Dudley's social services see surge in number of safeguarding reports
Dudley’s social services is facing a huge rise in reports of safeguarding concerns watchdog councillors will be told.
December’s meeting of Dudley Council’s Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee is set to hear there has been an eye-watering 300 percent rise in cases reported to the authority over the last decade.
In the 2024/25 year social services received 7,363 concerns about safeguarding which was a 2.9 percent increase on the previous year while resources to cope remain under pressure.
A report for the committee from Darryl Phillipowsky, the council’s head of adult mental health and safeguarding, said: “The provider market remains fragile, with over half of independent care providers signalling potential contract returns due to financial pressures.
“Domestic abuse and self-neglect continue as persistent safeguarding concerns.”
A total of 664 concerns raised in the 24/25 period progressed to an investigation where social services believed there was a risk to an adult who was unable to protect themselves.
Self-neglect made up nearly a quarter of concerns reported to authorities with neglect and psychological abuse being the next most reported.
The number of concerns carried forward for investigation as a proportion of total concerns received has fallen dramatically over the last ten years.
In 2014/15 the council received 1,713 concerns and investigated 42 percent, by 2024/25 the council investigated nine percent.
The rise in reports is linked to greater awareness of safeguarding issues including among health professionals who make the most referrals.
Councils have procedures in place, including in Dudley a Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), to assess reports to remove those not appropriate for further investigation.
The report by Mr Phillipowsky said: “The lower percentage rate of referrals converting to Section 42 enquiries is consistent with national trends, indicating that MASH filters referrals so that only those meeting specific criteria progress.
“Many concerns professionals bring to Adult MASH relate more to care management than safeguarding.”
