Thank you for joining the Safeguarding Leaders Network (18.3.2025)
Minutes
Attendees
Konroy Swaby – Hourglass
Ross Diamond – Age UK Lewisham and Southwark (Adult Safeguarding Board)
Priya Commander – Waterloo CC
Ahlam Laabori – Bede House (Child Safeguarding Board)
Richard Welton – Read Easy
Segun Adesanoye – Ikale Heritage
Claire Harman – Sayes Mentoring
Einas Mohamed – Groundwork
Natalie Eccleston – Social Prescriber
Paola Hanks – Carers UK
Vanessa Fukuda – IRMO
Aisha Buabin – Hourglass (Key Speaker)
Rakshita Patel – Community Southwark (Chair)
Syeda Hussain – Community Southwark (notes)
Actions from last meeting
- Issues with My Learning Source and access to free Safeguarding training
Free online Safeguarding training was provided by Southwark Council to Southwark VCS groups through the My Learning Source portal but some groups had been experiencing issues with the portal. VCS groups had been asked to provide Community Southwark with any problems they were encountering but no one had highlighted any issues to date.
Priya said they were still experiencing issues, not with the basic Safeguarding training, but with the advanced courses eg Level 3 which they could not book onto or were cancelled.
Action: Syeda to follow-up with Priya
2. Handling of Safeguarding referrals related to asylum seekers and refugees, and very vulnerable people with complex needs
Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers had raised concerns about the Safeguarding referral pathway, when they had very vulnerable clients with complex needs and they needed to ensure they were being referred appropriately and being given the right support.
A subgroup of the Adult Safeguarding Board had been formed to discuss and address this issue and had met a couple of times. Discussions were ongoing, but the intention was to produce a flow chart to document the referral pathway and also highlight the range of support services available in the Borough. This was a work in progress. This will be reviewed and signed off by the Adult Safeguarding Board when it is ready, but their meeting last week had been cancelled.
All groups would value greater clarity on who to refer on to, how to follow up cases, what criteria the Council used in terms of deciding whether a case merited further action and follow-up or not, and how referrers could find out what was happening with a case. VCS groups would value more openness and transparency on these processes. Ross said the Council was supposed to let referrers know whether their case was being taken forward, or if it had been decided no further action was necessary, but this often fell down in practice, meaning VCS groups were not aware of what was happening with the cases they had referred ie whether the assessment had been done, and what the decision/outcome was.
Action: Raks to update on progress at the next meeting
Action: This to be included as a key topic on the Safeguarding Learning Day in June
3. Adult Safeguarding Board
Richard Welton had contacted the Adult Safeguarding Board about a case but had received no reply from them. Ross explained that the Adult Safeguarding Board did not deal with individual cases, their role was more strategic, and referrals should be made to the Safeguarding team at Social Services. Individuals could call up to make a referral, but professionals including the VCS had to complete a referral form.
However, Ross agreed with Raks, that Richard should have received a reply, signposting him on to how to refer and who to refer to re any safeguarding concerns, and would follow-up with those organising the Board.
Action: Ross to follow-up with the Board as people writing to the Board should receive a reply
4. Topics for future meetings
From the topics suggested at the last meeting:
- Hourglass were presenting at this meeting,
- the Adult Safeguarding Board and statutory sector (and relationship with VCS) would be integral parts of our Learning Day in June, and
- FGM could be a topic at a future meeting.
Network Matters
Adult Safeguarding Board Update – Ross
Ross currently represents Community Southwark members on the Adult Safeguarding Board and, at the last meeting, he had said he was willing to stand down so someone else could perform this vital role. Now he will definitely be standing down as he is moving to Age UK Camden in May. It is therefore more urgent to find a replacement to take on his role representing Community Southwark members on the Adult Safeguarding Board.
The role involves attending the Adult Safeguarding Board meetings which are quartery, and mostly held online. The Southwark Board is very businesslike, with less time for discussion and exploration. Reading the papers for the Board, and digesting them, can take a lot of time. But it is important for the VCS sector voice to be heard on the Board, and being on the Board does enable you to increase your knowledge of safeguarding.
Ross has asked for a slot on the agenda to highlight VCS issues but this has not been forthcoming so far.
Ross had no updates from the last meeting of the Adult Safeguarding Board as it was due to take place last week but was cancelled.
Action: Raks will do another call out to see if there is anyone willing to take on this role. If no one comes forward, Ross has said Jeff Porter, Director of Services at Age UK Lewisham and Southwark, is willing to take on the role
Child Safeguarding Board Update – Ahlam
Ahlam fed back that the Board has been developing a holistic approach, and focusing on families, as a way of keeping children and young people safe. Raks said this focus on families should mean greater involvement and engagement with the VCS. Recent policies and guidance talk a lot about multi-agency working but, whilst they talk about local partners, they do not mention the VCS explicitly. Yet, if they want to engage with families, VCS involvement and engagement is critical.
Action: Ahlam to raise the involvement and engagement of the VCS sector explicitly with the Board, and to highlight the importance of the VCS sector when wishing to engage with families
Presentation: Hourglass
Speaker: Aisha Buabin, Community Response Officer, Hourglass
Hourglass works to challenge and prevent the abuse of older people through the provision of training and services.
Aisha gave a very comprehensive presentation, covering the latest research, exploring recent case studies, and then outlining the full range of services provided by Hourglass, alongside resources and contact details.
FINAL – Introduction to abuse of older people – Familial and Economic Abuse
Q&A:
Q1: What happens when there are language barriers? Some older people in London from diverse communities, for whom English is a second language, do not speak English confidently
Aisha: Nothing in place at the moment, but they are aware this is an issue and have flagged this as something they need to look at i.e. interpretation services
Updates from members
Attendees had introduced themselves and their organisations at the start of the meeting, and no one had any other specific updates.
Future plans for Safeguarding Leaders Network
Raks explained the June meeting will be an in-person Learning Day, likely to be held at Southwark Council offices in Tooley Street.
We are hoping to open these Network meetings up to a broader audience, and so the name of the meeting will change from the Safeguarding Leaders Network to just the Safeguarding Network. This opens up the meeting to everyone who has an interest in Safeguarding and wants to broaden and deepen their knowledge of the subject.
We are aiming to have between 40 and 50 people attending the in-person Learning Day.
The purpose of the Learning Day would be to develop and deepen knowledge on Safeguarding, and to network and connect with others in the sector dealing with similar issues to provide peer support. Also to involve and engage with social services teams working on Safeguarding to pave the way to better understanding of eachother and respective roles, and to encourage better engagement and more partnership working, which would be to everyone’s benefit
We want to have an agenda and include things that would be relevant and useful to people so what should be included?
Ross – The day should start with an overview of what Safeguarding is and the process to be followed re Southwark, so everyone at least has an understanding of the basics
Everyone – Wanted a session with the statutory sector ie social services, to explain how the Safeguarding process works in practice in Southwark, and this should include a Q&A session, as well as a discussion/feedback section on how things are working at the moment, highlighting any challenges encountered by the VCS sector. The VCS sector are keen to learn more about thresholds re safeguarding referrals, and how social services make a decision as to whether or not to take any further action
Everyone – Working through case studies in a multi-agency multi-disciplinary way may be a good way of exploring and discussing how things should be working, and how they are working, and to raise any current concerns and challenges
Workshops were suggested as a good way to increase engagement and participation
Specific themes suggested included historical disclosures, grooming (in person and online), county lines, child exploitation in general, and addiction
Raks had sent a survey round a couple of times but very few people had completed it.
Action: Raks would send the survey round one last time, along with the notes of this meeting, so people could contribute any thoughts and ideas re themes to be covered on the Learning Day in that survey
Action: To broaden involvement and attendance at these Network meetings, starting with the Learning Day in June, Network meetings would be promoted through our e-bulletins, and also on our website in the Events section
Date of next meeting
Tuesday 17 June 10am – 3.30pm
In-person Learning day
Southwark Council Offices, Tooley Street, London Bridge Venue TBC