Latest news from the partnership board
The last twelve months have been extremely busy for the TDSAP and at our last meeting we were pleased to sign off our current annual report. The report highlights the achievements not just for the Board itself but also celebrates the the hard work of professionals in Devon and the progress that has been made by all of our partner organisations in the area of adult safeguarding. This report will be widely circulated across all agencies and can also be accessed via or website. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that were involved in this work as I know that the work of the Board and its subgroups place an additional demand on professionals who are already working hard to meet the needs of those who are vulnerable in our communities. We have already started to plan for our next twelve months of activity. We will be reviewing our priorities at our next Board to ensure that they continue to be relevant and that they are driving improvements in services and meeting the expectations of those that use our services. We will ensure that these priorities also address any feedback that we may receive as part of the CQC inspection.
We have seen the departure of one of the central members of our team, Jon Anthony, the Associate Director of Social Work and Professional Practice. Jon has worked tirelessly for the residents in Torbay and for the Board and we would all like to wish him well in his retirement.
We look forward to working with you all in the next twelve months.
Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs)
SAR Thomas
The Safeguarding Adults Review for Thomas was completed and agreed by the TDSAP Board in late September 2021. The publication of the SAR was delayed to await the outcome of the inquest into Thomas’s death.
Progress on embedding the SAR recommendations into operational practice continued in advance of publication. The TDSAP Board signed off all SAR recommendations as complete, in early 2025. Following contact with the Orchard family, the TDSAP Board agreed to publish the SAR in December 2025.
To read the full report, including a copy of the family’s statement, please visit our website.
Personal story at the Board – resistance to engage
Experienced Social Worker, Elliott Taylor-Hawkins, attended the TDSAP Board meeting in December and shared with Board members the story of ‘Yana’.
Yana experienced severe self-neglect, hoarding and a suspected psychosis. Resistance to engagement by any partner agency was a long standing issue posing significant challenges and compounding physical and mental health deterioration. Yana had come to live in very poor conditions, was malnourished and dehydrated, and lived with significant risk of infection to untreated wounds. A rat infestation further increased the risks in the living environment with Yana persistently refusing support.
Elliott highlighted, through the work undertaken, that partnership working is essential in complex circumstances of self-neglect to ensure a coordinated multi agency response where there is clarify regarding different roles and how communication with the adult at risk can be kept consistent as part of the relationship building process to gain meaningful trust.
This coordinated multi-agency approach ensured appropriate information sharing, joint planning and action, and the flexibility to adapt strategies, as a team, when this was required. This persistent partnership approach supported Yana’s situation to stabilise, and saw her engaging more openly with professionals and eventually accepting crucial support to improve her health and steer away from what had become a life-threatening situation.
Elliott’s account was very powerful and demonstrated how outcomes for adults at risk can be improved and strengthened through a collaborative partnership approach where agencies all have a role to play in complex safeguarding circumstances.
Multi-Agency Risk Management (MARM) – Framework update
The TDSAP have developed and agreed a Multi-Agency Risk Management Framework, with principles and guidance, for operational use across partner organisations.
What is MARM?
The MARM principles and guidance were developed to provide support for partner agencies working with adults where there is a high risk of harm to the person and a multi-agency approach would be beneficial, but the circumstances may sit outside of the statutory safeguarding adults framework.
When supporting adults in high risk situations, professionals are often involved in complex or urgent circumstances where responses are likely to require a solution based approach which has at its core, a focus on building trust and a rapport with the adult.
A MARM is a proactive approach from a preventative perspective where the presenting risk does not meet the criteria for a Section 42 (2) enquiry or other frameworks for managing risk but where, through sharing information at an early stage, support could be coordinated to prevent escalation of risk, and for partner agencies to provide a collaborative approach to managing the risk and identifying actions required to achieve better outcomes for the adult.
Crucially, a MARM does not replace existing frameworks for managing risk such as section 42(2) safeguarding adult enquiries, Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) etc.
Why do we need a MARM?
Learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) demonstrates that high risk behaviours may lead an adult to find themselves in situations where, without multi-agency intervention, there is a high probability that the adult’s circumstances will deteriorate placing them at risk of harm, abuse or neglect.
The aim of the MARM is to act on early risk indicators through a multi-agency approach whereby partner agencies come together, in partnership with the adult, to promote person centred and preventative risk management plans. At the heart of the MARM is a multi-agency meeting where information is shared to improve outcomes for the adult at risk thus reducing risk of harm, abuse or neglect.
Next Steps
The MARM Framework is due to ‘Go Live’ on 9th March 2026 across Devon and Torbay. The MARM guidance will be coming your way very soon so please look out for this. As well as being shared with all partners, the guidance will also be uploaded to our website in due course.