Agenda and minutes

10.1     The Committee RESOLVED to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2025 as a correct record.

11.1     Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Webb and John Hayling Parent Governor Representative. Councillor Beaver was in attendance as a substitute for the current vacancy on the Committee.

Disclosures by all members present of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the member regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

12.1     There were no disclosures of interest.

Notification of items which the Chair considers to be urgent and proposes to take at the appropriate part of the agenda. Any members who wish to raise urgent items are asked, wherever possible, to notify the Chair before the start of the meeting. In so doing, they must state the special circumstances which they consider justify the matter being considered urgent.

13.1     There were no urgent items.

14.1     The Chair introduced the work programme report which outlined the Committee’s latest work programme, including its ongoing input into the Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR process), noting that the Committee was meeting in October to discuss this in more detail.

14.2     Councillor Cross commented on the upcoming Home to School Transport scoping board meeting and that it would be helpful to see the recent audit report on Home to School Transport. The Director of Children’s Services noted that this was a public report and could be circulated to the Committee, the headlines of the report would also be reported at the scoping board.

14.3     The Committee discussed the agenda for the November meeting and agreed to prioritise receiving reports on the recent Ofsted Focussed Visit of Children’s Services Department (CSD) and Care Quality Commission assessment of Adult Social Care. The Committee noted that equality and inclusion were embedded in the work of ASCH, and therefore considered more broadly by scrutiny, and that they had recently received a detailed briefing on the Climate Change Health Impact Assessment and agreed that scheduled reports on these items could be removed from the work programme at this time.

14.4     The Committee therefore RESOLVED to add the following reports to the work programme: Ofsted Focussed Visit of Children’s Services Department (CSD) and Care Quality Commission assessment of Adult Social Care; and remove the following reports: Equality and Inclusion in Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) and the Climate Change Health Impact Assessment.

Forward plan

14.5     The Committee reviewed the Council’s Forward Plan of executive decisions.

Work Programme

14.6     The Committee RESOLVED to agree the updated work programme and to review the work programme in more detail at the upcoming awayday.

15.1     The Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) introduced the report which outlined the work of the SAB for 2024-25 including progress on the strategic priorities of self-neglect; prevention and early intervention; and safeguarding and homelessness. The Chair praised the positive engagement from members of the SAB, as well as wider partners, noting a commitment to ensure safeguarding is person centred, collaborative, timely and proportionate.

15.2     The Director of ASCH thanked the Chair for her work on the SAB and commented on the Board’s approach to collate resources and knowledge to protect vulnerable adults. He also welcomed the current priorities which reflected the local population, noting the high number of single households who were at higher risk of self-neglect and current challenges with homelessness, and which built upon multi agency work to prevent abuse. The SAB allowed for system partners to continue to challenge each other to improve safeguarding.   

15.3     The Committee welcomed the report and asked questions and made comments on the following areas:

·       Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) referrals – The Committee enquired about the reasons for fewer SAR referrals than in previous years and asked if this was reflecting fewer incidents, or a change in criteria. The SAB Chair commented that it was difficult to attribute progress to the number of referrals as this could reflect either fewer incidents, or fewer incidents being reported and it was therefore important to interrogate this data, particularly in light of staff turnover to ensure partners had good knowledge of safeguarding.

·       Self-neglect – The Committee welcomed the priority to support adults who self-neglect and enquired if loneliness and mental health issues were contributing factors to this. The Committee also commented that adults may not actively seek support and asked what approach was being taken to identify and support adults. In response the Chair of SAB emphasised the role of partners and the wider community, including councillors, to report concerns and share information, noting the need to be professionally curious and for a multi-agency approach. Targeted campaigns helped to raise awareness of self-neglect in communities and share the message that safeguarding is everyone’s business, however noted that most referrals came from services. The Chair agreed that loneliness and mental health issues could be contributing factors to self-neglect. The Director for ASCH reiterated the need for professionals to consider the wider context when in contact with individuals and raise any concerns of self-neglect.  

·       Self neglect podcast– The Committee welcomed the use of podcasts to raise awareness of self neglect and asked how many people had listened to these. The Chair of the SAB confirmed that these were publicly available and that data could be shared after the meeting.

·       Dementia – The Committee asked how the Board was responding to people at risk of self-neglect due to dementia and a lack of contact with services. The Chair commented that there were national examples of people with dementia that were not known to services due to a lack of contact with outside agencies or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.1     The Head of Safer Communities introduced the report which outlined the performance across the Safer Communities Partnership during 2024/25. The Head of Safer Communities confirmed that East Sussex remains a safe place to live with crime rates below national average, despite some challenges in coastal areas of the county.

16.2     The Partnership’s key objectives of protecting vulnerable people, identifying people at risk or harm, and keeping communities safe remained the same and business plan objectives overall were progressing well.

16.3     The Committee was informed of updated data since the publication of the report regarding deaths that had met the criteria for a domestic abuse review and heard that there had been notifications of four in the last week. The Head of Safer Communities commented that the criteria had recently broadened to include death by suicide in the context of domestic abuse.

16.4     Committee thanked officers for the report asked questions in the following areas:

• Drug related offences – The Committee welcomed and sought clarification on reasons for the reduction in drug related offences, particularly in the Hastings area. In response they heard that there had been significant investment in treatment and recovery through the Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Recovery and Improvement Grant which had resulted in more people entering treatment as well as targeted work with young people. The Head of Safer Communities commented that heroin and other opiates was being used less widely amongst young people, but alcohol was becoming an increasing concern.
• Temporary accommodation – The Committee asked if people being housed in East Sussex from other areas, including Brighton, was having an impact on drug and alcohol related deaths in the county, including Eastbourne, and commented that issues could arise if people were housed without adequate support. The Director of ASCH informed the Committee that currently there were approximately 200 Brighton and Hove residents housed in the Eastbourne area and there had been a small number of issues as well as the recent deaths of two adults. However, relationships with colleagues at Brighton and Hove Council were positive and processes were in place to raise issues and repatriate individuals for them to access the appropriate support. In response to a request for information regarding these deaths, the Director confirmed that there had not been Safeguarding Adults Review referrals in relation to these deaths, however the department would investigate access to support services if this was a contributing factor and noted that coroners’ reports would be published when available.
• Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences referrals – The Committee questioned the high number of Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARC) referrals involving disabled individuals and comments in the report that this likely reflected both a higher local rate of self-identified disability and broader interpretations of disability by referral agencies, and asked what criteria was currently in place. The Head of Safer Communities noted that this was being looked at through the audit process but commented that agencies were likely to note individuals were emotionally distressed despite this not necessarily indicating  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.