HSAB Business Unit
The HSAB is supported by a dedicated support unit to ensure multi-agency activity to enhance safeguarding and outcomes for adults in Harrow are achieved, ensuring that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities regarding safeguarding through training, learning and local resources. All staff can be contacted via the central inbox – hsab@harrow.gov.uk
Our Business Unit is funded through partnership contributions. Partners contributions to the Board are from the Harrow Council, the ICB, the Police and other partners with income and expenditure reported in the Annual Report, but everything we do is done in partnership with colleagues from social care, health, police, community safety, the voluntary sector and others.
Our Chair is independent, which helps to ensure the Board has independent scrutiny and challenge.
The Team Members
Lesley Hutchinson has over 30 years of experience in both Children’s and Adults’ health and social care services. Throughout her career, she has worked across the voluntary, community, and statutory sectors, gaining diverse insights into the challenges and opportunities within these areas. In addition to her sector-based experience, Lesley has also served as a teaching fellow at an academic institution, sharing her knowledge and expertise with the next generation of professionals.
For the past 15 years, Lesley has held senior leadership positions and is a qualified social worker. In her current roles, she chairs several safeguarding adult boards, guiding and overseeing critical safeguarding initiatives. She is also an associate for the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, further demonstrating her deep involvement in the sector. Additionally, she serves as a trustee for a national learning disability organisation.
Lesley is passionate about safeguarding and community safety. She works tirelessly to ensure better outcomes for individuals and carers in need of support, focusing on transformational change and practice improvements.
Mick is a registered social worker with over 20 years’ experience in child safeguarding, multi-agency partnership working, quality assurance, service review and authoring Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
Mick has an enduring interest in supporting effective multi-agency co-ordination to ensure that children, adults and families receive the most effective service possible to ensure safety, address needs and provide positive outcomes.
Olga is a dedicated professional with substantial experience in safeguarding both adults and children. She has a proven track record in developing community safety, educational, and safeguarding programmes, fostering multi-agency collaboration, and driving strategic improvements.
Driven by a deep passion for protecting vulnerable individuals and reducing societal inequalities, Olga focuses her work on strengthening safeguarding systems through effective partnerships, policy development, and tailored training initiatives. Her background in education and social anthropology informs her commitment to ensuring safeguarding frameworks are not only effective but also responsive and inclusive of diverse needs.
Olga plays a pivotal role in facilitating cooperation between statutory and voluntary organisations, drawing on her strong foundation in cross-agency collaboration. Her approach emphasises diversity, equality, and inclusion, advocating for safeguarding practices that are person-centred, culturally competent, and sensitive to the complexities of intersectional vulnerabilities. She believes in the power of proactive, partnership-driven strategies to improve safeguarding outcomes.
As a trustee of the Learning Academy Partnership, Olga is committed to empowering children and young people by ensuring they have access to inclusive, high-quality education.
As the Learning and Development Manager for Harrow Safeguarding Adult Board (HSAB), she brings extensive experience in training and development within the council. Holding a certification in the AET (Award in Education and Training) for adults, she has honed her skills in designing and delivering impactful training programmes.
Her key strength lies in streamlining processes across multiple industries, ensuring that systems are efficient, effective, and aligned with best practices. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to HSAB’s Learning and Development efforts, particularly through collaboration with partners to improve the safeguarding process. She looks forward to working together to achieve shared goals and drive positive change in the safeguarding sector.
