Closing the Adult Safeguarding Procedures

Decision Making on Closure and Feedback.

At any stage of the Statutory Safeguarding Procedures a decision could be made not to continue with them.

This can be for many reasons, but the Safeguarding Adults Manager (SAM) must have oversight of this decision making and the rationale for decisions should be clearly set out and recorded.

All adult Safeguarding Concerns referred to the local authority should be assessed to decide if the criteria for adult safeguarding are met. Keeping the person who raised the concern informed is an essential requirement under these procedures. Feedback provides assurance that action has been taken whether under adult safeguarding or not.

The following closure actions must be considered at any stage of the procedures:

1. Outcomes are reviewed: these have been discussed and confirmed with the adult and/or their representative.
2. The adult and/or their representative is made aware that the Section 9 duty continues: or they are provided with advice, information and signposting.
3. Partner organisations and workers are made aware of this decision: including the referrer.
4. Learning is identified and is shared with all relevant stakeholders.
5. Decisions are recorded including the rationale.

Organisations raising concerns may want to challenge or discuss closure decisions and need to be updated on what action has been taken. It is more likely that the public will continue to raise concerns, where there is an acknowledgement that their concern has reached the right agency and is being taken seriously. Feedback to the wider community needs to take account of confidentiality and requirements of data protection legislation.

If the matter is subject to police involvement, the police should always be consulted so criminal investigations are not compromised. The Home - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Welcome to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman | Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) are both useful sources to explore case examples.

See here for local information: LSAB Information Sharing Agreement March 2026

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) also provides advice on information sharing. 

Closure Summary Record (if stages 2 & 3 of the Safeguarding Procedures have been completed).

At the end of an enquiry the SAM is responsible for ensuring that a clear summary of all actions taken and any ongoing risk management plan. The following should be recorded:

• All the views of the adult or their representative about the adult safeguarding work needs to be noted. This should include any agreements/disagreements about decisions. Whether their desired outcomes have been achieved and if not/why not.
• Any further referrals for assessment and support and who to.
• Any advice and information provided.
• All organisations involved in the enquiry to be updated and informed.
• Feedback has been provided to the referrer.
• Any action(s) taken with the person alleged to have caused harm.
• Any action(s) taken to support other people.
• Referral to children and young people made (if necessary).
• Whether to refer to a SAB for consideration for a s44 Care Act Safeguarding Adults Review.
• Any lessons to be learnt.
• Agreement on how matters will be followed up with the adult if there are further concerns.
• Recording key data in an anonymised way that can be used to inform practice, provide aggregated outcomes information for Safeguarding Adults Boards and enable the statutory Safeguarding Adults Collection (SAC) NHSE Digital return to be completed.
• There may be circumstances when the enquiry has closed but ongoing monitoring is required to manage risks and/or establish if the agreed actions are appropriate. In these circumstances, in addition to the actions outlined in the closure summary report outlined above consideration should be given to referring to a multi-agency panel to share the management of people at high risk of abuse.
• Professional/concerned curiosity should be maintained throughout.
• Agreement on the monitoring arrangements and by whom should be agreed and recorded in the closure summary record).
• It is good practice where a care management assessment or review, Care Programme Approach (CPA), health review, placement review or any other pre-booked review is due to take place following the safeguarding enquiry, for a standard check to be made that there has been no reoccurrence of adult safeguarding concerns.

End of the adult safeguarding work:

There may be some situations where the risks cannot be reduced or mitigated adequately, and ongoing support or case management is required. Multi-agency high risk panels may assist workers to escalate risks, share information, hold risk collectively and explore creative solutions for particularly complex situations. In these circumstances whilst a specific enquiry may be completed, ongoing monitoring and review may be required.

Processes that continue after the safeguarding adult procedures close or are concluded:

The adult safeguarding procedure may be closed but other processes may continue, for example, a disciplinary or professional body investigation.

Where there are outstanding criminal investigations and pending court actions, the adult safeguarding process can also be closed providing that the adult is safeguarded.

These processes may take some time, and consideration should be given to:

• The impact of these on the adult, the risk management plan.
• How this will be monitored and by who? (This should include changes to care plans which may have changed as a direct result of safeguarding recommendations
• How often.
• How will concerns be escalated.
• This should all be recorded in the adult safeguarding enquiry report.

See pages 55-57 & 77: London Multi-Agency Adult Safeguarding Policy, Practice Guidance and Procedures November 2025