Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor Bill Armer and Councillor Darren O’Donovan.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on the 4^th February 2026 and 4^th March 2026.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 4^th February 2026 and 4^th March 2026 be approved as a correct record.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No interests were declared.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Panel.

All agenda items were considered in public session.

The Panel will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

No deputations or petitions were received.       

To receive a report on suicide prevention in Kirklees.

Contact: Rebecca Elliott, Public Health Manager

The Panel received a presentation on suicide prevention in Kirklees from Lucy Wearmouth, Acting Head of Improving Population Health and Rebecca Elliott, Public Health Manager who advised that suicide prevention was a sensitive subject, acknowledging the importance of wellbeing during the discussion. Reference was made to further support available via Kirklees mental health webpages.

The presentation highlighted that suicide prevention was a complex, system?wide issue, with deaths typically resulting from a range of interacting factors rather than a single cause. Effective prevention required collective action across health, local government, the NHS, community services and the voluntary sector, described as a “jigsaw” where all partners had a role.

Data was received from the most recent suicide audit (2019–2021), undertaken jointly with Calderdale and Bradford due to a shared coroner, and that three?year audit cycles were used to provide a sufficiently large dataset to identify themes.

Questions and comments were invited from Members of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel, and the following was raised:

• Around 57% of people who died by suicide had at least one physical health condition.
• Around 65% of people who died by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition.
• The highest suicide rates in Kirklees were among those aged 36–55.
• Around three?quarters of deaths were male.
• Not everyone who died by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition, which challenged common assumptions.
• Long?term physical and mental health conditions provided important opportunities for early intervention through routine contact with services and the principle of “making every contact count”.

• Each suicide could affect over 100 people, including family, friends, colleagues, professionals and first responders.
• People bereaved by suicide were themselves at increased risk of suicidal thoughts, particularly children and young people.

• West Yorkshire Suicide Bereavement service provided free support with no timelimits, including one?to?one, group and workplace support which included dedicated practitioners for children and young people in Kirklees and accepted self?referrals and professional referrals via its website.

• Suicide rates in Kirklees had remained broadly stable, although it was stressed that every death was one too many and the aspiration remained to reduce rates further.
• There was an unavoidable time lag in audit data due to coronial processes.
• Work was underway to begin the next audit covering 2022–2024.

• There was a known association nationally between suicide and deprivation.
• Suicide prevention activity needed to cover all communities, as no group was immune.
• Wider social determinants of health, including housing, employment, community connection and inequalities, played a significant role.

• The role of Community Plus included outreach?based approaches, community connectors and partnership working with community groups, faith organisations, libraries and the voluntary sector. Community Plus connectors had all completed ZSA training.

• Officers acknowledged ongoing challenges in reaching digitally excluded residents and emphasised continued work on locally?based and face?to?face engagement.

• Strong support was expressed for Mental Health First Aid training and Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) training, which was free, online and recommended for all staff and residents.
• There was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

To receive a presentation on the quality of residential and domiciliary care in Kirklees.

Contact: Saf Bhuta – Service Director, Strategic Commissioning, Provider Services and Partnerships

The Panel received a presentation from Saf Bhuta, Service Director, Strategic Commissioning, Partnership and Provider Services, Lesley Hill, Interim Head of Service for Commissioning and Market Development, and Emma Hanley, Senior Contracting and Procurement Manager (Adult Social Care) which provided an update and assurance on provider services, quality oversight and partnership working across the adult social care market in Kirklees.

The presentation focused on system-wide quality assurance rather than individual providers and outlined how adult social care defined quality, identified when services were performing well, and responded swiftly where concerns arose.

The Panel were advised that intelligence was drawn from multiple sources including Care Quality Commission (CQC) activity, commissioning and contract monitoring, safeguarding, and frontline practitioner feedback and that quality was defined using a whole?system approach, structured around five key pillars aligned to national regulatory frameworks. Quality was not assessed by single metrics or inspection outcomes alone, but through a broad range of indicators and the important role of the CQC while making clear that the Council did not rely solely on inspection outcomes, particularly given inspection delays and historic ratings.

The Panel noted that the adult social care market continued to operate in a structurally fragile national context, characterised by persistent workforce shortages and high turnover, increasing complexity and acuity of need, ongoing financial sustainability pressures, and changes to the CQC regulatory framework.

Questions and comments were invited from Members of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel, and the following was raised:

• As of January 2026, 86 community?based care providers were operating in Kirklees, supporting approximately 3,400 people, an increase from 49 providers in 2019.
• There were 126 care homes with almost 3,500 registered beds, with capacity remaining relatively stable despite a small reduction in the number of homes since 2021.
• Average reported occupancy was around 84%, indicating continuing demand alongside some capacity within the system.
• Workforce pressures remained significant locally and nationally. There was the IntoCare programme, a nationally recognised initiative providing bespoke recruitment, employability training and job?matching support to providers.

·         Quality oversight was delivered through strong multi?agency partnership arrangements,

·         Quality intelligence was drawn from a wide range of sources including safeguarding concerns, complaints and compliments, workforce data, missed or late calls, frontline social worker observations and direct feedback from service users and families.

• Provider financial pressures were addressed through regular engagement with providers and the Kirklees and Calderdale Care Association to support sustainability.
• Health system pressures, including hospital discharges and changes within the Integrated Care Board were managed through close partnership working and regional intelligence sharing via the West Yorkshire Quality Assurance Group.

• Kirklees Council did not commission services required to be CQC?registered if they were unregistered, and that robust assurance mechanisms were in place beyond inspection ratings.
• Some providers awaiting inspection were new locations of established organisations or had undergone structural changes, rather than being new or unknown providers.
• Priorities for the next 12 months, included strengthening intelligence?led quality assurance, improved thematic analysis of complaints and concerns to identify  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

To consider Kirklees Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report.

Contact: Jacqui Stansfield, Service Manager, Kirklees Safeguarding Adults Board.

The Panel received a report from Robin McCulloch-Graham, Independent Chair of the Kirklees Safeguarding Adults Board, and Jacqui Stansfield, Service Manager, Adults & Health, Integrated Commissioning which outlined the Board’s statutory role, governance arrangements and key issues arising from the Annual Report.

The Panel were advised that the Kirklees Safeguarding Adults Board was a statutory multi?agency partnership, established under the Care Act 2014, responsible for ensuring effective safeguarding arrangements for adults at risk of abuse and neglect across the borough. The Board’s three statutory functions included setting a multi?agency safeguarding strategy, publishing an annual report, and commissioning Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) where serious harm or death had occurred.  The Board was independent, with senior representatives attending in both a leadership and professional assurance capacity, supported by an independent chair to provide robust challenge and accountability across agencies.

Questions and comments were invited from Members of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel, and the following was raised:

• A joint Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) had been completed during the reporting period, undertaken with Cumbria Safeguarding Adults Board.
• Several further SARs were in progress and would be reported in the next annual report.
• The Board was supported by a range of sub?groups, including Quality and Performance, SAR, Learning and Development, Community Engagement, and Strategic Development.
• Safeguarding training provision in Kirklees was extensive and well?engaged by partner agencies.

• A reduction in Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications could reflect improved early planning and procedural changes.
• DoLS figures were used by the Board as an indicator requiring further scrutiny if trends increased.
• Learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews, including police involvement and prosecution decisions in complex abuse cases, and how multi?agency learning was identified and embedded.
• The impact of resource and capacity pressures, including workforce reductions and wider economic uncertainty, and how agencies were being held to account to meet their statutory safeguarding duties despite reduced capacity was noted.

• Resources across agencies were under significant pressure and statutory duties under the Care Act remained unchanged. The Board continued to seek assurance that appropriate mitigation and partnership responses were in place.

RESOLVED –

1. That the Independent Chair and Service Manager be thanked for their report and attendance.
2. That the Panel note the contents of the Kirklees Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report.

3.    That the Panel acknowledge the increasing system pressures affecting safeguarding arrangements and the importance of continued multi?agency oversight.