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Chapter 4: Inquiries
1. This chapter covers Section 4 of the Act which places a duty on councils to make inquiries about an adult at risk's well-being, property or financial affairs where the council knows or believes intervention may be necessary to protect the adult.
When should a council make inquiries?
2. Section 4 of the Act places a duty on councils to make inquiries about a person's well-being, property or financial affairs if it knows or believes:
- that the person is an adult at risk; and
- that it might need to intervene (under the Act or otherwise) in order to protect the person's well-being, property or financial affairs.
3. A council may be assisted in its duty to inquire through various sources, for example unpaid carers, independent sector providers and statutory bodies.
What might trigger an inquiry?
4. Any report that an adult may be at risk of harm, including anonymous referrals, should be taken seriously. Cases must be considered with an open mind without assuming that harm has, or has not, occurred. All referrals warrant a carefully considered and measured response. Such referrals should be acted upon as a source of information that may or may not lead to this being used as evidence at a later stage. Information should be passed onto the relevant local authority social work services and/or the police, in line with local arrangements as detailed in the local adult protection guidelines.
5. It would be good practice to ensure that any member of the council's staff who may be a first point of contact with the public is aware of the main provisions of the Act and that they must make appropriate referrals to the social work services.
Initial inquiries
6. Inquiries under Section 4 of the Act will be carried out by the council's social work services and should follow adult protection procedures. The council may consult and/or work in partnership with other agencies and conduct preliminary inquiries to establish where there is genuine cause for concern or intervention. Other professionals, such as the police, the Care Commission or health professionals, may be asked to assist.
7. The system must be both flexible and professional in its approach. Any intervention must be person centred and based on an individual's personal circumstances. Some individuals will be known to services already and in those circumstances it may be helpful for them to have an initial discussion with a familiar person such as a home support worker rather than a professional with whom they may have had no previous contact. With others, it may be enough to have a discussion with the adult. The opportunity for a conversation may give individuals the information they need to enable support to be put in place for themselves or a carer, or to assist that person in making choices. However there will be cases where some form of intervention is required.
8. If the risk of harm is thought to arise from an unpaid carer, the investigation should also gain as accurate a picture of the carer's situation as possible. It will be important to also acknowledge any strains on the carer and explore what support could be provided.
Possible intervention outwith or in conjunction with the Act
9. The next steps resulting from the duty to inquire could involve a wide range of voluntary or statutory interventions. The "need to intervene" may also be met by using appropriate provisions contained in other legislation or by taking action on a non-statutory basis.
10. Where the person has a mental disorder, action under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 may be appropriate. Where a person has impaired capacity, an order or the appointment of a proxy under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 may be appropriate. It may be that it would be appropriate to provide care and support under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. In some cases, particularly in those where the adult has capacity, assistance may be provided to the adult by, for example, ensuring that they have access to suitable advice and support, should they wish to access it.
11. Where inquiries under Section 4 have indicated that a criminal offence has been committed against the adult known or suspected to be at risk, this should be reported to the police at the earliest opportunity. The role of the police in investigating crime should not be undermined. Particularly important in this respect is ensuring that evidence is not destroyed or contaminated before they arrive at the scene. It would be good practice to seek assistance and co-operation from the police as the police may wish to carry out a criminal investigation. This does not remove the responsibility on the council to take any immediate action to protect the adult at risk in such cases but any proposed action would be taken in consultation with the Police.
12. The adult should be kept fully informed at every stage of the process unless in doing so there is a risk of prejudicing investigations.
Where no action is required
13. The council may decide that nothing further needs to be done. It would be expected that this conclusion would only be arrived at after a range of inquiries have been carried out.
14. Where it is decided that no further action is required, it would be expected that the council would produce a report on the circumstances which gave rise to the initial inquiries, the actions taken and why they believed that no further action was required. The report should then be added to the person's case file. If there is no existing case file, the authority should keep a record in line with their standard procedures for recording referrals.
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