Communication and Engagement Strategy

1. Purpose

This document sets out the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB) Communication and Engagement Strategy for the period April 2025 to March 2028. The aim of the strategy is to assist the Board in achieving its strategic Aims and Objectives as set out in the TSAB Strategic Business Plan, including the priority “Information, Engagement and Involvement”. The Communication and Engagement (CE) framework will aim to provide clear and accessible information and advice and work with local communities to raise awareness of what abuse is, how to prevent abuse from happening, how to seek help, and how to engage with the work of the Board.

2. Introduction

National Context

Adult safeguarding continues to be underpinned by the Care Act 2014, which places Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs) on a statutory footing and sets out the responsibilities of local authorities and their partners.

National guidance continues to emphasise that anyone may witness or become aware of information concerning adult abuse or neglect, and that all members of the public, professionals and partners should know how to respond and where to seek local help and advice. The most recent update to the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, published in July 2025, reinforces the requirement for strong local information and advice pathways and the shared responsibility across communities to remain vigilant in protecting adults who may be unable to protect themselves.

This strategy, alongside the Communication and Engagement Plan and the Learning, Training and Development Strategy, sets out how we will ensure that safeguarding information is accessible, well‑communicated and aligned with national expectations, and how we will support partners, practitioners and the public to recognise, respond to and prevent abuse within our local area.

Local Context

The TSAB covers four local authority areas, namely: Hartlepool Borough Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. Members of the TSAB include representation from the four Local Authorities, the Integrated Care Board, Cleveland Police, NHS Foundation Trusts, North East Ambulance Service, Public Health, Cleveland Fire Brigade, the National Probation Service, Prison Service, Thirteen Group, the Voluntary sector and Healthwatch.

The Communication and Engagement Sub-Group was established to lead the development, implementation and evaluation of a Teeswide Communication and Engagement Strategy and is responsible for overseeing the delivery of this strategy.

The Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Inter-agency Policy, Procedures and Practice Guidance outline the framework for agencies across Tees to work in partnership to safeguard adults who may be at risk of or are experiencing abuse. As members of the Communication & Engagement Sub-Group, all partner organisations agree to support the work of the Sub-Group and to actively engage with all safeguarding CE activity.

3. Communication and Engagement Principles

Successful engagement is based on simple, practical principles that represent a mix of common sense, good business practice and ethical considerations. Everything the Board does in relation to communication and engagement will influence the Teeswide safeguarding adult’s agenda, therefore all activity must be delivered professionally to build trust in the work of the Board. The following principles will be adopted:

  • All CE activity must be provided in a way that is understandable by the target audience
  • Communications must take into account considerations such as disability and diversity
  • The messages being communicated must be relevant to the target audience
  • All CE activity must be realistic, achievable and cost effective
  • All CE work will maximise opportunities to engage with key national campaigns as well as local campaigns led by partner agencies and other strategic boards
  • TSAB branding as set out in the TSAB Corporate Identity Guidelines, must be used for all CE activity

4. Communication and Engagement Delivery

4.1 Annual Communication and Engagement Plan

The CE Sub-group will set out an Annual CE Plan which will be aligned with the TSAB Annual Strategic Business Plan and will address the Board’s CE priorities for the year.  This plan will incorporate the Communication, Engagement and Consultation activities to be delivered and will remain flexible and responsive by considering new opportunities as they arise.

Stakeholder Groups

This CE Strategy underpins the principle of ‘Safeguarding is Everyone’s Business’ and as such applies to a wide audience including:

  • Service users and potential service users
  • Carers / Advocates / Family members
  • TSAB Partner organisations and their staff
  • Voluntary / community sector
  • Service providers
  • General Public
  • Partnership Boards, including Community Safety Boards, Health and Wellbeing Boards, Safeguarding Children Partnerships

Key Messages

TSAB Vision Statement:

‘Adults in the Tees area with care and support needs can live safely, free from abuse and neglect.’

The TSAB Annual Strategic Business Plan will prioritise the key messages to support the development of the Annual CE Plan; these messages will include a focus on the different types of abuse as outlined in the Care Act 2014, the prevention of abuse and neglect, and also targeted work in line with the Board’s current aims.

4.2 Annual Consultation Programme

Safeguarding Adult Boards are required to undertake consultation to determine how well they are achieving their aims and objectives and to assist with setting future priorities. TSAB are committed to delivering an annual consultation programme and, if required, will set up a Task and Finish Group to set out their consultation plans on an annual basis.

4.3 Methodologies

The CE Sub-Group may utilise a range of methodologies to undertake specific aspects of CE work; consideration must be given to using the most effective methods dependent on the activity and the stakeholder group. When planning CE activity, it is vital that the methods used are accessible to the identified stakeholders, that none are excluded and may require more creativity in the approach.

Events

The CE Sub-group will determine if a specific Task and Finish group is needed to deliver large scale CE activity, for example, an annual awareness campaign. Any Task and Finish groups will comprise of the relevant professionals who can fully contribute to the operational delivery of the activity, and they will be responsible for developing a comprehensive plan of work. It is recommended that the following framework is applied:

  1. Overview: this should be an overview of the activity to be undertaken and include aims and aspirations, this will include a reference to the current TSAB Annual Strategic Business Plan.
  2. Objectives: these must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) and include targets, where relevant.
  3. Strategy: this will include who the target audience is and what methods or media will be used.
  4. Resources: an outline of the resources to be used, i.e. people, venues, media tools and materials.
  5. Actions: details of who, when, where and how each activity or action will be completed.
  6. Evaluation: an outline of how the CE activity will be evaluated and what success will look like. This should also include information about whether the evaluation will be reported back to the CE Sub-Group and the Board.

Involving Lived Experience

The Board will utilise existing focus groups and forums within partner agencies to engage with the general public and people who use services to gain feedback on their experiences, provide them with opportunities to be involved in the work of the board and also to promote the work of the Board and to raise awareness of adult abuse and neglect.

The Board will consider The Ladder of Co-Production produced by Think Local Act Personal and the National Co-production Advisory Group when creating opportunities for people with lived experience to be involved in the work of the Board.

The Annual CE plan will set out any specific sessions to be facilitated by the Board. Where possible, these bespoke sessions will be supported by Board partners, utilising the skills, expertise and available networks across Tees, particularly those within the voluntary/ community sector and in partnership with the 3 Healthwatch organisations across Tees.

Leaflets

The Board has developed a number of leaflets, some of which have been translated into languages other than English and will support work with some of the stakeholder groups identified above. These leaflets will be reviewed at least annually to ensure the content remains current and up-to-date.

Local Press and Radio

The Annual CE Plan will set out any promotional work to be carried out in conjunction with local press and radio; this includes local authority resident magazines and local/ community based radio stations.

Newsletters

The Board will publish a newsletter each quarter and distribute this via the Board’s website. Links to Newsletters are included in TSAB training delegate information and emailed out to newsletter subscribers. The TSAB Business Unit is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date contact list which is held in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) to assist with this. The newsletter will include up to date information for professionals, a summary of TSAB activity and articles that are relevant for all stakeholder groups.

Partner Contributions

Board partners will share details of the Board’s work and ongoing projects within their newsletters, social media and websites where appropriate.

Safeguarding Champions

The Board will actively support the further development of the Safeguarding Champions initiative to improve engagement with local communities and services. A dedicated Safeguarding Champions webpage provides information for new and existing Champions. As well as receiving the TSAB Newsletter, Safeguarding Champions will also receive a quarterly Safeguarding Champions Bulletin. The role of a Safeguarding Champions includes;

  • Engaging and involving local communities, including, harder to reach groups and the seldom heard, with the work of the Board.
  • Actively seeking feedback from service users to ensure their voice is heard and used to help shape practice
  • Raising awareness by helping design, connect to, and support TSAB campaigns
  • Improving awareness and networks with harder to reach and marginalised groups.

Safeguarding Champions may do this by:

  • Sharing relevant information from the TSAB Newsletter and Safeguarding Champions Bulletin within their organisation.
  • Providing a briefing in their organisational Bulletin about the Safeguarding Champions role and include a link to the TSAB Newsletter. 
  • Handing out the safeguarding leaflets to members of the public they come into contact with
  • Displaying the TSAB poster for professionals in their office, and on public facing notice boards, if appropriate
  • Sharing TSAB social media posts

Social Media

The Board operates several social media channels, namely:

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Bluesky
  • LinkedIn

Social Media will be used to support key campaigns, to promote local initiatives and events, and to further promote the work of the Board. The use of X will remain under review in response to significant changes to the platform’s functionality, credibility, and reach. Ongoing use of X will continue to be monitored in line with Local and National Guidance.

Surveys

Specific surveys will be developed to support the annual consultation activity to seek views on the work of the Board and to determine future priorities. The surveys will be shared via the website and in paper copies at events, forums and meetings to engage with a wide audience. In addition, specific surveys may be developed to support other key pieces of work as outlined in the CE Annual Plan.

Training

The Annual TSAB Training programme will further support CE work by engaging more closely with professionals in a learning and development environment. All delegates will be provided with a digital pack which will include links to posters, leaflets, newsletters and other relevant Safeguarding Adult Reviews, Policies, Procedures and Guidance promoting the work of the Board to be shared within their own service areas.

Website

The website is the central hub hosting the Board’s documents and training resources, this will be maintained to ensure information remains current and accessible. The website is key to measuring the success of the Board’s CE activity through its analytical tools and can provide information on the volume, type and location of website users.

5. Monitoring, Review and Evaluation

The CE Sub-group will monitor, review and evaluate the effectiveness of all CE activity and an Annual CE report will summarise the activity undertaken and the outcomes achieved at the end of each financial year

The impact of CE activity may be measured by the following mechanisms (not exhaustive):

  • Volume of website hits
  • Number of newsletters delivered via email
  • Number of Safeguarding Champion Bulletins delivered via email
  • Number of completed annual surveys, both online and in paper copy
  • Number of Safeguarding Champions
  • Estimate of number of people to read local press articles
  • Estimate of number of people who have heard radio adverts
  • Survey findings
  • Training evaluations
  • Newsletter feedback
  • Number of followers on each social media platform
  • Engagement on social media channels (for example, the number of impressions on Facebook)

Version:10

Date Approved: June 2026