Adult Support and Protection National Strategic Forum: September 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Tom Arthur, Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing (Chair) 
• Vikki Milne, SG: Adult Support & Protection
• Gemma Graham, SG: Adult Support & Protection
• Robert Peterson, SG: Unit Head
• Samantha Burns, SG: Deputy Private Secretary
• Fiona Brown, Office of the Public Guardian
• Brenda Walker, NASPC, Iriss
• Claire Wilson, Social Work, Aberdeen City HSCP
• Ellen Daly, Iriss
• Gordon Paterson, NHS
• Stephen Grimason, Scottish Police
• Holly Smith, Iriss
• Jane Byrne, NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Jeanette Sutton, Iriss
• John Urquhart, COSLA
• Katie Feyerbend, Iriss
• Marion Sandilands, Care Inspectorate
• Mike Harkin, Care Inspectorate
• Maureen Scott, NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Stuart Muirhead, Iriss
• Susan Maclaren, ASP Convenor, Aberdeenshire
• Suzanne Swinton, SIAA
• Slyvia Chatfield, Chief Social Work Officers Group and West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership
• Grace Gilling, Nurse Director and Chair of the Scottish Health Leadership Group Adult Protection
• Lisa Corrigan, SG: Adult Support & Protection (Minutes)

Apologies

• Jamie Aarons, SG: Adult Support & Protection
• Iain Ramsay, SG: Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor (OCSWA)
• Alan Laughland, ASP Lead Officer
• Neil Gibson, Social Work Scotland
• Elaine Torrance, SASPICA, Conveners Group
• Austen Smyth, TRFS
• Julie Paterson, Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
• Clare Mcguire, NES

Items and actions

Welcome, introductions and business from last meeting

Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing Tom Arthur welcomed everyone to the Forum and noted this was the first time attending the NSF. Mr Arthur noted a copy of the previous meeting’s minutes from March 2025, there were no ongoing actions from the last meeting. Mr Arthur then invited the Forum to respond on whether the minutes were an accurate record of the last meeting. The minutes were approved.

National ASP 24/25 Report, Initial Findings

Katie Feyerabend, Iriss, Research and Analysis Lead, presented the main findings from the National ASP report from 2024-2025, this data was submitted by all 32 Local Authorities. Katie notes there was a lot of work put into this report and has involved long term commitment from many colleagues in the process. Katie gives a special thanks to Kerry Musselburgh and Ian Phillip (Iriss), the ASP team (SG) and Cate Neil and Jamie Aarons (SG).

Katie details some of the figures collated, explaining there were 63,144 Adult Protection Referral from 2024-25 and that LSI’s decreased since last year. Katie breaks down more of the data, noting there are still some caveats which hopefully can be addressed for a more local level report in the future. The 24/25 published data report can be found on the Scottish Government Website.

Brenda Walker, NASPC, Iriss, stated it’s fantastic where the dataset is now from when it started. Brenda noted it would be interesting to know why Care Homes is no longer the most common venue for LSI’s. Katie stated this is conversation that are being held at quarterly data drop in sessions. Vikki Milne stated these are conversations that are being held with the National Implementation Group.

Mike Harkin, Care Inspectorate, noted that the Care Inspectorate still need to be notified on any LSI’s and that it’s interesting to see LSI’s are now beginning to emerge with other parts of the sector, not just care homes. Mike welcomed any invites to future meetings on this subject. Gordon Patterson echoed Mikes point on the reduction of LSI’s and noted this could be a reflection of the pandemic. Gordon noted it would be interesting to know if there had been a change in threshold or definition for LSI’s to be considered.

Maureen Scott, NHS Health Care Improvement Scotland, asked around the data on frailty. Maureen was most interested if this information could be interrogated further, showing which parts of the NHS the data comes from. Katie noted the five different areas in the NHS including NHS acute. This can be looked into in more detail, but not specific units or hospitals.

The ASP Joint Inspection Programme Phase 2 Workstream 4

Marion Sandilands, Strategic Inspector within the Care Inspectorate, presented on Phase 2 of workstream 4 programme. Marion notes the supported self evaluation work stream has just been completed and the overview report will be published on the 30th of September. Marion explains the main aims of the programme:

• to jointly evaluate initiatives to support decision-making about adults at risk of harm for whom it was difficult to determine the three-point criteria
• to jointly develop a supported self-evaluation methodology with partnerships. This would provide partnerships with an extensive learning opportunity and insight into self-evaluation and improvement.

Marion details the approach the Care Inspectorate took with Self evaluation partnerships and Learning partnerships, with Iriss being involved in this throughout. Marion notes the main findings from the workstream, which will be available in the report when published. The IRISS evaluation of programme impact will be published later in the year.

Stuart Muirhead, Iriss, thanked Marion for the presentation and noted the involvement of partnerships has been really impressive. 

Directed Self Evaluation for Improvement Programme

Vikki Milne, Scottish Government, provided an update on the Directed Self-Evaluation for improvement. Vikki outlined the background of the programme to date, highlighting that phase one of the joint inspection programme for adult support and protection identified a key area for development across the 26 partnerships: the need for robust multi-agency self-evaluation. The programme has also been informed by the independent review of Adult Social Care survey which conducted a few years ago, this showed that there should be a new approach to improvement.

Vikki outlined the programme aims and how the approach will support robust self evaluation and improvement. This will be done by working with local partnerships, building on existing work and focusing on a shared national theme . Workshops on the Directed Self-evaluation commenced in July, August and September to engage with stakeholders to explore what we mean by improvement within an adult support and protection context and to understand the challenges and the opportunities that that local partnerships are facing taking a co-design approach. The programme aims to be finalised over the coming months, with a target completion date of March next year. Implementation is expected to begin in April, aligning with the start of the new financial year, and is projected to conclude by March 2027.

John Urquhart, COSLA, asked around National issue and asked Vikki for an example. Vikki note the dedicated work that is currently going on at the moment, not just across ASP but also Public Protection health data. Issue’s like drug and alcohol abuse, self neglect and also suicide prevention are the areas that are most relevant to ASP. Engaging at a national level gives the opportunity to explore at evidence and learning and see where different services interact and where the gaps may be. Vikki noted that the ASP Policy team have a PHD intern who will be holding two online workshops with stakeholders next week across the sector to have this conversation on what issues they are experiencing and how these might inform national themes.

National Implementation Group (NIG) update

Brenda Walker, National ASP Co-orindator and Vice chair of the NIG, gave an update on the NIG work and the 4 sub-groups.

• The Service User Voice Subgroup – The group has developed two new resources, one being considered for endorsement at todays meeting. Good Practice in Seeking Feedback from Adults in ASP Processes and also, Independent Advocacy, Best Practice for Effective Access and Involvement of Independent Advocacy for an Adult in Adult support and Protection Processes.  The Subgroup feels it has achieved what it set out to do and intends to stand down.
• The expanded Chronologies Subgroup has moved over to work under the governance of the National Public Protection and Leadership Group (NPPLG).
• The Self Evaluation Subgroup feels it has met its stated aims and will now stand down.
• For now, the Inquiries with powers of investigation and role of the Council Officer Subgroup will continue its work - it plans to submit its new resource for consideration of the National Forum at their next meeting in March 2026.

Brenda noted the Iriss Hub, where you can access all previous Resources endorsed by the form and any previous ASPire (Adult Support and Protection Innovation and reflection) event recordings.

Following a recent meeting of the Implementation Group they stated that there would be value in varying their Terms of Reference to allow for new Subgroups, which would not necessarily support the changes brought about following the revision of the Code of Practice - but address issues which have since arisen and have national implications for Adult Support and Protection practice. Brenda highlighted some examples of additional Subgroups to the forum which would provide most relevance and value to ASP. The new sub-groups will be decided in due course.

Resource – Good Practice guide in seeking feedback

Susan McLaren, independent convenor for Aberdeenshire presented the resource. The resource was developed through The Service User Voice Subgroup. Susan explained the aim of the resource was to make sure Adults and Carers are effectively supported to express their views and to participate in all aspects of ASP activity relating to them. The second aim was to ensure all feedback from Adults and Carers with lived experience of ASP informs service improvement on an on-going basis. The NSF group agreed to endorse the guidance, which is now available on the Iriss Hub.

Large Scale Investigation Guidance (LSI) update

Gemma Graham, Scottish Government, gave an update on the LSI guidance. Jeanette Sutton, from Iriss, led on drafting the guidance in collaboration with a wide range of experienced partners mainly from Local Authorities, but also Scottish Care, the Mental Welfare Commission and Police Scotland.

Gemma noted a short engagement exercise was held by Scottish Government colleagues, collating views on the guidance and asking for feedback via a written questionnaire. 30 responses where received altogether, this was a mix of partnerships and organsiations. All the feedback received has since been anaylsed, for example: the length of the guidance was an issue for a lot of stakeholders. Jeanette Sutton gave some details on the newly developed 7 minute briefing (a short guide) to go along with the guidance. The guidance is now being finalised and will be published on the Scottish Government website soon.

Learning and Development Framework

Brenda Walker, National Adult Support and Protection Co-Ordinator, provided an update on the Learning and Development Framework. Brenda highlighted the collaborative approach which includes the stakeholder reference group with representatives from approximately 27 national agencies. The draft guidance underwent a national consultation over the summer, which has now concluded. Any required amendments to the guidance following feedback is currently being made. The guidance is expected to be disseminated and published on the Scottish Government website by the end of the year.

Final Remarks

Mr Arthur, closed the meeting thanking all the speakers and members for attending. The Minister noted they he is keen to engage with ASP stakeholders and is happy for anyone to reach out. The next Forum meeting will take place on 6 months, with the date to be confirmed.