BASW England initial response to the Home Office and DHSC: SAFE CARE AT HOME REVIEW

The Safe Care at Home Review was produced as the result of evidence presented during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 by Peers and the disability sector on the abuse against people receiving care in their own homes.

The review makes the case for a stronger response to protect people at risk of or experiencing abuse in their own home by people who directly provide their care. Read the full review here.

Key recommendations include:

  • Strengthening agency oversight and accountability
  • Increased investment in specialist services for people with care and support needs
  • Improve the sharing of information and learning
  • Strengthen implementation of the Care Act 2014
  • Improve the understanding of legislation by front-line professionals
  • Improve resources and tools for front-line staff.  This includes a review on the evidence on powers of entry for social workers, previously not legislated for.
  • Improve data gathering and research on the scale of harm and opportunities for prevention
  • Further research on the causes of abuse

Overall, this is a package of recommendations to be welcomed. The review has clearly recognised the need for people receiving care to receive an appropriate criminal justice response which is sometimes denied when their case is initially referred to the local authority for investigation.

The evidence on powers of entry for social workers in England, is something that has been debated previously with caution of the introduction and implementation of such powers urged in favour of good professional practice, and the use of good relationship based social work skills and knowledge to encourage people to cooperate.

As a key recommendation within the report, it is appropriate that social workers have the opportunity to explore different ethical, moral, legal and wellbeing considerations on the use of state power to enter people’s homes, along with learning from the application of such a power in other nations. Further exploration of the complexities and the unintended consequences of changes to the legislation is needed and an area which BASW will want to consult further with members on.

However, it is now nearly a quarter of a century since the original “No Secrets” policy document was issued making many of the same recommendations and members may reflect on a lack of progress in the development of an effective adult protection system since that time.

It is unfortunate that within the recommendations the context for contemporary social work practice is not referenced. The extreme pressures of the covid-19 pandemic have impacted dramatically on the social work workforce with increased waiting lists for assessments, higher workload and lack of availability and demand for social care services. This may mean that staff less experienced or even unqualified could be leading on investigations, coupled with the pressure to conclude investigations quickly.

It is hoped that the review and the recommendations made will influence the Care Quality Commission in their new role of quality assurance of local authorities and system oversight into Integrated Care Systems to look at Safeguarding robustly during their inspections, including how the social work workforce is supported to fulfil the local authorities statutory duties.

Michael Chapman

Member of the BASW England Adult Thematic Group