Safeguarding adults FAQs

Safeguarding adults means protecting people aged 18 and over from abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and ensuring they can live safely with dignity and free from harm.

Safeguarding adults involves protecting adults at risk from abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and taking action to help them live safely and with dignity.

In practice, it includes:

• Recognising signs of abuse or neglect
• Reporting concerns promptly
• Assessing risk and taking protective action
• Supporting the adult’s wishes and rights
• Working with other agencies (health, social care, police)
• Reviewing and learning from incidents

These duties are set out under the Care Act 2014.

There are six principles of safeguarding adults which are:

1. Empowerment – people are supported to make their own choices
2. Prevention – act early to stop harm before it occurs
3. Proportionality – respond in the least intrusive way
4. Protection – support those at greatest risk
5. Partnership – work with other agencies to safeguard
6. Accountability – be transparent and take responsibility

These principles come from guidance linked to the Care Act 2014.

Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) is an approach to adult safeguarding that puts the person at the centre of decisions about their own safety.

It means safeguarding is person-led and outcome-focused, working with the adult to understand:

• what matters to them,
• what they want to happen, and
• how risks can be managed in a way that respects their wishes, rights, and independence.

MSP is a core principle of safeguarding under the Care Act 2014, shifting the focus from processes to meaningful outcomes for the individual.

The main legislation covering safeguarding adults in the UK is the Care Act 2014, which sets out the legal duties to protect adults at risk of abuse or neglect.

Other key supporting laws include:

• Mental Capacity Act 2005 – decision-making for those who lack capacity
• Human Rights Act 1998 – protects dignity and freedom from inhumane treatment
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 – supports safer recruitment

Together, these laws form the legal framework for safeguarding adults in the UK.

The Care Act 2014 places a legal duty on local authorities to lead safeguarding, while requiring all relevant organisations to work together to protect adults at risk.

The Act sets out how concerns must be raised, investigated, and managed, ensures the adult’s rights and wishes are central to decision-making, and establishes Safeguarding Adults Boards to oversee and improve safeguarding practice.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 safeguards adults by protecting people who may lack the ability to make certain decisions. It ensures decisions are made in the person’s best interests, supports them to make their own choices wherever possible, and prevents abuse through clear rules on consent, restraint, and decision-making on their behalf.

The Equality Act 2010 safeguards adults by making it unlawful to discriminate, harass, or victimise people because of protected characteristics such as age, disability, sex, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Under the Act, individuals have the legal right to challenge unfair treatment, employers and service providers are required to make reasonable adjustments, and organisations have a duty to prevent harassment and promote equal treatment.

A safeguarding issue is any situation where an adult at risk may be experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect.

Under the Care Act 2014, this includes:

• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Emotional or psychological abuse
• Financial or material abuse
• Neglect or acts of omission
• Self-neglect
• Discriminatory abuse
• Organisational or institutional abuse
• Domestic abuse
• Modern slavery and exploitation

If someone has care and support needs and is unable to protect themselves, any of these concerns would be classed as a safeguarding issue.

Everyone has a responsibility for safeguarding adults at risk, but specific legal duties sit with certain organisations.

Under the Care Act 2014:

• Local authorities have the lead legal responsibility for investigating concerns and coordinating safeguarding action.
• Employers and organisations must have safeguarding policies, train staff, and act on concerns in their services.
• Professionals (such as health, care, housing, and support staff) must recognise and report risks.
• The police are responsible where a criminal offence may have occurred.
• Individuals also have a duty to report concerns if they believe someone is at risk.

Safeguarding is a shared responsibility, with organisations legally required to work together to protect adults at risk.

Several key agencies work together to safeguard adults in the UK. The main ones are:

• Local authorities (adult social care) – lead safeguarding enquiries under the Care Act 2014
• Police – investigate crimes such as abuse, assault, or exploitation
• NHS services – identify safeguarding concerns through healthcare contact
• Care providers and support services – monitor day-to-day welfare and report concerns
• Housing services – support adults at risk of abuse or neglect in housing settings
• Probation and community justice services – manage risk for vulnerable adults and offenders
• Voluntary and advocacy organisations – provide support, advice, and independent representation

Safeguarding adults is a multi-agency responsibility, with all organisations legally required to work together to protect people at risk.

The police safeguard adults by responding to safeguarding reports, investigating crimes, protecting people in immediate danger, and working with local authorities and other agencies to reduce ongoing risk. Their role is carried out alongside safeguarding partners under the Care Act 2014.

Social workers safeguard adults by assessing risk, investigating concerns, arranging support and protection, and working with other services to reduce harm. They ensure the person’s rights, wishes, and wellbeing are central to all decisions, and they coordinate safeguarding action under the Care Act 2014.

Your duty of care in safeguarding adults means you must take reasonable steps to protect adults at risk from harm, act on concerns, and never ignore signs of abuse or neglect.

This includes recognising risks, reporting concerns promptly through the correct channels, recording information accurately, and working in line with safeguarding policies and the Care Act 2014. Your duty is to act in the person’s best interests and help keep them safe.

Do:

• listen carefully and take what they say seriously
• stay calm, supportive, and non-judgemental
• reassure them they were right to speak up
• record what was said as accurately as possible, using their own words
• report the concern promptly, following your organisation’s safeguarding procedures

Do not:

• promise total confidentiality
• ask leading or probing questions
• investigate the matter yourself
• challenge or confront the alleged abuser
• delay reporting because you’re unsure

Your role is to listen, reassure, and pass the concern on, not to investigate.

To report a safeguarding concern about an adult in the UK, you should:

• Act immediately if the person is in danger by contacting the police or emergency services.
• Report the concern to your organisation’s safeguarding lead if you have one.
• Contact your local authority’s adult safeguarding team, who have the legal duty to investigate under the Care Act 2014.
• Record what you saw or were told clearly and factually, including dates and times.

You do not need proof to raise a concern, reasonable suspicion is enough, and it is always better to report than to leave someone at risk.

While gaining the person’s consent is best practice, you can report a safeguarding concern without consent if:

• there is a risk of serious harm to the person or others,
• a crime has been committed or may be committed, or
• there is a public interest justification.

Any decision to share information without consent should be necessary, proportionate, and recorded, and the person should be informed unless doing so would increase risk.

Yes, you can make a safeguarding report anonymously.

Local authorities will accept anonymous safeguarding concerns and assess them in the same way as any other report. However, anonymity cannot always be guaranteed, especially if:

• the case goes to court, or
• the details of the concern make the source identifiable.

Providing your contact details can help investigators clarify information, but it is not a requirement to raise a concern.

A Section 42 enquiry is a statutory safeguarding investigation carried out by a local authority under the Care Act 2014.

It is triggered when an adult:

• has care and support needs,
• is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and
• is unable to protect themselves because of those needs.

The enquiry looks at what has happened, what risks exist, and what action is needed to protect the adult, in a way that is proportionate and person-centred.

A Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) is triggered when an adult with care and support needs dies or is seriously harmed, and there is concern about how organisations worked together to protect them.

This duty is set out in the Care Act 2014, and the review is carried out by the local Safeguarding Adults Board to identify learning and prevent similar harm in future.

An adult with mental capacity has the right to refuse a safeguarding intervention, even if professionals believe they are at risk.

However, this can be overridden where:

• others are at risk of harm,
• a serious crime has been committed or may be committed, or
• there is a wider public interest that justifies intervention.

If the adult lacks mental capacity, decisions must be made in their best interests, in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Safeguarding adults training helps staff and volunteers recognise signs of abuse or neglect, understand their legal responsibilities, and know how to respond and report concerns correctly to protect adults at risk.

Training is based on the duties set out in the Care Act 2014 and covers types of abuse, how to respond to disclosures, reporting procedures, confidentiality, record-keeping, and individual safeguarding responsibilities, with the aim of ensuring people can act early and prevent harm.

There is no fixed legal interval for safeguarding adults training, but it should be updated regularly to remain effective under the duties set out in the Care Act 2014.

In practice, most organisations refresh training every 1–2 years, and sooner if there are changes in legislation, new risks, incidents, or evidence that current training is no longer effective.

According to the official Safeguarding adults, England, 2024 to 2025 statistics from gov.uk, there were an estimated 640,240 safeguarding concerns of abuse raised in England between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.

This figure represents notifications made to local authorities where abuse or neglect was suspected and recorded as a concern.

According to Safeguarding adults, England, 2024 to 2025 official statistics, there were approximately 185,270 Section 42 safeguarding enquiries commenced in England between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.

The most common type of risk is neglect and acts of omission, which accounted for 40.8% of Section 42 enquiries in 2024/2025.

51.9% of identified safeguarding risks in concluded Section 42 enquiries occurred in the person’s own home, making it the most frequent location.

The largest proportion of adults involved in safeguarding cases were recorded as white British, with smaller percentages from other ethnic groups.

“Adult at risk” is the correct, current term under the Care Act 2014. It describes an adult who:

• has care and support needs (whether or not the local authority is meeting them), and
• is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect, and
• because of those care and support needs, is unable to protect themselves from that abuse or neglect.

The term focuses on the situation and the risk, not the person.

“Vulnerable adult” is an outdated term. It suggests the person themselves is the problem and does not reflect the person-centred, rights-based approach required by current safeguarding law.