Responding to a report: overview of task and process

The local authority has a duty to respond to a report about an adult who is at risk of abuse and neglect. A key principle should be always making the person safe.

N.B. As it is the local authority social services department that responds to reports about an adult at risk, the term ‘social services’ will be used in these procedures rather than local authority.

For the purposes of these procedures a report to social services will be taken to also mean a referral.

The task

Following a report being made to social services, consideration of all information will be undertaken (as detailed in duty to report section) to determine if there is reasonable cause to suspect an adult is, or may be, at risk.

The process

Responding to a report means gathering information to:

• determine whether the concerns raised provide a reasonable cause to suspect an adult is:
• experiencing abuse and/or neglect;
• has care and support needs and;
• as a result of these needs is unable to protect themselves against abuse or neglect or the risk of it (Section 126(1) (s.126) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014);
• make or cause to be made, whatever enquiries social services thinks necessary to enable it to decide whether any action should be taken;
• decide whether any such action should be taken and if so what and by whom.

Although enquiries may result in a strategy meeting/discussion (See strategy meetings/discussions), they are not the investigative part of the process. Enquiries do not include formal investigations involving the police, although that may be the outcome (See section on investigations).