The S42(1) criteria state that where there is reasonable cause to suspect:
(a) the adult has needs for care AND support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs)
AND
(b) the adult is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect
AND
(c) as a result of those needs is unable to protect himself or herself against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.
Then, where ALL the S42(1) criteria are met, the enquiry and decision on what action to take (including taking no action) will follow under the duty to make enquiries described in S42(2) and should be reported as a Section 42 Enquiry in the SAC.
Information gathering is done under the duty described in S42(1). The S42(2) safeguarding enquiry that is triggered when the S42(1) criteria are met is set out in the Care Act as follows:
‘The local authority must make (or cause to be made) whatever enquiries it thinks necessary to enable it to decide whether any action should be taken in the adult’s case (whether under this Part or otherwise) and, if so, what and by whom’ (Care Act, 2014, S42(2)). An enquiry could range from a conversation with the adult to a more formal multi-agency plan or course of action.
The duty to make enquiries under S42(2) is not a prescriptive process in the way it was before the Care Act (2014) but consists of activity to inform decision-making and the actions to be taken.