The 'No Secrets' consultation: Safeguarding adults and adult protection

AbstractA consultation document on revising the No Secrets guidance — first published in 2000 and designed to safeguard vulnerable adults — was launched by the Government in 2008. When announcing the consultation in London on 16th October, 2008, Care Services Minister Phil Hope said the paper was 'about learning. It is about how we as a society learn to empower people — both the public and the professionals — to identify risk and manage risk. It is about how we empower people to say no to abusive situations and criminal behaviour. It is about locating safeguarding in the wider agenda of choice and control. It is about recognising safeguarding as everyone's business. It is about identifying the tools we need for better safeguarding.' The response to the document is keenly awaited. In this paper, Gary FitzGerald asks whether the consultation process will do justice to the complexities of safeguarding adults.