Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) initiative

Report: 8
Date: 7 July 2011
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) are designed to give better decisions and outcomes for vulnerable people. They will provide the highest level of knowledge and analysis on information and intelligence across the partnerships in London.

MASH provides three key outcomes:

1. Informed, risk based decisions for safeguarding vulnerable people
2. Identification of harm to individuals
3. Enhanced partnership strategic assessment and problem solving

To do this:

• MASH will bring together statutory and non-statutory safeguarding professionals from across a partnership into one secure room, to join up information and identify where vulnerable people may be at risk. It will deliver an information product on an individual or family based on the entire safeguarding partnership’s knowledge at that time.
• This full picture allows risks to be identified early, which may not be highlighted by agencies individually. Necessary, proportionate and effective interventions can then be made by the most appropriate agency.
• Through better understanding of the problem, a joined up, sensitive and streamlined solution can be implemented.
• The secure room allows all the information on a vulnerable person to be seen and assessed, but not passed outside without the consent of the agency that owns the information. This gives partners’ confidence to engage.

This is a partnership project for London. The partnership has developed a best practice framework that details good practice currently being delivered in London, and places that good practice within a progression framework from standard provision to full MASH-style solution. During the next 12 months the partnership will seek to develop pilots within London. As this project deals with sharing personal information, and achieves this through co-locating police staff with partners, there is likely to be equalities impacts both internally and externally. However, the benefits of the project are perceived to outweigh these impacts, which are manageable through good practice internally with a secure, auditable process giving confidence externally.

A. Recommendation

That Members

1. note the MASH model for more effective safeguarding and partnership intervention.
2. note the Equalities Impact Assessment.

B. Supporting information

1. This project originated as a work stream from the London Congress of Leaders. The strategic group, facilitated by the GLA and London Councils, consists of the MPS, Association of London Directors of Children’s Services (ALDCS), London Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB), NHS London, London Probation Trust, and Association of Directors of Adult Services (ADAS). The project is led by LSCB, with ALDCS.

2. MASH is a concept that was devised and built in Devon, and has been running since June 2010. It co-locates safeguarding agencies and their data, into a secure assessment, research, and referral unit for notifications of vulnerable children. It was introduced in conjunction with wider developments to their Children and Young People provision, specifically around Tier 2 early intervention. In effect, the MASH forms the key component and entrance for a “one front door” concept for Children’s Services.

3. The final Munro review for the government (published 10 May 2011) identifies the crucial role police play in safeguarding which is a “fundamental duty of all police officers and staff” (p81). It highlights the value of co-located multi agency teams dealing with referrals and decision making. MASH is singled out as good practice, with early evaluations showing improved decision making and outcomes for children.

4. A number of initiatives exist in London, which are based on similar themes. Several have co-located partners to better assess vulnerable children. They have been in place for a similar period to the Devon model. These initiatives provide the opportunity to bring one common process into London. As a network of hubs they can better identify risk that inevitably crosses borough boundaries. By providing an effective assessment process, more efficient interventions are possible, allowing scarce resources to be focussed to best effect.

5. This project is aimed at gathering the good practice within London, and placing it within a framework that allows boroughs to move towards the full co-located/MASH-style model, built to their local context.

Aims of MASH

6. MASH aims to deliver better partnership working and information sharing. It will co-locate key safeguarding partners; Children’s Services, Health, Mental Health, Education, Housing, YOT, Probation, and Police. It is envisaged that Adult Services will join to allow vulnerable adults to be considered alongside children and families. Each hub will build incrementally, with scope to increase the partners based on the local context.

7. The inability of statutory safeguarding agencies to join up the information picture has been subject to persistent criticism and recommendation. MASH will bring together a full picture on vulnerability. The creation of this picture will assist in identifying risk. It also identifies opportunities to problem solve, and to reduce duplication in service delivery.

8. It will assist agencies to reconcile the necessary and healthy tension between privacy and safety, so that the fullest information picture can be put together. This tension is enshrined in the Human Rights Act, Data Protection Act, and within medical confidentiality. It is also affected by sensitivities to sharing within individual agencies. MASH will provide a secure environment that allows agencies to exercise that tension. The concept relies on a firewall to give each agency the trust and confidence to share all information on the vulnerable person, allowing the best risk and referral decision to be made against the fullest picture of information. The supplying agency retains ownership of their information within the hub - it is only released if the agency professional is satisfied that there is a necessary, proportionate reason to do so, and that they have the authority to do so within existing legislation. Where it is not released, signposting the existence of this sensitive information can help professionals gather it through normal routes, in the knowledge that an effective risk assessment has already taken place.

9. MASH will give the opportunity to intervene in the causes of harm, rather than provide temporary cures. The full information picture will allow each partner to identify emerging local problems, and gather key information on the causes of that problem. This will allow partners to work together and intervene early, in the most effective and efficient way to solve the problem, preventing harm and crime.

10. MASH will deliver better decision making and outcome for vulnerable people by providing:

• Informed, risk based decisions for safeguarding vulnerable people
• Identification of harm to individuals
• Enhanced partnership strategic assessment and problem solving

Current situation

11. The GLA hosted an opening event on the 28 February 2011, where 11 boroughs discussed the good practice in London, the blockages, and the themes for success. Of these, co-location and a common process across London were flagged up as key.

12. 14 boroughs have requested to be involved in the project. At this stage, this means that they are considering the proposals locally, and the opportunities that may exist on their borough to progress this initiative.

13. Each of those boroughs has been visited to establish the good practice already in place. This will be included on a London framework, ranging from basic safeguarding provision to full co-location of partners. Clear themes have emerged from this good practice, which are concurrent with the Devon model. Some boroughs are arguably close to that model already, and are keen to develop further. This framework will guide those boroughs who decide to take part, giving them a pathway from basic provision to full MASH-style co-location, fitted to the unique challenges that exist locally.

14. The 14 boroughs who are considering the model are:

• Hackney
• Harrow
• Lambeth
• Brent
• Southwark
• Tower Hamlets
• Lewisham
• Waltham Forest
• Haringey
• Westminster
• Islington
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Sutton
• Kensington and Chelsea

15. The interdependencies between business groups and strategic strands are being mapped. The MASH project is involved in the Violence against Women strand of the Anti-Violence Partnership and LCRB. There is an identifiable link between MASH and the Integrated Offender Management project. Both deal with vulnerable people. A pathway to integrate the projects is being developed.

16. MASH provides a reception, assessment and referral process for notifications about vulnerable people. As such it has the potential to be the “front door” for both local authority and police protective services. Whilst MASH is a development of police Public Protection desks on each borough, it has the potential to impact on other police protective services, notably Child Abuse Investigation of the Serious Crime Directorate. It is likely to impact on domestic violence and anti-social behaviour, particularly if vulnerable adults can be included in the MASH process locally.

17. The Assistant Commissioners for TP and SCD are both briefed and supportive of this initiative, wishing to see it trialled and evaluated in London. Both TP and SCD are involved in the development of the project at both strategic and practitioner level.

Key areas addressed by the project

Performance

18. The project is about qualitative service delivery improvements. A quantitative framework is currently being developed to support and standardise delivery. It is likely to demonstrate the movement in volume and risk, focussing on the number of interventions conducted by partners.

Cost

19. Co-location has been shown to be effective. A purely IT based solution will be very expensive, would fail to account for key information sharing considerations, and would still require the assessment and judgement of a professional from each of the key agencies. Therefore each partner needs to place their data into the MASH hub. Costs will reflect the size and local context on each borough. The MPS has initially identified funds to assist with police IT and infrastructure costs. Each will hub will use existing police staff already engaged in this function on Public Protection Desks. The MPS costs are estimated at £50,000 to £100,000 per hub, depending on size and context. This funding will allow a 3 year phased approach to development. The project assumes that partners will provide funding to support the creation and ongoing costs of each hub. The comparative levels of investment by partners will be monitored by the project. That so many Local Authorities are prepared to investigate using their increasingly scarce resources to do this indicates the significant benefits they feel can be gained from it. An initial pilot phase of 6 boroughs will allow the project to develop more accurate costs for police and partners, through a variety of size and contexts.

Partnership

20. Health is a key partner in MASH. Health data is a critical component in identifying vulnerability and harm. It is rightly secured through legislation and Caldicott guidance. The concept of MASH is to provide any partner with sensitive information (including police) the secure environment where they can sight partners, without losing control of the information. Where a safeguarding risk is identified by this process, then the health professional in the unit may appropriately release that information within existing guidance and legislation. Where they decide not to, a signpost can be applied to allow the relevant professional outside of the unit the opportunity to discover the information through normal processes, should it become necessary. The current de-centralisation of Health services means that this cannot be implemented on a pan-London basis. It will require local development to build trust and confidence in the process amongst local health care professionals. The project is under taking significant activity to ensure this engagement.

Adults

21. Vulnerable adults do not have the clear, statutory framework to share information that is in place for vulnerable children. The hub concept builds trust and confidence amongst local partners to exercise the tension between privacy and sharing information for safety. The project will be working with the boroughs to establish effective, robust and compliant pathways to allow vulnerable adults to be considered alongside vulnerable children. This will include a police referral pathway.

Project Milestones

22. The Partnership Framework, highlighting the good practice in London, will be published in June. This will form the basis of the pathway for boroughs to develop. Internally the MPS will produce guidance to Borough Commanders on how this can be achieved, in order that a corporate approach is adopted. This will provide the common process identified by all partners as a key requirement.

23. From this we expect to work with up to 6 boroughs to assist them in developing this concept. Of these, two boroughs will have hubs in place by November. The remaining 4 boroughs will have hubs in place by January. This will be dependant on the co-location of infrastructure and IT. Boroughs will develop at different paces. The project aims to provide active learning opportunities, as well as an evaluation of the project. This evaluation will be over two years from the implementation of the first hubs, with a one year interim review.

24. Once the initial cohort has been evaluated, the project will work with the remaining eight boroughs, and then seek to roll out across the rest of London over the next 3-4 years.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. An Equalities Impact screening and Full Assessment is produced. The impact will be both an internal and external, based on co-location and the use of personal information. However it is assessed that the positive Service outcomes and benefits outweigh any negative impact.

2. As each hub will be developed on a borough basis, an accurate assessment of the impact needs to be conducted. The project will provide each borough with the strategic EIA, and monitor completion of local consultation and assessments.

3. Further details can be found in the initial EIA attached.

Consideration of Met Forward

4. MASH provides an opportunity to provide better service delivery in safeguarding. It can become a “front door” for the assessment, research and decision making on vulnerable people. This allows streamlining opportunities, reduces duplication, and ensures that interventions are focussed on the most appropriate people, in the most efficient manner. By giving the opportunity to research victimisation and emerging problems, particularly where it manifests in partners’ data first, there is the potential for early intervention to reduce harm and crime. This project meets all the Met Forward key outcomes.

Financial Implications

5. This project co-locates police professionals with key partners. There is a shared cost to be borne by the local partnership. The police IT systems are potentially the most expensive part of the infrastructure for each hub. It is anticipated that this will cost in the region of £50,000-£100,000 per hub. This will reduce depending on size, and whether an existing building with co-location is used. TP has identified initial funding to allow the development of the first phase of boroughs. Ongoing funding has been proposed in the Medium Term Financial Plan to cover further roll out and on-going costs. The business case will be considered at Governance Board on 28 June 2011, and delivered by the overall Programme Framework. As a partnership project based at borough level, it is expected that each Borough Commander will negotiate the share of costs in a Partnership Agreement.

Legal Implications

6. The proposals aim to improve the delivery of policing services and improve partnership working in an effective and efficient manner.

7. There are various legal implications that will arise from the proposed multi-agency data information hub. Many of the issues around data sharing will be addressed in an Information Sharing Agreement, and issues relating to co-location will be covered within an agreed Partnership Agreement.

8. Any contracts awarded in relation to setting up the multi-agency hub must be complaint with the Public Contract Regulations 2006.

9. Legal advice can be obtained as and when matters arise. This will be managed by the project.

Environmental Implications

10. There are no environmental implications known at this stage.

Risk (including Health and Safety) Implications

11. The criticism and recommendations that have persisted over the ability of safeguarding partners’ ability to share information drives this project. There is a risk to the MPS in not considering opportunities to improve service delivery in this area. This could also manifest as a risk to boroughs that are not developing along this path, and so providing a different level of service. This is inevitable in any evaluation and roll-out of a project, and can only be mitigated through effective project planning.

12. There are a number of risks to the effective implementation of this project, which have been touched upon within the “Challenges” section. Each of these will be monitored and mitigated as far as possible through the project board, and within borough development.

D. Background papers

• Equality Impact Assessment

E. Contact details

Report authors: Nick Collins, Inspector, MASH lead, MPS

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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