Publication of the Safe Care at Home Review
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Miss Sarah Dines)
My hon Friend the Minister for Social Care (Helen Whately) and I are pleased to announce that the Government have today published the “Safe Care at Home Review”, which has been jointly led by the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care.
Millions of adults receive excellent support in their own homes from paid, unpaid and voluntary carers. We know this is greatly valued, helping people with practical day-to-day tasks to live more independent and fulfilling lives.
However, we were concerned by the evidence presented by peers and the disability sector during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 about existing measures to protect and support people who are abused by people who are providing their care. We undertook this review as a direct response to this evidence.
In this review we spoke to a wide range of stakeholders including representatives from the Deaf community, older people’s and disability organisations, people providing care, health and housing professionals, local authorities, social work professionals, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and other Government Departments. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who provided evidence for this review and especially people who shared their personal and often harrowing stories.
This report includes a clear set of actions for this Government to take forward. We will continue to build on existing efforts to support and protect people in need and deliver quality services to victims and survivors of abuse. We will also redouble efforts to improve our understanding of this horrific form of hidden abuse. The review found this type of abuse can be far-reaching, and in certain cases has grave consequences. We remain committed to making sure people with care and support needs receive high quality and safe care in their own homes, and do not suffer from abuse or neglect by people providing that care.
These commitments go hand in hand with the Government’s wider work to improve adult social care, which includes a historic funding uplift over the next two years and the suite of reforms set out in the next steps to put people at the heart of care plan. In particular, the plan acknowledges the importance of investing in and supporting unpaid carers; improving recruitment and retention of paid carers; and ensuring the new Care Quality Commission local authority assessment framework includes monitoring the implementation of safeguarding duties from the Care Act 2014.
The evidence and action plan proposed from this review also reinforces this Government’s ongoing work to tackle domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) more broadly. We have already taken steps to tackle these crimes including funding £230 million for increased support for victims and survivors; introducing coercive and controlling behaviour as an offence in 2015; passing our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021; strengthening guidance on domestic abuse and publishing the ambitious tackling violence against women and girls strategy and domestic abuse plan.
Having listened to stakeholders’ concerns and what they want to see in response, this report sets out a series of cross-Government actions to address the following three themes:
Leadership and accountability: we heard concerns about fragmented oversight and accountability of safeguarding in England which can result in an over-reliance on sector led improvement and missed learning opportunities.
Effectiveness of the local response to abuse in the home: local responses to this form of abuse can be inconsistent and ineffective where frontline staff are not equipped with the right tools to understand its nature or navigate the complex legislative framework.
Research, evidence and learning: relevant data is often held in disparate places across Government Departments and agencies. The limited research on this type of abuse poses a significant problem when it comes to understanding and tackling it effectively.
We will continue to work with partners to ensure improvements are made and to progress the 26 actions from the review.
Together, this set of actions will help us continue to protect and support people with care and support needs who are at risk of, or are being, abused in their own home by the person providing their care.
A copy of the review report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on www.gov.uk.
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