links to a whole host of related resources.
Jargon Buster
Think Local Act Personal have a useful Jargon Buster that can help professionals from fields other than social work understand the language that is commonly used in care and support work.
Disclosure and Barring Service
The Disclosure and Barring Service have produced guidance on 'Making Recruitment Easier'.
Learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews for Care Providers
The Institue of Public Care and the Oxford Brookes University has produced a discussion paper on How Can Care Providers Learn From Safeguarding Adult Reviews? which looks at mechanisms to identify and share relevant learning from SARs with care providers.
Second National Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews: April 2019 - March 2023
This second national analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) in England identifies the headline findings.
Read more on the National Analysis on our about SAR's page.
Homelessness and Safeguarding
On this page you can find practice briefings, policies, toolkits and training opportunities on Homelessness and Safeguarding. We have also included a 7 minute briefing from a Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) where the adult was homeless and links to SAR reports from other areas where the adult was homeless.
If you’re a professional who is concerned that a Homeless person may be experiencing neglect (including self-neglect) and abuse and are unable to protect themselves. You can find advice for Submitting an Adult Safeguarding Concern in the Lewisham Adult Safeguarding Pathway.
Online learning
Homeless Link - Bitesize learning: Supporting adults and young people through safeguarding.
Homeless Link have created six bitesize (30-minute) sessions to give frontline staff working in homelessness services the knowledge and skills to better support people who are facing multiple disadvantage (also known as multiple and/or complex needs) and are at risk of or are experiencing homelessness.
The sessions are delivered by Fiona Bateman, Safeguarding Consultant from Safeguarding Circle and Bruno Ornelas, Head of Homelessness at Concrete and Safeguarding Consultant.
All sessions are free to watch, thanks to funding from The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, as part of the Capacity Building programme.
Rough Sleeper Mental Health Awareness
Backed by the Mayor of London's Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund, Westminster City Council and London Borough of Lambeth, this free course supports cross-sector professionals in recognising and working with the Mental Health needs of people who sleep rough and the unstably housed.
Fifteen leading experts (incl. service users, Sir Michael Marmot, Deputy Mayor James Murray, A. Prof Nick Maguire, Jane Cook DoH MHCLG amongst others) will discuss the context and complexity of need, approaches to engagement and support, recognising and working with risk and key mental health and substance use problems.
The course will also explore the use of legislation such as the Mental Health Act, navigating the NHS and helping those with ‘no recourse to public funds’.
Length: Four modules, duration: 30 - 45 mins of study per module.
Homeless Link - How homeless services can support LGBTQI+ women
This webinar from Homeless Link, delivered in 2023, provides an introduction to issues of sexuality and gender and the relationship to homelessness.
Online Adult Safeguarding Foundation Level Training and Workbooks
The Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board runs regular Online Adult Safeguarding Foundation Level Training Sessions, and we also have a series of adult safeguarding workbooks.
All of our Safeguarding Adults Courses are available to Private, Voluntary and Independent organisations and commissioned care providers in Lewisham.
Find out more in our learning zone.
Practice Briefings and Guidance
LSAB Self-Neglect and Hoarding Multi-Agency Policy, Practice Guidance and Hoarding Toolkit
This guidance is aimed at a wide range of professionals involved in working with people who may self-neglect and sets out the response that professionals should take to this complex issue.
Annex 2
Accompanying the Practice Guidance is the Self-Neglect High Risk Panel - Risk Assessment & Action Plan Template.
LSAB Guidance on Improving our Approach to Adult and Family Engagement
This guidance provides information on Adopting a Trauma Informed Approach, Understanding the Barriers to Seeking Help, Engagement Principles and Methods that can be Used for Engagement.
Alcohol Change UK - How to use legal powers to safeguard highly vulnerable dependent drinkers in England and Wales
This guide provides an accessible introduction to three pieces of legislation that can be applied to chronic, highly vulnerable, dependent drinkers so as to improve outcomes for them, their families and their communities. The guide also outlines the limits of these legal frameworks and when they should not be used.
The Kings Fund - Delivering health and care for people who sleep rough - Going above and beyond
This report aims to help local systems improve health outcomes among people who sleep rough and to support the ambition to end rough sleeping.
Homeless Link - Taking action following the death of someone sleeping rough - Briefing for Homelessness Services
This guidance details the steps that agencies can take should there be a death of a rough sleeper in their area.
Homeless Link - Autism and Homelessness Briefing for frontline staff
This briefing aims to provide frontline staff with information to better support people experiencing homelessness who are known or suspected to have autism. It includes suggestions of how to overcome challenges and case examples of two individuals with autism who were successfully supported to address their housing needs.
Homeless Link - Supporting LGBTIQ+ people in homelessness services - An introduction for frontline staff
This guidance, updated in June 2020 by The Outside Project, is written for staff who are new to LGBTIQ+ issues, or those seeking to make their service more inclusive, welcoming, and safe. It includes links to specialist agencies and resources to help you develop service provision tailored to individuals' needs.
7 minute Briefing Supporting staff to have conversations about health
Having conversations about health can be difficult for frontline workers. This briefing jointly produced by Groundswell, Homeless Link and Pathway outlines the key ways in which organisations can ensure their staff have the resources and support they need to feel more confident when having health-related conversations.
Accessing social care assessments using the Care Act – Homelessness - Guidance for frontline staff
This guidance sets out the basic principles of referral and assessment under the Care Act 2014 and the steps that support workers should take to ensure service users are fairly assessed under the Act.
Toolkits
Learning-Disabilities and Homelessness Toolkit
This toolkit is for services who support people experiencing homelessness who may also have learning disabilities.
Safeguarding Multiple Exclusion Homelessness Toolkit 2023
The focus of this tool is to improve multi-agency support for individuals who have an appearance of need for care and support and are experiencing multiple exclusion homelessness (MEH).
Research in Practice - Radical Safeguarding Toolkit for Homelessness
The co-produced toolkit offers a new approach to safeguarding adults experiencing homelessness and multiple disadvantages, rooted in the work of social justice movements.
The toolkit explores principles of power, autonomy, solidarity and accountability in safeguarding, supporting practitioners to consider intersectional and anti-oppressive approaches to work in this area.
Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SAR’s)
Analysis of SAR’s
National SAR Analysis - Briefing for practitioners - Analysis of Safeguarding Adults Reviews
This briefing summarises key findings from the landmark study ‘Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) April 2017 – March 2019’, with particular reference to professional practice in direct work with the individual at risk of abuse and/or neglect. It is therefore of particular relevance to the work of practitioners and others who have frontline contact with individuals. It aims to support practitioners to apply best practice in their direct work and thus achieve positive outcomes in adult safeguarding.
Adult Safeguarding and Homelessness: Learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews
This briefing identifies the number of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) completed in England where homelessness has been a central feature. The learning from these SARs about good practice and practice shortfalls has enabled an evidence-base for positive practice to be developed. This evidence-base can be used by practitioners working with people experiencing homelessness to advocate for best practice.
Adult safeguarding and homelessness: A briefing on positive practice
This briefing is to assist senior leaders, such as members of Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs), as well as commissioners, practitioners and operational managers who are working across relevant sectors and agencies in this field, to support people who are homeless and at risk of or experiencing abuse or neglect.
Safeguarding, homelessness and rough sleeping: An analysis of Safeguarding Adults Reviews
This report from Kings College London presents findings from an analysis of 14 Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) where homelessness was a factor, and the results of a review of the literature relating to third sector and local authority policy and guidance on adult safeguarding and homelessness.
Policies
London Multi-Agency Safeguarding Policy and Procedures
Legislation
Strategies
DLUHC Ending Rough Sleeping For Good – September 2022
This strategy sets out how the whole of government is taking action to meet their ambition to end rough sleeping.
Lewisham’s Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-26
This strategy builds on the hard work that already goes on a daily basis to prevent homelessness and reduce rough sleeping in Lewisham and will help support our teams in their mission to ensure everybody has a safe, secure place to call home.
Guidance
Duty to Refer
This guidance provides an overview of the duty to refer, which will help public authorities understand how to administer the duty.
Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness
Guidance for staff involved in planning to discharge patients at risk of or experiencing homelessness, or who have no recourse to public funds.
Information Sharing
LSAB Information Sharing Agreement
Find out more on Information Sharing
Local Services Resources
Community directory to support health and wellbeing
999 Club
The Gateway Centre in Deptford for people who are experiencing homeless, or at risk of experiencing homelessness. The centre is open from 9am to 4pm on weekdays. The centre provide showers, food, phone charging, use of a phone or computer and wifi, laundry and postal address. The centre offer support with ID, claiming benefits, finding work, searching for housing, social integration and referrals to specialist agencies. They also have a women-only space called “The Sanctuary”.
South East London Mind
South East London Mind provides a range of high quality mental health support services for adult residents in the borough of Lewisham. This includes specialised support for people from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee communities, for new mums, and for anyone needing help with benefits.
Change Grow Live - New Direction
Free and confidential community drug and alcohol service. If you're a professional and you'd like to refer someone to the service, use the link above to visit their website.
Thames Reach - Deptford Reach
Deptford Reach community outreach service provides advice and support within communities across Lewisham and Southwark. They aim to target people at risk of homelessness and provide casework and support to prevent this from occurring.
Lewisham Housing Options
If you need housing advice call 020 8314 7007. The service will refer anyone homeless or at risk of homelessness to a housing solutions officer who will assess you by phone.
Find more adult safeguarding information in our Adult Safeguarding Pathway
Safeguarding in Care Homes Guidelines and Tools
NICE guideline on Safeguarding adults in care homes
The final guideline has now been published on the NICE website. You can also find the supporting evidence, tools and resources as well as all the stakeholder comments that were received during consultation and the responses to these comments. The comments were invaluable in helping NICE to develop and refine the guideline. They have also produced an equality impact assessment to support the guideline.
The recommendations from this guideline have been included in the NICE Pathway on safeguarding adults in care homes, which brings together everything which was said on safeguarding adults in care homes in an interactive flowchart. There is brief information about the guideline for people using services, carers and the public at ‘Information for the public’.
If you have any further queries, please contact SafeguardingAdults@nice
Health and Safety Executive Guidance - Violence and aggression at work
The Health and Safety Executive has refreshed their guidance for employers on Violence and aggression at work. The guidance includes information on topics including:
- What violence in the workplace is and how to prevent it
- Health and safety laws which are relevant to violence at work
- How to assess the risks of violent incidents at work
- Put the right controls in place to protect your workers from violence
- What incidents to report and how to learn from them
- Typical examples of how employers have reduced the risk of violence
and includes Advice for workers:
- How your employer and you can prevent violence
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
Lewisham Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Conference 23 January 2024
The Lewisham Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Conference was held 23 January 2024.
The conference was very well attended with representation from all local health and social care services. For those who were unable to make it on the day, the presentations from the Conference are available for you to read and download.
Modern Slavery in Supply Chains - London Borough of Lewisham
Responding to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in Lewisham - Human Trafficking Foundation
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Lewisham - Metropolitan Police Service
Operation Makesafe has been developed in partnership with London’s boroughs to raise awareness of child exploitation in the business community, such as hotels, licensed premises, taxi companies, shops, and care homes. The purpose of Operation Makesafe is to empower businesses and organisations to tackle child exploitation through increased awareness and training.
Links to further learning, advice and organisations that were shared at the Conference.
Modern Slavery: Duty to notify
Do you know that you have a duty to notify the Home Office of potential victims of modern slavery?
The Modern Slavery Fact-sheet can tell you more on your duty to notify.
The Home Office has published new modern slavery it's closer than you think campaign resources which brings together documents and promotional material related to the awareness campaign on modern slavery which you can use in your local campaigns.
Identification of victims
The Home Office has produced Modern Slavery Victims - Guidance, Referral and Assessment Forms which gives information on how to identify and refer potential victims of modern slavery/human trafficking to the national referral mechanism.
Lewisham Modern Slavery Victim Care Pathway
A new local guidance document on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking will be published later in 2022, but professionals should also refer to the Lewisham Modern Slavery Victim Care Pathway
What is the National Referral Mechanism?
The national referral mechanism (NRM) is a victim identification and support process. The NRM is designed to make it easier for all agencies that could be involved in a trafficking case (eg the police, UK Visas and Immigration, local authorities, non-governmental organisations) to share information about potential victims and facilitate their access to advice, accommodation and support.
The guidance document gives information including:
- What the NRM is
- The referral process
- How to complete the referral forms
Slavery and human trafficking in supply chains: guidance for businesses
The Home Office provides Statutory guidance for organisations on how to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in their business or supply chains.
Links to further information and resources
Lewisham Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking 7 Minute Briefing
Hope for Justice exist to bring an end to modern slavery by rescuing victims, restoring lives, and reforming society.
Hope for Justice also have comprehensive briefing documents that define human trafficking, outline the UK and global markets for the exploitation of human beings and analyse the current mechanisms for addressing this complex crime.
Human Trafficking Foundation (HTF) is a UK-based charity which grew out of the work of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking. HTF was created in order to support and add value to the work of the many charities and agencies operating to combat human trafficking in the UK.
London Directory of Services
The Human Trafficking Foundation has created a Directory of Survivor Support Services in London, which is constantly updated.
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)
Sexual Assault and Sexual Abuse Information Resources
Hoarding & Self-neglect
What is Hoarding?
The NHS defines Hoarding Disorder as:
“Where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter”.
It's considered to be a significant problem if:
- The amount of clutter interferes with everyday living – for example, the person is unable to
use their kitchen or bathroom and cannot access rooms.
- The clutter is causing significant distress or negatively affecting the person's quality of
life or their family's – for example, they become upset if someone tries to clear the clutter
and their relationships with others suffer.
The clutter image rating clearly illustrates the wide range of clutter in different rooms from clear to extreme.
All professionals working with adults who hoard in Lewisham must utilise the Multi Agency Self-Neglect Policy, Practice Guidance and Procedures and the Lewisham Adult Safeguarding Pathway.
What is self-neglect?
The Care Act 2014 statutory guidance defines self-neglect as:
"A wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one's personal hygiene, health, or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding."
The term itself can be a barrier to working with the issues as some individuals do not identify with this term or description of their situation. As a result, it is important that practitioners seek to negotiate a common ground to understand the individual’s own description of their lifestyle rather than making possible discriminatory value judgements or assumptions about how it can be defined. In order to prevent self-neglect, it is essential to understand the wider complexity and possible underlying factors, which may present as, or include:
- Increased incidence of depression and low self-esteem.
- History of trauma, abuse (including childhood abuse and child sexual exploitation) or bereavement.
- Physical and mental health issues.
- Hoarding or no possessions at all.
- Reclusive or co-dependent, including on pets.
- Substance misuse.
- Self-harm.
All professionals working with adults who self-neglect in Lewisham must utilise the Multi Agency Self-Neglect Policy, Practice Guidance and Procedures and the Lewisham Adult Safeguarding Pathway.
LSAB Hoarding and Self-Neglect Briefing
Read our briefing on hoarding and self-neglect.
The British Psychological Society had produced a short leaflet Understanding Hoarding - When our relationship with
possessions goes wrong. The leaflet is intended for people with hoarding disorder and their friends and families.
GP Hoarding Awareness Leaflet
GP Awareness of Hoarding Disorder is very important. GP's can often be the first professional a person with a Hoarding Disorder discloses their living situation to.
This GP’s leaflet is a great tool for GP’s to keep on hand and was created by Clouds End CIC and was developed after a Hoarding Awareness Training session with GPs.
If you suspect that an adult you provide healthcare for may be at risk of abuse or neglect please complete the Adult Safeguarding Concern form and return to the Lewisham Adult Gateway as instructed in the form.
Alternatively if you have concerns about the immediate safety of an adult at risk then please contact the Police on 999.
The NHS has produced information on Hoarding Disorder including:
- Information on Hoarding disorder
- Why someone may hoard
- The difference between hoarding and collecting
- Signs of a hoarding disorder
- Why hoarding disorders are a problem
- What you can do if you suspect someone is hoarding
- How hoarding disorders are treated
New Training Resource from Safeguarding Adults in Gloucestershire
“Am I YOUR Job?” is a brand new trainer resource (training session plan and video) on Self-Neglect from Safeguarding Adults in Gloucestershire.
Making Safeguarding Personal in self-neglect workbook
This Making Safeguarding Personal in self-neglect workbook, produced by Research in Practice, draws on evidence from research and Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SAR's) to identify how making safeguarding personal can make a difference to the health, wellbeing and safety of people who are self-neglecting.
Research in Practice has produced a practice tool Working with people who self-neglect
The tools in this resource focus on different aspects of good practice:
- understanding self-neglect
- building a relationship
- planning and implementing intervention
- using the legal framework for care, support and protection
- creating a supportive organisational context.
Learning from London Safeguarding Adult Reviews
Self-neglect is a widespread societal issue that will impact a large number of local residents at a lower-level, and for some this will escalate and may become very serious, including life threatening. 60% of Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SAR) in England, which are the are most serious and high-profile safeguarding cases, involved self-neglect in the recently published 2nd National SAR Analysis, which you can read about here: Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board - Safeguarding Adults Reviews
Please ensure that you refer to the local policy, guidance, and procedures and embed this into your ways of working. More briefings will follow.
Information for Adults you are working with who hoard
Below you can find a range of resources to support an adult who hoards.
Hoarding Ice Breaker Form
If clutter, disorganisation or hoarding is affecting your health (mental or physical health) and making you feel anxious, depressed or unwell, then it’s advisable to have a chat with your GP.
If you don’t know what to say or how to start the conversation, then simply download, print off and complete this Ice-Breaker document, and hand it to your GP, Social Worker or any other professional.
They should then start asking all sorts of questions to enable them to start working out what might be causing your symptoms, and discuss some options that will hopefully help make you feel better. There could be a number of different things causing you to feel unwell, so it’s best not to assume there’s just one cause, or just one treatment.
POhWER provide the Lewisham Advocacy Service to support residents with a variety of issues, where there may be difficulties with communication or understanding information.
Find out more avour the Lewisham Advocay Service Leaflet.
London Fire Brigade offer a service where they can visit an adult at home to provide personalised advice about fire safety. It's totally free, available 24/7, and they even fit free smoke alarms during the visit if you need them.
Find out more about Home Fire Safety Visits
Community Connections Lewisham are able to connect you with groups, activities and services in your local community that can support your health and wellbeing ~ bringing Lewisham to you!
You can phone them on 0330 058 3464, from 9:30am-4pm Monday-Friday (*except Thursdays when our line is open from 2-4pm). You can also get in touch using their online referral form, or visit the Thursday Morning Drop In.
This website provides information, support and advice for people who hoard and their loved ones.
There is also an online community that you can contribute to with your own experiences.
The self-kindness toolkit is packed with activities to support building resilience, coping with stress and worries, and connecting with others.
Inside the self-kindness toolkit:
- resilience
- problem solving
- making decisions confidently
- first aid
- sleep techniques
- coping with change
- creative activities
- connecting with others
- movement and mindfulness
If you suspect that an adult you work with may be at risk of abuse or neglect please complete the Adult Safeguarding Concern form and return to the Lewisham Adult Gateway as instructed in the form.
Alternatively if you have concerns about the immediate safety of an adult at risk then please contact the Police on 999.
Lewisham Policy, Procedures and Guidance
All professionals working with adults who self-neglect and hoard in Lewisham must utilise the following policies, procedures and guidance.
Multi Agency Self-Neglect Policy, Practice Guidance and Procedures
Annex 2
Accompanying the Practice Guidance is the Self-Neglect High Risk Panel - Risk Assessment & Action Plan Template.
Lewisham Adult Safeguarding Pathway
Guidance on Improving our Approach to Adult and Family Engagement
Self-Neglect and Hoarding Resources
Learning from Human Stories about Self-neglect - Webinar
Here you can find the slides and handout from the Learning from Human Stories about Self-neglect webinar held by Professor Michael Preston-Shoot.
Here you will find the resources from all of the Self-neglect and Hoarding Training held by the LSAB
Criminal Exploitation of vulnerable adults: County Lines & Cuckooing
What is cuckooing?
Criminal gangs target the homes of vulnerable people to be used for drug dealing – a process known as “cuckooing” after the “Cuckoo” bird that invades other bird’s nests. Victims are often left with little choice but to co-operate.
Drug dealers will often approach the vulnerable person offering money or free drugs to use their home for dealing. In some instances after providing free drugs, the dealers will then force the person to sell drugs for them in order to ‘re-pay’ their drug debts.
These criminals are selective about who they target, a lot of the time victims are lonely, isolated, frequently drug users themselves and can already be known to the police.
“Cuckooing” means the drug dealers can operate from a property rather than the street, which is out of sight from the police making it a very attractive option. They can then use the premises to deal drugs from, which is difficult for the police to monitor.
What to do if you suspect a property is being ‘cuckooed’?
Call Metropolitan Police Service on 101 or 999 in an emergency to report drug-related information.
If you don’t want to speak to the police directly, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Criminal Exploitation of children and vulnerable adults: Updated County Lines Guidance
The government has published refreshed County Lines Guidance. The guidance is primarily aimed at frontline staff who work with children, young people and potentially vulnerable adults.
If you’re a professional working in social care, education, health, housing, benefits, law enforcement (police) and related partner organisations this guidance is for you.
Criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults is a geographically widespread form of harm that is a typical feature of county lines activity. It is a harm which is relatively little known about or recognised by those best placed to spot its potential victims.
The guidance is intended to explain the nature of this harm to enable you, the professional, to recognise its signs and respond appropriately so that potential victims get the support and help they need.
Like other forms of abuse and exploitation, county lines exploitation:
- Can affect any vulnerable adult over the age of 18 years;
- Can still be exploitation even if the activity appears consensual;
- Can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance and is often accompanied by violence or threats of violence;
- Can be perpetrated by individuals or groups, males or females, and young people or adults; and
- Is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the exploitation. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.
As so little is known about this type of abuse the national picture on county lines continues to develop but there are recorded cases of:
- Both males and females being exploited;
- White British children and young people being targeted because gangs perceive they are more likely to evade police detection but a person of any ethnicity or nationality may be exploited;
- The use of social media to make initial contact with children and young people;
- Class A drug users being targeted so that gangs can takeover their homes (known as ‘cuckooing’).
What to do if you are a professional who is concerned
Any practitioner working with a vulnerable person who they think may be at risk of county lines exploitation should follow their local safeguarding guidance and share this information with Lewisham Council’s social care services. If you believe a person is in immediate risk of harm, you should contact the police.
Guidance
New! LSAB Cuckooing A Brief Guide for Professionals
A brief guide for professionals including information on
- What is Cuckooing
- Common Indicators of Cuckooing
- What can I do to help make the adult safe?
- Relationship-Based Practices
- Person-Centred Interventions
Multi-agency guidance on tackling Cuckooing
Canterbury City and Kent County Council's and their partnership have produced multi-agency guidance on tackling Cuckooing which can be applied locally.
Tackling Cuckooing Multi-Agency Guidance.
For additional information on cuckooing, please see the 'Introduction to Cuckooing' presentation.
CONTEST and the Prevent Strategy
What is CONTEST and the Prevent Strategy?
The Prevent Strategy is one of the key elements of CONTEST, the Government's counter- terrorism strategy and it aims to stop people from being drawn into terrorist-related activity. Prevent has strong links to safeguarding because vulnerable adults and children can be susceptible to radicalisation and recruitment into violent extremist and terrorist organisations.
CONTEST has four strands:
- Protect: Strengthen our protection against terrorist attack.
- Prepare: Mitigate the impact of an attack.
- Pursue: Stop a terrorist attack.
- Prevent: Stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism by:
-
- responding to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it,
- preventing people from being drawn into terrorism and ensuring that they are given appropriate advice and support,
- working with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.
What does the Prevent Duty mean for Statutory Organisations in Lewisham?
Since 2015, statutory agencies have a duty under the Counter Terrorism & Security Act "to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism". This means that local authorities should:
- Establish strategic and operational links with other specified authorities,
- Facilitate the assessment of risk for specified authorities, including providing advice and sharing threat assessments based on the Counter Terrorism Local Profiles (CTLP),
- Provide a range of training products (including but not limited to Workshops to Raise Awareness of Prevent - WRAP) to all specified authorities,
- Understand the full range of bodies affected by the new duties, and ensure they understand their responsibilities,
- Embed Prevent into commissioning, procurement, and grant funding processes,
- Embed Prevent into Safeguarding Policies and ensure all providers are signed up to local Safeguarding arrangements. In Lewisham, work has been taking place to ensure that all relevant agencies are complying with their obligations under the 2015 Counter Terrorism & Security Act. This includes delivering briefings, training and advice.
Lewisham Prevent Service
London Borough of Lewisham Prevent are available to assist agencies in complying with their Counter Terrorism Act duties. The support offer includes:
- Prevent in Lewisham operates a Strategic Board
- Prevent Delivery Group
- Multi-Agency Safeguarding Panel – Channel
Compliance in Lewisham
- The provision of Workshops to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP training for frontline staff),
- Management briefings regarding Prevent Duty compliance,
- Coordination of strategic and operational groups,
- The provision of Prevent-related resources and dissemination of relevant information.
Safeguarding vulnerable people against radicalisation and extremism
There have been several cases where extremist groups have attempted to radicalise vulnerable adults. This can include justifying political, religious, sexist, or racist violence, or to steer individuals towards an ideology of extremism and intolerance. A vulnerable adult might be groomed and radicalised into carrying out acts of violence and cause significant harm to others.
There are several ways in which vulnerable adults can be at risk of radicalisation.
- They can be groomed either online or in person by people seeking to draw them into extremist activity.
- Vulnerable adults can be radicalised online via networks or online chat platforms.
- Grooming can also be carried out by those who hold harmful, extremist beliefs, including peer or family members who have an influence over the person's life.
- People can be exposed to violent, anti-social, extremist imagery and narratives which can lead to normalising intolerance of others and extremist ideology.
All agencies play a vital role in ensuring vulnerable adults and our communities are safe from the threat of radicalisation, extremist ideologies and terrorism.
If you are concerned that a vulnerable adult or other family members may hold extremist views or are at risk of being radicalised, it is important to ensure that they receive support to protect them from being drawn into terrorism.
Making a Referral
If you are are a professional or work in the voluntary sector and are worried about a vulnerable person you should follow your own organisation’s safeguarding procedures.
If you are a member of the public your concerns should be reported to:
London Borough of Lewisham Gateway
020 8314 7777 (Lines are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm)
Email
In an emergency always dial 999.
If you have any questions regarding Prevent in Lewisham contact the Prevent team by email.
Channel Awareness
This training package is for anyone who may be asked to contribute to, sit on, or even run a Channel Panel. It is aimed at all levels, from a professional required to input and attend a Channel Panel meeting for the first time, to a member of staff new to their role and organising a panel meeting. It covers an introduction to what Channel is, how it operates in the local area, and how to organise a Channel Panel for the first time. It also covers information sharing, including how, when and with whom to share information of a Channel case.
Public Advice
- If you see or hear anything that could be terrorist-related, trust your instincts and call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
- If you think you have seen a person acting suspiciously, or if you see a vehicle, unattended package or bag which might be an immediate threat, move away and call 999.
- If you are involved in an incident follow police advice to: 'RUN, HIDE AND TELL
- Download the citizenAID App , which provides safety and medical advice from Google Play, Apple App or the Windows Store, for free.
Prevent Support and Advice
You can contact the Prevent team directly and we will be more than happy to provide training, advice and support. However all referrals this should be done in addition to your usual safeguarding referral pathway.
Contact the Lewisham Prevent Team for support and information on fulfilling the duty.
Lewisham Prevent Service Training
Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP)
Target Group: All professionals working with vulnerable adults in the Borough of Lewisham.
The session is intended to:
- Develop an understanding of the Prevent Strategy & roles within it.
- Develop existing expertise and professional judgement in relation to extremism and radicalisation or recruitment to extremist groups.
- Increase awareness of the national / international picture of extremism and terrorism.
- Raise awareness of the links between online risks and radicalisation.
- Improve confidence to raise concerns.
- Raise awareness of the Channel interventions, safeguarding the individual.
- Increase the whole organisations capacity to prevent extremism and safeguard vulnerable people.
The webinars will include a presentation and Q&A session.
Hosted by Lewisham Prevent Team
The training is for anyone who has been through the Prevent awareness eLearning or a Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP), and so already understands Prevent and of their role in safeguarding vulnerable people.
The package shares best practice on how to articulate concerns about an individual and ensure that they are robust and considered.
It is aimed at anyone who may be able to notice signs of vulnerability to radicalisation and seeks to give them confidence in referring on for help if appropriate. It is also designed for those (for example line managers) who may receive referrals and need to consider how to respond, whether that be establishing more context, or reaching out to partner agencies for support.
The Lewisham Prevent Service offer bespoke training packages designed to meet the needs of the audience. Contact the Lewisham Prevent Service to find out more and book your training event.
E-Learning
Prevent Home Office awareness eLearning.
The Prevent awareness eLearning has recently been refreshed. This includes updates to reflect the recommendations from the Parsons Green review, updated information following the change in threat and recent attacks, and new case studies. A link to the training is below.
http://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk
Prevent Referrals E-Learning
https://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/preventreferrals
Guidance and Further Reading
The Prevent Duty guidance for partners and Local Authorities
Information on Channel
Home Office guide for schools about social media and radicalisation
How people become radicalised
Social Housing and Safeguarding
All social housing providers must have appropriate safeguarding arrangements in place for tenants who have care and support needs. The Care Act 2014 requires you to support and train your staff.
Visit the LSAB Learning Zone for information on free e-learning, courses available in Lewisham and other learning opportunities.
Self-Neglect and Hoarding Multi-Agency Policy, Practice Guidance and Toolkit from the LSAB
Read our Policy and Practice Guidance 2024 on self-neglect and hoarding.
Annex 2
Accompanying the Practice Guidance is the Self-Neglect High Risk Panel - Risk Assessment & Action Plan Template.
Housing Related Safeguarding Summit December 2023
The second annual Housing Related Safeguarding Summit was held 14 December 2023. The Summit was very well attended with representation from all Lewisham Social Housing Providers and local health and social care services. For those who were unable to make it on the day, a recording of the Summit is below.
The presentations from the Summit are available for you to read and download.
New analysis: How your home affects your health. Moving to healthy homes
Housing Related Safeguarding Audit July 2022
The aim of this Audit was to examine cases where an adult was living in uninhabitable conditions that may have posed a risk to their health or wellbeing, and to ascertain what the adult safeguarding response was, or could have been, in these instances.
The key objective of the audit was to draw out learning to inform the development of best practice in Lewisham, between the council, housing providers and other relevant agencies. The auditor was also asked to identify and draw learning from any potentially discriminatory practice.
Read and download the full report below to find out more.
Housing Related Safeguarding Audit July 2022
Adult Safeguarding for Housing Staff
SCIE has produced an introductory video on Adult Safeguarding for housing staff.
A guide for staff on promoting sexuality, relationships and consent in housing with care services
Written by Dr Adi Cooper – City & Hackney Safeguarding Adults Board
This guide focuses on older people, sexuality, intimacy and relationships in housing with care. It looks at non-sexual and sexual relationships and individual sexual behaviour. This is not an easy subject and each case is unique, but this guide aims to steer you through how to respond and think about situations of this nature. Just because a person is old, it does not diminish their desire for companionship, intimacy and love and yet often this basic right may be denied, ignored or stigmatised. Older people in housing with care who wish to and are capable of expressing choice, should be supported to develop or maintain any relationship of their choosing.
Think Family
In April 2023, the Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board (LSAB) and
Lewisham Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) jointly agreed to focus on Think Family as a strategic priority. Learning from Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and Safeguarding Adults Reviews have highlighted the importance of adult and children’s services working collaboratively
and taking a joined up, whole family approach.
The development of the Think Family Practice Guidance is designed to help define our Think Family approach and to support practitioners in achieving this.
The Board along with the Lewisham Safeguarding Children's Partnership has also produced a toolkit for professionals Working with Father's and Male Carers Toolkit, along with the toolkit are a Toolkit Checklist and a list of Local Resources which focus on men.
We have also produced a helpful Think Family Poster to support practitioners.
This important area of work will continue on into 2024-25. Read more about our priorities for 2024-2025.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health Think Family Strategy 2022-2025
The aim of the SLaM Think Family Strategy is prevention and recognition of family need and wellbeing and thereby trying to ensure positive outcomes for the whole family. Effective partnership working with families: parents, carers, young people and children, and other services is a key component of this strategy. It applies to adult mental health services, this includes Addictions, Older Adults and Learning Disability services, and Child and Adolescent services and aims to ensure improved partnership working across these services to enable seamless support for either or both parent and child.