Agenda item

To consider issues within the Community Safety Portfolio area, including the following report scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 16 December 2020:

• Domestic Abuse Strategy

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the report and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor May Haines, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety.

The Cabinet report is attached for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Domestic Abuse Strategy - The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety introduced the report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix ‘K’ to the Cabinet minutes of 16 December in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion, including:

·     A Councillor raised a number of concerns with the strategy, including that there were no principles of measurement for what was trying to be achieved, that there was no specific plan outlined for how performance in this area could be improved and also that there was reference to finance concerns and accessing temporary one-off grants. Overall, it was felt that this was disappointing.

·     It was noted that most reports of domestic violence came through the police and other intelligence and within the plan it was set out what we would do with reports received. The Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference group met on a weekly basis and considered what action was required for all those on a ‘watch’ list. There were priorities which were held jointly with the police. It was explained that the strategy was not intended to provide a one size fits all plan and issues would need to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

·     A Board member commented that the report was lacking on information regarding investment of resources in prevention and education and funding refuge places. The report referred to a SWOT analysis, but it currently did not have sight of where the weaknesses were. It was noted that financial issues were included within the main report under financial implications. It was noted that the £425k referred to in the report included funding for raising awareness of the issue but that there was a need to be sensitive in the way that this was done, particularly for those who may be at risk.

·     It was noted that the report referred to a delivery plan that would be developed and it was suggested that this should be shared with the Board.

·     Members asked if, due to the current circumstances, whether another rise in the number of incidences of domestic violence was expected and how would the delivery plan reflect the impact of Corona virus on this. It was noted that the strategy was a joint initiative with other agencies and any update could be brought back to O&S if this was helpful. The Covid response to this area was approved back in April and there was joint communication with police and partners and awareness was being promoted through ‘#you’re not alone’. Cases had gone up recently and the numbers were concerning. The strategy needed to be agreed in order to work together and bring the numbers down. It was normal for cases to increase at this time of year.

·     A Councillor commented that they would have liked to have seen more detail in the report but there was a lot of detail that could not be gone into and felt that the report was a good work in progress on this issue.

·     A number of Board members felt that significantly more work was needed on this report before it could be approved by Cabinet. It was noted that there was no information on what the targets were, there was also a statement regarding men in gay or bisexual relationships experiencing more domestic violence, it was noted that women in the same situations also did but these were not mentioned. Furthermore, there was no information in the paper about mental health, repeat victims or education. There was also very little in the paper about people who may be difficult to reach through cultural or language barriers. It was suggested that the strategy be acknowledge but that Cabinet request a full delivery paper for what the Council can do and what can be measured.

There was further discussion and a number of suggestions for how the Overview and Scrutiny Board should respond to this paper in terms of making recommendations to Cabinet. Following the discussions and the concerns raised by the Board the Director for Communities suggested that the report be delayed and that it should come back to Cabinet and the Overview and Scrutiny Board with high level strategy and delivery plan in a couple of months.

The Board agreed to this suggestion and made the following recommendation to Cabinet

RECOMMEDED that this item is withdrawn from the December Cabinet meeting to allow time for the issues raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Board to be considered further in order to update the strategy document and to present it to a future Overview and Scrutiny Board and Cabinet together with the high level delivery plan.

Voting: Nem. Con.