Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) is about putting the person at the centre of safeguarding.
It means listening to what matters to the individual. It also means involving them in decisions about their own safety, wellbeing, and future.
Making Safeguarding Personal is not about asking people what they want at the end of a safeguarding process. It is about involving them throughout the process and ensuring that their views, wishes, and desired outcomes shape the response from the start.
Over time, safeguarding has moved away from focusing entirely on processes and procedures. While it’s still important to understand what has happened and to respond appropriately to concerns, safeguarding should not be driven solely by organisational systems. Instead, it should focus on what the person wants to achieve, and on how best to support them.
Everyone is different. People have different experiences, values, relationships, goals, and ways of living their lives. A response that works for one person may not be right for another. Making Safeguarding Personal recognises these differences, and thus tailors safeguarding to the individual.
What good is it making someone safer if it merely makes them miserable?
– Lord Justice Munby
Making Safeguarding Personal in Practice
In practice, this means involving people as much as possible in the safeguarding process. This means listening to their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs. We should support people so they can understand their options, make informed choices, and have a say in the decisions that affect them.
The Care Act 2014 reflects this approach, recognising that there is no single process that will be right for everyone. Safeguarding responses should be person-centred. They should be proportionate and focused on the outcomes that matter most to the individual.
At the same time, organisations and professionals still have important responsibilities to protect people from abuse and neglect. Making Safeguarding Personal is about balancing protection with empowerment. It ensures that safeguarding is something we do with people, and not to them.
Making Safeguarding Personal is not just something we do during a safeguarding concern. It is a way of working that values people’s voices, respects their choices and keeps their desired outcomes at the heart of safeguarding practice.
Supporting People in Complex Situations
Putting the person at the centre does not always mean agreeing to everything they want. Sometimes people may make choices that others consider risky, or there may be concerns about their ability to understand and weigh up information when making decisions.
Sometimes there may be tensions between what a person wants and what professionals believe is safest. There may be concerns about coercion, self-neglect, exploitation, domestic abuse, or a person’s ability to make specific decisions. In these situations, Making Safeguarding Personal remains important. The focus should be on listening to the person, understanding the reasons behind their choices and working alongside them to reduce risks wherever possible.
Making Safeguarding Personal is about working alongside people to understand what matters to them, while balancing safety, wellbeing and legal responsibilities. Professionals should have open and honest conversations about risks, explore different options and support people to make informed decisions wherever possible.
For example:
- A person may choose to maintain contact with a family member, partner, or friend despite concerns about exploitation, coercion, or abuse.
- An individual may refuse support services even though professionals believe they would benefit from them.
- Someone may wish to take part in activities that involve a degree of risk because they value their independence and quality of life.
In these situations, it is important to understand the reasons behind the person’s choices rather than focusing solely on the risk. Professionals should seek to understand the person’s views, wishes, and desired outcomes, consider any communication or advocacy needs, and work collaboratively to reduce risks where possible.
The Question of Capacity
Where a person has mental capacity to make a decision, they have the right to make choices that others may view as unwise. Where there are concerns about mental capacity, decisions must be made in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Making Safeguarding Personal does not mean that professionals step back from their safeguarding responsibilities. Rather, it means that safeguarding decisions are informed by what matters to the person, ensuring that protection and empowerment go hand in hand.
By taking this approach, organisations can support people to be safer while also respecting their rights, dignity, independence, and individuality. This helps ensure that safeguarding outcomes are meaningful to the person and not simply determined by organisational processes.