In February, we held our annual Board priorities meeting with our members from across the partnership, to decide on our topics of focus for the upcoming financial year (2026/27).
The meeting was well turned out, with great attendance from an array of agencies, resulting in a range of ideas, perspectives and rich discussion. Board members agreed to two Board priorities this year: coercive control and disguised compliance, and financial abuse. This article outlines how the Board decided on these two priorities.
Coercive control and disguised compliance
In late 2024, we published a Safeguarding Adults Review about Tom, who, from 2016, experienced neglect, emotional, and psychological abuse by his then-wife and paid carer, which worsened over time and isolated Tom from his family and friends. In 2020, Tom’s circumstances came to light, prompting a safeguarding referral by his mother. The safeguarding process identified concerns about serious neglect, coercive control, and disguised compliance; this is where a family member or carer gives the appearance of cooperating with professionals, to avoid raising suspicions, to allay professional concerns, and ultimately to reduce professional involvement.
Amongst the recommendations that we took forward as a result of Tom’s review was seeking assurance from agencies about seeing adults alone, providing opportunities for adults to disclose information if needed. On the few occasions that Tom was seen by professionals, he was given personal care, his home was cleaned, and the meeting was in the presence of his wife and carer, who spoke on his behalf. Tom did not feel able to disclose the abuse and neglect he was experiencing in fear of repercussions if he did. The Board acknowledge the current lack of resources on addressing the issues of coercive control and disguised compliance via safeguarding and note that more work is needed across the partnership to develop knowledge and awareness in this area. The Board are looking forward to helping to improve practice in this area by setting coercive control and disguised compliance as a Board priority for 2026/27.
Financial abuse
As well as looking at findings from our recent Safeguarding Adults Reviews, audits, and bi-annual self-assessment to decide on Board priorities, we also looked at safeguarding data. The data from 2025 showed us that the category of abuse with the highest increase since the previous year is financial and material abuse.
A possible contributing factor for this increase is the cost-of-living crisis, which is the term used to describe the increasing prices of essential goods like food, energy, and housing, since late 2021. The crisis has forced many to cut back on essentials, with low-income households most heavily impacted. The Board has been sighted on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on adults with care and support needs since 2022. As part of this, Board agencies provided evidence on the impact of the cost-of-living on adults supported by their organisations. Agencies provided clear evidence of risks and shared many helpful examples of the actions they’ve been taking to mitigate the risks.
The rising cost-of-living could intensify financial abuse, making it harder for people with care and support needs to maintain independence and autonomy. There is a risk that caregivers may use the increase in costs, and concerns about financial hardship, as a tool for coercive control, including to justify further restricting the adult’s access to money and essentials. Financial abuse rarely happens in isolation, and is frequently linked with other forms of abuse, including domestic abuse, neglect, and coercive control. By setting financial abuse as a Board priority, along with coercive control, the Board can help to develop resources and tools to support staff members who are working with those who are at risk of, or experiencing, financial exploitation.
