Issue - meetings

The Board received a report from the Executive Director, Adults, which updated them on key issues with respect to safeguarding in Halton.

The Board was advised that in April 2023 Government announced that the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) would be delayed ‘beyond the life of this Parliament’ so whether the LPS were introduced now depends on what the incoming Government wants to do after the Election. It was the view that the LPS would offer a streamlined alternative to the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) system.

Halton received 894 DoLS applications last year; an increase of 6%.  To keep up with the increase in demand, independent Best Interests Assessors (BIAs) were used to ensure the backlog list was kept below 12 months.  Members were advised that work was ongoing with regional ADASS DoLs groups to explore different strategies in order to streamline the internal DoLS process and increase the DoLS assessments that were completed by Halton’s BIAs and therefore reduce the need for independent BIAs.

The report outlined some key safeguarding facts from 2022-23 (paragraph 3.3).  A typographical error was noted – second bullet point, 19% should read 9%.  The report also included information on the development of the Cheshire All Age Exploitation Strategy 2023-2025; provided details of a peer review of the Safeguarding Adults Board; and information relating to Halton’s 22 care homes, two of which were currently being supported by the Council. 

Members were also referred to the Safeguarding website:  www.halton.gov.uk/adultssafeguaring which had been updated and contained a range of resources and toolkits for use. 

Further to one Member’s question, it was confirmed that Halton’s inclusion with Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester and Warrington Safeguarding Adults Boards, as opposed to the Liverpool City Region’s (LCR) Board, was due to the fact that Halton fell within the jurisdiction of Cheshire Police, not Merseyside Police.  They did however, work together on many issues and shared information.  Regarding a query on the need for a modern slavery toolkit for Halton, it was commented that best practice was learned from other areas including the LCR, in order to give people the knowledge to be able to report modern slavery.

RESOLVED:  That the report and comments made be noted.