This meeting included for discussion updates from the Integrated Care Board, Healthwatch Oxfordshire, and a range of partnership boards. The Board was also asked to consider the adoption of a new strategy for preventing homelessness.

Preventing Homelessness

This item was included to provide a progress update on the work done by Oxfordshire County Council and its partner organisations, referred to as 'The Alliance'¹, to improve support for homeless people in Oxfordshire. The report included for discussion a summary of progress made by The Alliance on its nine 'priority actions' for this year. It also included a summary of the latest data and trends for homelessness in Oxfordshire, noting for example that the number of people seen rough sleeping in Oxford had risen in the first three months of the financial year. Finally, the report described the changes being made to services this year. These include a new independent Chair for The Alliance's leadership team and a new 'Housing Led' approach for supported accommodation.

Safeguarding Adults

A report on the activities of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (OSAB) was included for discussion. The report included for discussion the activities that OSAB had undertaken in the last year, and how they contribute to preventing abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults in Oxfordshire. It also provided a summary of the safeguarding concerns received by the Council in the last year, noting that 6,581 concerns were received. This represents a slight decrease from the 6,670 concerns received in the previous year. The report noted that the source of the most safeguarding referrals was care providers (29%). It noted that the most common causes for concern were self-neglect and neglect. The report included the key findings from OSAB's recent case reviews, including the following recommendation:

How are we supporting frontline workers who are working with complexity? Are we offering enough time to reflect on practice and enough constructive challenge to ensure we are doing all we can within our resources and have considered the possibilities of multi-agency options? The report concluded by setting out the Board's priorities for 2024-2025, which include a greater focus on acting on learning.

Safeguarding Children

The Board was asked to note the annual report of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (OSCB). The report described the safeguarding challenges in Oxfordshire, which include neglect, child exploitation, and keeping children safe in education. The report included a summary of the key figures related to children's safeguarding, noting for example that 528 children had been made subject to a child protection plan as of 31 March 2024. It also included for discussion the findings of OSCB's recent case reviews, which highlighted problems with the timely access to mental health and well-being services for young people. The report concluded by stating that OSCB's priorities for the coming year will remain unchanged, but that 'more traction' is needed to ensure that changes are actually made. It also stated that the Board is seeking to recruit a dedicated post to improve the engagement of young people and families.

Safer Oxfordshire Partnership

The Board was asked to note the activities of the Safer Oxfordshire Partnership. The Partnership aims to improve community safety and reduce crime in Oxfordshire by fostering collaboration between a range of stakeholders and agencies including the district councils, Thames Valley Police, the Integrated Care Board, the prison service, and voluntary sector organisations. The report described the work that has been done by the Partnership in the last year to achieve its priorities, which include:

• Fighting modern slavery and serious violence, including by using contextual safeguarding approaches² to tackle child criminal exploitation.
• Reducing the risk of abuse for vulnerable people, including by commissioning Adolescent Safeguarding Consultancy (ASC) to run the Oxfordshire Domestic Abuse Champions Network.
• Reducing the harm caused by alcohol and drugs misuse, for example by funding the Refresh Café, which helps drug and alcohol users who have a history of offending to find training and employment.
• Reducing re/offending, especially young people.

Contextual Safeguarding is a method of safeguarding children from harm outside the home. It recognises that children can be vulnerable to abuse in many settings including schools, public places, and online, and seeks to address the wider factors that can contribute to this vulnerability, such as peer groups, culture, poverty, and discrimination.

Domestic Abuse Safer Accommodation Strategy

The Board was asked to note the work being undertaken by Oxfordshire County Council to review the Oxfordshire Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Strategy (ODASSA). The ODASSA aims to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and their families have access to safe accommodation in Oxfordshire. The current ODASSA was published in December 2021, and is scheduled to be reviewed every three years. The report explained that it has been agreed to refresh the ODASSA, rather than develop a new strategy, because many of the actions in the current strategy are still relevant. Solutions in Public Health have been appointed to refresh the ODASSA, and their draft report was included for discussion. The report noted that the main gaps in the existing provision of safe accommodation in Oxfordshire are:

• A lack of specialist provisions for diverse groups, such as LGBTQ+ individuals, and families with complex needs.
• Insufficient capacity in transitional and dispersed housing.
• Barriers to access, including stigma, cultural challenges, and inconsistent communication. The report made the following recommendation for the refreshed strategy: > Ensure survivors are meaningfully engaged in decision-making, with their lived experiences shaping strategic priorities and service improvements.

Combatting Drugs

The Board was asked to note the activities of the Oxfordshire Combatting Drugs Partnership (CDP). The CDP was formed in 2022 to address the harms caused by drug and alcohol use in Oxfordshire. It brings together multi-agency partners from across Oxfordshire including the Police, the NHS and the voluntary sector. The report provided a summary of the key figures related to drug use in Oxfordshire. It also described the CDP's approach to addressing the harm caused by drugs, including the following details about its work to reduce drug related deaths:

Synthetic Opioids are man-made drugs that mimic the effects of natural opioids (such as opium or heroin) but can be much more deadly. They include fentanyls and nitazenes and present a significant risk to people who consume illegal drugs. The UK government have set up a task force to mitigate this threat, and we are working locally to respond. A reducing drug related death and harm group has been mobilised. Actions being taken forward by the group include:

• Increasing carriage and distribution of naloxone³ in CDP agencies / organisations
• Establishing a Professional Information Network By increasing the CDP partnership use of naloxone, we are working to prevent potential deaths cause by Synthetic Opioids.

Thriving Communities

The Board was asked to note a report providing a 'Health and Wellbeing Strategy Update' on the topic of 'Thriving Communities'. The report included for discussion the draft Oxfordshire Way Prevention Strategy. This strategy aims to build community capacity across Oxfordshire. It seeks to enable communities to play a greater role in supporting health and wellbeing, in line with Oxfordshire County Council's vision for the Oxfordshire Way. The report included for discussion a summary of the key successes and challenges relating to thriving communities in Oxfordshire. For example it noted the increase in the proportion of adults with social care needs who 'have as much social contact as they would like', and the apparent increase in the number of adults participating in volunteering. It also noted the slight decrease in the number of residents reporting their local area as a 'great place to live'. The strategy sets out four key priorities for enabling thriving communities in Oxfordshire:

1. Belong: Develop thriving, safe communities where all people of all ages feel a sense of belonging.
2. Connect: Enable inclusive, cohesive and connected communities.
3. Empower: Empower communities to play a key role promoting health and wellbeing.
4. Sustain: Support our voluntary and community networks across Oxfordshire to be resilient and sustainable. The report concluded by stating that the Oxfordshire Way Prevention Strategy would be published for wider consultation after the meeting.