The main points
- If someone is hurting you, frightening you, or taking your things, tell someone.
- You can tell your support worker, or you can tell Harbour Light.
- If you are in danger right now, telephone 999.
- We will listen to you. We will take what you tell us seriously.
- We will help you get help from the council's safeguarding team.
What this section is about
Everyone has the right to feel safe.
Sometimes people are hurt or badly treated by others. This can happen to anyone. It is never your fault.
The word people use for keeping you safe from this is safeguarding. This section explains what to do if something is happening to you, or to someone you know.
Things that are not right
Tell someone if any of these things happen:
- Someone hurts you, hits you, or pushes you.
- Someone shouts at you, threatens you, or frightens you.
- Someone takes your money or your things.
- Someone makes you buy things for them, or hand over your money.
- Someone touches you in a way you do not want.
- Someone treats you badly because of your disability, your race, your religion, or who you are.
- Someone does not give you the help you need.
- Someone comes into your home and will not leave.
These things are wrong. You do not have to put up with them.
People who pretend to be your friend
Sometimes a person will act like a friend, but they are not a real friend.
They might:
- ask you for money, again and again
- take your bank card or your PIN number
- bring other people to your home
- start using your home for themselves
- tell you to keep it a secret
If this is happening, please tell someone. We will help you.
If someone is hurting you at home
Being hurt by a partner, a family member, or someone you live with is called domestic abuse.
It is not always hitting. It can also be:
- controlling what you do or who you see
- taking your money
- frightening you or threatening you
- putting you down all the time
This is never your fault. Tell your support worker, or tell us, or telephone the police.
What to do
If you are in danger right now, telephone 999. Ask for the police, or for an ambulance if someone is hurt.
If you are not in danger right now, you can tell:
- your support worker
- Harbour Light — telephone 0151 909 5919 and ask to speak to a manager about a safeguarding concern
- your social worker
- the council's adult safeguarding team — Section 18 tells you how to contact your council
- the police, on 101
You can also ask a relative, a friend or an advocate to tell someone for you. If you would like an advocate, your social worker can usually help you find one. We can also tell you about organisations that may help.
What happens when you tell us
- We will listen to you. We will take you seriously.
- We will make sure you are safe. If you are in danger, we will get help straight away.
- We will tell the council's safeguarding team. The council leads on keeping adults safe. They decide what happens next.
- We will keep you involved. We will ask you what you want to happen, and we will listen to your answer.
- We will write down what you told us, and keep it safe and private.
The council may talk to you, to your support worker, or to other people who can help. They might involve the police.
Things we want you to know
Telling someone is the right thing to do.
We will take you seriously. You do not need proof before you tell someone. We will listen, and we will act on what you tell us.
It is not your fault. Whatever has happened, you are not to blame.
We cannot promise to keep it a secret. If someone is being hurt, we must tell the people who can help. But we will only tell people who need to know. We will explain to you who we are telling and why.
You can still make your own choices. We will ask what you want to happen. If you can make your own decisions, we will respect them. Sometimes we may still have to tell someone, if you or another person is in serious danger. If that happens, we will tell you.
If your worry is about a support worker
You can still tell Harbour Light.
Keeping you safe is not the same as making a complaint. If you tell us that someone has hurt you, frightened you, or taken your money, we will tell the council's safeguarding team — whoever that person is, and whoever they work for.
You do not have to tell your support worker first. You can come straight to us.
If you are worried about someone else
If you are worried about another tenant, or about a friend, please tell us.
You do not need to be sure. You do not need proof. If something does not feel right, tell someone and let them investigate it.
Getting help to understand this
If any of this is hard to understand, that is OK. Ask your support worker. You can also ask a relative, a friend or an advocate to help you.
You can ask us for this information on paper, in a bigger size, or in another format. Just ask us or ask your support worker.
More detail
This box is for tenants who want the legal detail, and for support staff, relatives, advocates and social workers. You do not need to read it to understand the section above.
Legal framework. Adult safeguarding is governed by the Care Act 2014. Under section 42, the local authority has the duty to make, or cause to be made, safeguarding enquiries where it has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult with care and support needs is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves. Harbour Light is not the safeguarding authority; it is a partner in the multi-agency system and refers concerns to the relevant local authority Safeguarding Adults Team.
Harbour Light's policy. Harbour Light's Adult Safeguarding Policy (Version 1.0, effective 1 August 2025) is adopted as a best-practice standard expected by commissioners and regulators. It applies to Harbour Light's employees, volunteers and contractors, and covers all adult tenants. It follows the six Care Act principles: empowerment, prevention, proportionality, protection, partnership and accountability.
Designated Safeguarding Lead. The policy provides for the Board to appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead to receive internal reports, decide on referral to external agencies, liaise with those agencies, and ensure safeguarding activity is documented. The Chief Executive is Harbour Light's Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Types of abuse. The policy adopts the categories in the Care Act statutory guidance: physical, domestic, sexual, psychological, financial or material, modern slavery, discriminatory, organisational, neglect and acts of omission, and self-neglect. It also addresses cuckooing, mate crime and radicalisation, which are of particular relevance to this tenant group.
Capacity and consent. Where an adult with capacity objects to a referral, that wish is weighed carefully, but information may still be shared without consent where others are at risk, where a serious crime has occurred or is likely, or where the person is being coerced. Where an adult lacks capacity to consent, the decision is taken in their best interests under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, consulting any attorney, deputy or advocate. The reasons for proceeding without consent are recorded.
Concerns involving support provider staff. Care and support are delivered by a separate provider registered with the Care Quality Commission, and that provider operates its own complaints and safeguarding procedures. A safeguarding concern is distinct from a complaint: where a concern meets the safeguarding threshold, Harbour Light refers it to the local authority Safeguarding Adults Team regardless of who employs the individual concerned, and notifies the support provider's senior management. The Service Level Agreement requires both parties to notify each other of safeguarding issues and to notify the local authority, police and Disclosure and Barring Service as appropriate and required by law (SLA clause 12.1(c)).
Allegations against Harbour Light staff. Where an allegation concerns a Harbour Light employee, volunteer or contractor, that person is immediately removed from duties involving contact with tenants pending investigation, the local authority Safeguarding Adults Team is notified, and a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service is made where the statutory duty arises (Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006).
Children. Harbour Light does not house tenants who live with children and does not provide services to under-18s. Where staff encounter a child in the course of their work and have a concern, it is referred to the relevant local authority Children's Services or Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub.
Domestic abuse. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 provides a single statutory definition covering controlling and coercive behaviour and economic abuse. Domestic abuse is treated as a form of adult abuse within the safeguarding framework.
Records and information sharing. Safeguarding records are held securely and separately from general tenant records, with restricted access, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. Information is shared with external agencies on a need-to-know basis, and the reasons for sharing without consent are documented.
Whistleblowing. Staff raising concerns in good faith are protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Harbour Light operates a separate Whistleblowing Policy.