Multi-agency safeguarding hubs

A finding of many serious case reviews has been poor information-sharing between agencies. The ability to share information in a timely and effective manner to facilitate joint decision-making is key to SABs meeting their objectives.

Multi-agency safeguarding hubs are structures designed to facilitate information-sharing and decision-making on a multi-agency basis often, though not always, through co-locating staff from the local authority, health agencies and the police. There is more evidence of their being established to safeguard children than adults, often with plans to include adults in the future. But such hubs in adult safeguarding can prove effective in preventing abuse, and spotting patterns of abuse and repeat offenders through effectively sharing information.

There is no single model for the establishment of a multi-agency safeguarding hub, and there are a number of questions that need to be answered before one can function, all of which can be addressed in more than one way: