Safeguarding performance

Progress Housing Group and our charitable arm Key Unlocking Futures supported the White Ribbon campaign to raise awareness of domestic abuse. We shared links to support services and information on what domestic abuse is/ looks like, so people can recognise the signs. We collaborated with Key and South Ribble Borough Council for a co-ordinated approach and wide reach in our communities.

For Anti-slavery Week we updated our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking statement on our website to set out our zero-tolerance approach to the exploitation of individuals through coercion, threats, or deception, trapping them in conditions they cannot escape. This is illegal and a violation of human rights. Many of our colleagues attended a webinar about modern slavery, provided by one of our audit partners, Mazars. We also raised awareness on our social media platforms, too.

In 2024, we supported Safeguarding Adults Week, which is led by the Ann Craft Trust. The purpose of the week is to raise awareness of safeguarding. The themes of the week were all centred around ‘Working in Partnership’, such as professional curiosity, boundaries and recognising exploitation. During the week we shared real life stories about how we protect people from abuse and neglect. We also shared housing officer blogs and a video series with colleagues about ‘what does safeguarding mean to you?’

26 = Number of concerns whereby the local authority safeguarding team confirmed that they were satisfied with the actions being undertaken internally by the Group.

15 = Number of concerns accepted by local authority safeguarding team who are working with the subject directly.

3 = Number of concerns where further action was taken by local authority safeguarding team to obtain further information.

24 = Number of concerns where no further action was necessary.

25 = Concerns raised for self-neglect (a decrease of 39%)

17 = Concerns raised  for financial abuse (an increase of 29%)

8 = Concerns raised  for self-neglect for RWP supported living tenants (a decrease of 27%)

9 = Concerns raised by our Independent Living Team

19 = Concerns raised by our Progress Lifeline Team

8 = Concerns raised by our RWP Supported Living Team

5 = Concerns raised by our Customer Contact Centre

5 = Concerns raised by our Housing Operations Team

7 = Concerns raised by our Progress Futures Team

44 = Cases were closed 42

24 = Cases are awaiting updates from social services/employees

114 = Safeguarding concerns were raised overall by our charitable arm Key Unlocking Futures which provides prevention and critical support across Lancashire.

58  = Safeguarding incident reports completed by Key’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service

1 = Safeguarding concerns raised in Key’s Schools Counselling Service

We provide mandatory safeguarding training that all employees are expected to complete depending on their role. At the end of the year, over 94% of employees had completed their training. We send reminders to colleagues six months, three months and one week prior to their refresher date. We also provided training opportunities for employees about tenant sustainability, domestic abuse, county lines, hoarding and dementia awareness.

The Group offers a range of services to support customers. This includes:

• Free wellbeing and support service, through partnering with Life and Progress, an independent mental health and wellbeing provider
• Cost of Living Hub, which includes the Tenant Sustainability Service, money saving tips, help with debt and community support
• Housing Perks --an exclusive discount application, to help with food and shopping bills.

Tom is a Progress Lifeline service user. He lives on his own and has no other family in the area and has many health conditions. On a recent call, he said he had been in hospital for a few days following a fall. A week or so later he made us aware he had been struggling with daily tasks.

We raised a safeguarding concern with Lancashire County Council. We also checked in with Tom each week to see how he was getting on. As a result of the safeguarding referral, Tom had carers coming in to help him with showering, getting dressed and making his meals. He said this was a big help until he was able to get himself better. We have since checked in on him each week and he no longer needs care to be provided. We also gave him the Lancashire County Council social services number in case he needs any further help in the future.