Safeguarding adults means protecting an adult’s right to live free from abuse and neglect. In England it is governed by the Care Act 2014, which places a duty on local authorities to make enquiries where an adult with care and support needs is at risk. Crucially, safeguarding is not about taking control of someone’s life — an adult who has mental capacity keeps the right to make decisions others consider unwise. The job is to reduce risk with the person, not to override them.
At a glance: Nexis CPD offers a £9 CPD-accredited online Safeguarding Adults course, 100% online with a verifiable e-certificate on passing.
Who counts as an adult at risk?
The Care Act does not use the older phrase “vulnerable adult”. Section 42(1) sets a three-part test. The local authority’s safeguarding duty applies where it has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in its area:
- has needs for care and support — whether or not the authority is currently meeting any of them;
- is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
- as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves against the abuse or neglect, or the risk of it.
All three limbs must be met. This matters in practice: a person can be at serious risk and still fall outside section 42 if their care and support needs are not what prevents them protecting themselves. That does not mean nothing happens — other routes exist, including the police — but the statutory safeguarding duty is narrower than most people assume.
The change in language was deliberate. “Vulnerable adult” located the problem in the person. The Care Act locates it in the situation.
What are the six principles of adult safeguarding?
The Care and Support Statutory Guidance sets out six principles that underpin all adult safeguarding work:
- Empowerment — the person leads decisions and gives informed consent.
- Prevention — acting before harm occurs is better than reacting to it.
- Proportionality — the least intrusive response appropriate to the risk.
- Protection — support and representation for those in greatest need.
- Partnership — local solutions through services working with their communities.
- Accountability — transparency in delivering safeguarding.
Proportionality is the one most often lost. A protective response that strips away someone’s independence can cause more harm than the risk it was meant to address.
What types of abuse does safeguarding cover?
The statutory guidance describes ten categories, and is clear that the list is not exhaustive:
- Physical abuse
- Domestic abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Psychological or emotional abuse
- Financial or material abuse
- Modern slavery
- Discriminatory abuse
- Organisational or institutional abuse
- Neglect and acts of omission
- Self-neglect
Two are regularly missed. Financial abuse is among the most commonly reported and is often committed by someone close to the person. Self-neglect was only formally added in 2014 and remains the hardest to handle, because it collides directly with the right to make unwise decisions.
How does safeguarding adults differ from safeguarding children?
They are not the same duty, and applying children’s thinking to adults causes real harm.
Child protection starts from the position that a child cannot consent to their own risk. Adult safeguarding starts from the opposite position: an adult is presumed to have capacity, and a person with capacity can decline safeguarding support. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 the right to make an unwise decision is explicitly protected.
This is why Making Safeguarding Personal matters. Rather than running a process about someone, practitioners ask what outcome the person actually wants and work towards it. Two people facing identical risks may legitimately end up with very different plans.
If you also work with under-18s, see our guide to safeguarding children — the frameworks are separate and should not be blended.
Whose job is it to make enquiries?
The section 42 duty sits with the local authority, not with individual care workers. A worker’s responsibility is to recognise a concern and raise it promptly through their organisation’s safeguarding route.
The local authority must make, or cause to be made, whatever enquiries it thinks necessary to decide whether action is needed and by whom. It may ask another organisation — a care provider or the NHS — to carry out the enquiry, but the duty to ensure it happens remains with the authority.
The Act also requires each authority to establish a Safeguarding Adults Board (section 43) with the local authority, the NHS and the police as core members, and to arrange a Safeguarding Adults Review (section 44) where an adult with care and support needs dies or is seriously harmed and there is concern about how agencies worked together.
Does the Care Act apply across the UK?
No, and this is a common error. The Care Act 2014 applies to England only. Wales operates under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014; Scotland under the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, which uniquely provides protection orders; Northern Ireland under its own adult safeguarding policy framework rather than a single equivalent statute. The principles are broadly similar, the legal machinery is not.
What should you do if you are worried about an adult?
- Act on the concern — do not investigate it. Gathering proof is not your role and can compromise a later enquiry.
- Record what you observed, factually, with dates, times and the person’s own words in quotation marks. Separate fact from your interpretation.
- Report through your organisation’s safeguarding route, usually the same day. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 first.
- Talk to the person where it is safe to do so and ask what they want to happen.
- Escalate if nothing happens. Every employer should have a route past your line manager — including to the local authority directly.
Raising a concern in good faith is protected. You do not need to be certain, and you are not expected to decide whether abuse has occurred.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between safeguarding adults and safeguarding children?
Child protection assumes a child cannot consent to their own risk. Adult safeguarding starts from the presumption that an adult has mental capacity, and an adult with capacity can decline safeguarding support and make decisions others consider unwise. That right is protected by the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Applying a child protection approach to an adult can itself cause harm.
Who is classed as an adult at risk under the Care Act 2014?
Section 42(1) sets a three-part test. The adult must have needs for care and support (whether or not those needs are being met), be experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs be unable to protect themselves against it. All three limbs must be met for the local authority's safeguarding duty to apply. The Care Act does not use the older term vulnerable adult.
What are the six principles of adult safeguarding?
Empowerment, prevention, proportionality, protection, partnership and accountability. They come from the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. Proportionality is the one most often overlooked: a protective response that removes someone's independence can cause more harm than the risk it was intended to address.
Is self-neglect a safeguarding issue?
Yes. Self-neglect was formally included as a category of abuse and neglect in 2014. It is the most difficult category to respond to, because it sits directly against an adult's right to make unwise decisions. The response has to balance the duty to act with respect for a person's capacity and choices, and usually depends on whether the person has capacity in relation to the specific decision.
Does the Care Act 2014 apply across the whole UK?
No. The Care Act 2014 applies to England only. Wales uses the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Scotland uses the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, and Northern Ireland operates under its own adult safeguarding policy framework. The underlying principles are similar but the legal duties and processes differ.
Safeguarding Adults training
Our Safeguarding Adults course covers the Care Act framework, the six principles, the types of abuse, and how to raise a concern properly. It pairs well with the Mental Capacity Act and duty of care, both of which sit underneath every adult safeguarding decision.
£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18.
This article is general information, not legal advice. A CPD awareness course is not a regulated qualification and does not replace the safeguarding training, supervision and local procedures your employer must provide. Where a role requires a regulated qualification, only an Ofqual-regulated qualification will do. Always follow your organisation’s safeguarding policy and your local Safeguarding Adults Board procedures.