The Healthy and Safe Communities Scrutiny Panel met to discuss prevention and early intervention contracts, safeguarding, community safety, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on adult social care. The panel also had the Healthy & Safe Communities Scrutiny Panel Work Programme 2025-26 for noting.

Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report

The panel was scheduled to receive the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2024/25. The report highlights proactive measures taken by the Enfield Safeguarding Adults Board and partners to prevent neglect of adults with support needs, outlines learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs), details guidance developed, and describes the Safeguarding Adults Board training programme. The report also sets out the board's priorities for 2025-2026.

The annual report noted that there had been increasing amounts of safeguarding adults concerns being referred to safeguarding adults processes, with 3,564 concerns raised in 2024/25, an increase of 467 on the previous financial year. Alleged neglect and acts of omission were factors in 39% of enquiries. In response, the Enfield Safeguarding Adults Board produced guidance for care providers around working with both pressure care and falls.

The Safeguarding Adults Board developed a task and finish group around self-neglect which met over 2024-25, and has worked on developing guidance for professionals around multi-agency meetings in such cases, as well as expanding the High-Risk Advisory Panel.

The Enfield Safeguarding Adults Board launched their 'What I Wish You Knew About…' sessions, which are monthly Teams sessions where a partner agency from within the board presents on what they wish other people knew about what their team does, including how to refer and tips on how to work with different client groups.

The Safeguarding Adults Reviews published in 2024/25 included:

• The Elly SAR (published January 2025) Elly was a woman living in Enfield, in her 50s and with mental health difficulties, who often declined services and also went missing.
• The Carer's Thematic SAR (February 2025) This review looked into 4 cases where adults were cared for by family members (and where involvement from other agencies had been declined) where the adults died & there were concerns about neglect.
• The Ruth SAR (March 2025) Ruth was another woman in her 50s living in Enfield who received care from two hospitals, two care agencies and a number of other partners in the last three months of her life.

Safer Stronger Communities Board Performance Report

The panel was scheduled to receive a report setting out the key highlights from crime data for Enfield up to August 2025, and providing a deep dive on anti-social behaviour and hate crime across all property tenures in the borough.

The key highlights from the Safer Stronger Communities Board Performance Report included:

• Total Notifiable Offences increased by 2.4% in the year ending August 2025 compared to the previous 12 months, primarily due to shop theft, theft from the person, and drug offences.
• Violence Against the Person offences decreased by 4.8%.
• Domestic abuse incidents decreased by 4.5%.
• Robbery of personal property offences increased 4.2%.
• Gun crime offences decreased by 2.9%.
• Knife Crime: 654 Knife Crime offences reported in Enfield for last 12 months from September 2024 to August 2025.
• Residential burglary decreased by 12.5%.
• Drug offences increased by 83.8%.

The report also provided an update on the Keeping Town Centres Safe this Summer Programme, which focused resources in the Silver Street Station and Fore Street area of Upper Edmonton, and the Summer Parks Reassurance Team, which patrolled key parks and open spaces.

Other activities to keep young people safe that were mentioned in the report included the Summer University programme, the My Ends Programme, Inspiring Young Enfield, and Detached and Outreach Youth Work.

CQC Report - Adult Social Care Action Plan

The panel was scheduled to receive a report presenting the action plan following the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assurance visit to Enfield in December 2024, and publication of the report in May 2025. Overall, Enfield received a Good rating.

Key strengths noted in the inspection included:

• Leaders were visible and accessible
• Direct Payments recognised as national leader
• Social Care Market management was good
• Making Safeguarding Personal
• Positive about joint working with Public Health & partnerships with the NHS
• Integrated Learning Disability Service
• Good relationships with Voluntary Sector

Areas for improvement included:

• Waiting lists/backlogs
• Some delays in organising advocacy
• Some providers noted the feedback from individual safeguarding cases can be inconsistent
• More timely responses to Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs)
• Improving access to respite for unpaid carers

The CQC identified areas of improvement have been distilled into a 10-point plan:

• Managing high and increasing volumes of work
• Mental Health & Housing related issues
• Improving Access
• Admin/ document improvements
• Advocacy
• Improving record keeping
• Safeguarding and Safeguarding Adult Board (SAB) actions
• Transition roles and processes
• Seldom-Heard Groups actions
• Maintain or extend areas of excellence

Prevention & Early Intervention (PEI) Contracts

The panel was scheduled to receive a report updating them on progress following the commissioning of Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Services in Adult Social Care. In June 2025, the council appointed five Voluntary and Community Sector organisations to deliver Prevention and Early Intervention Services to residents of Enfield at a cost of £1,488,755 per annum. Each organisation has been contracted for an initial 3 year term (2025 – 2028) with an option to extend for a further 3 + 3 years.

The overarching aim of the council's Prevention and Early Intervention contracts are to support and enhance the delivery of Enfield Council's statutory duties under the Care Act 2014¹, and prevent, reduce or delay a person's need for more intensive health and adult social care services.

The five contracts are:

• Contract 1: Supporting Unpaid Carers, led by Enfield Carers Centre in partnership with Resources for Autism.
• Contract 2: Supporting Independence through Information & Advice, Digital Inclusion & Assistive Technology, delivered by Disability Advice Network Enfield (DANE) and led by Citizens Advice Enfield in partnership with Age UK Enfield and Edmonton Community Partnership.
• Contract 3: Supporting Independence Through Advocacy and Inclusion, provided by Local Enfield Advocacy Partnership (LEAP) and led by MIND in Enfield & Barnet, in partnership with Enfield Carers Centre, Middlesex Association for the Blind, Enfield CAB, One to One Enfield, Enfield Voluntary Action and Precious Counselling & Mentoring.
• Contract 4 - Supporting Independence & Inclusion Through Early Intervention, delivered by UCAN and led by Age UK Enfield (AUKE) in partnership with organisations including Bread and Butter, Cooking Champions, Mind in Enfield & Barnet, One to One Enfield, Middlesex Association for the Blind and Wellbeing Connect Services.
• Contract 5 : Home from Hospital & Supporting Community Recovery, led and delivered by Alpha Care Ltd.