Agenda item

To consider an update on the support offered to victims of domestic abuse, and the measures in place to tackle instances of domestic abuse.

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 13 to 42, which gave an update on the support offered to victims of domestic abuse in addition to measures in place to tackle instances of domestic abuse.

The report outlined that the Wokingham Domestic Abuse Strategy 2021-24 was underpinned by two action plans, one delivered via the domestic abuse partnership focussed on delivering Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC’s) duties under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and the other which covered wider domestic abuse support which was delivered by the Domestic Abuse Networking group. A number of key achievements had been realised, including appointment of a domestic abuse housing specialist and establishment of a Thames Valley wide group to explore options linked to safe accommodation. A referral programme was in place for the men and masculinities programme, with 7 male referrals to the programme to date.

The Committee welcomed Katie Lloyd (Service Manager at Cranstoun), Andrea West (Chief Executive of Berkshire Women’s Aid, and Vickie Robertson (Founder of Kaleidoscopic UK) to provide additional context and to answer member queries.

Sarah Kerr (Executive Member for Resident Services and Climate Emergency), Narinder Brar (Community Safety Manager), Francesca Hobson (Assistant Director Environment and Safety), and Karen Evans (Domestic Abuse Coordinator) attended the meeting to answer member queries.

During the ensuing discussion, members raised the following points and queries:

·         There was a proposal to provide an additional £75k of funding to allow additional staff to deal with case work. Whilst this would bring case work per member of staff to approximately 35, this was still above the safe and recommended level of 30 cases per member of staff. Was additional funding being investigated to address this concern? Officer response – The safe lives best practice level stood at 30 cases per member of staff, and a growth bid was in place to get numbers in the Borough down. Other resources were being put in place to help relieve pressure, and should levels increase even with the additional funding then a further growth bid could be explored. It should be noted that the 30 cases per member of staff figure included a 20% margin either way (27 – 33 cases). Grant funding could also be explored where available, whilst it should be noted that the national economic picture meant that all growth bids at WBC needed to be very carefully considered;

·         In relation to the anti-abuse charter, what progress had been made to embed this across WBC? Officer response – This hung on the premise of a reduction of violence across the Borough. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) would be included as part of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWAG) plan;

·         Members congratulated Kaleidoscopic UK for highlighting and delivering upon the impacts of domestic abuse on children;

·         A recent television programme had highlighted exempt accommodation, whereby gangs would provide a ‘refuge’ for nefarious reasons. Officers had given assurances that there were no such properties in the Borough, however, what was being done to ensure that Borough residents being placed elsewhere were being placed in suitable accommodation? Officer and service representative response – There was a collective responsibility to ensure that service users were placed in safe accommodation. WBC ensured that our own local provision was suitable and safe, whilst officers worked with Local Authorities and various organisations across the Thames Valley. Whilst this did not guarantee that every individual was placed in suitable accommodation, officers always worked to the best of their ability to provide suitable accommodation. There was a national refuge database which was overseen by Women’s Aid, whilst key worker would be assigned to individuals with complex issues including drug use and mental health;

·         Thames Valley received between 4000-5000 calls about Domestic Abuse each year. What number of these calls were being referred to the police? Officer response – Monthly and quarterly figures were provided to the police, whilst a breakdown of referral sources was provided by Cranstoun. High risk cases, via MARAC, were referred to the police as were some medium risk cases. Overall, referrals were up approximately 7% from last year;

·         There was a positive move to encourage people to come forward and report domestic abuse. Were there resources available to cope with any potential steep increase in demand? Executive Member and officer response – Many people did not realise that they were in a domestic abuse situation, as that situation was normal for them. There was a lot of work around education as to what was acceptable and what was not. A growth bid was in place based on the pressures currently faced by the service which was right and proper. If demand increased, additional grants could be explored, and an additional business case could be presented to the Executive asking for additional funding. It was key that perpetrator referrals increased to challenge and change behaviours;

·         How was any increase in reporting (due to increased confidence and messaging) being separated from an actual increase in service demand? Executive Member and service representative response – This was a particularly difficult area to separate data. On average, it toom a victim of domestic abuse 7 attempts to leave an abusive relationship before they were able to leave for good. Information relating to repeat referrals was collected and monitored, whilst it should be noted that victims were at their highest risk when leaving an abusive relationship as that was when the perpetrator was losing their power;

·         What resourcing was in place to provide safe accommodation? Officer and service representative response – Whilst work with survivors was at an individual level, when a survivor was leaving an abusive relationship this was not dealt with in isolation. A holistic network of was in place to ensure joined-up support for survivors in these situations. There was not a domestic abuse housing specialist in place which added an additional level of security and specialism for survivors. For example, this could enable more survivors to stay at their own home if it was safe and so long as the perpetrator was not living at the address. There was a community based support network in place to help keep victims safe;

·         What was being done in schools to educate on acceptable behaviour from an early age? Executive Member, officer and service representative response – VAWAG would form part of the prevention plan to tackle deep rooted misogyny. The Educate to Eradicate Programme was in place, however the issue was getting schools to actively engage as domestic abuse was still seen as a ‘taboo’ topic. Regular meetings were in place with the Executive Member for Children’s Services, whilst schools had a statutory responsibility to promote healthy relationships. The police were informing any domestic abuse incidents involving children to schools to make them aware. Statistics of prevention programmes in schools could be provided to the Committee via Kaleidoscopic;

·         If another Local Authority required addition resourcing from Cranstoun, would this effect the resourcing available to Wokingham? Service representative response – The contract with Cranstoun specified that staff were in place specifically to deal with cases in the Wokingham Borough;

·         What alerts were in place if staffing became under pressure? Officer response – A service manager was in place to manage the operation service requirements at Cranstoun, whilst officers had a very good relationship with Cranstoun and if there were concerns a frank conversation would be anticipated;

·         A number of questions were put to officers in advance of the meeting. Responses to these questions can be found below.

·          How long does a case typically take to? Officer response - This is very difficult to answer as each individual client will require different levels of support and for varying time periods. For some, this could just be one phone call or chat with an outreach worker whereby the client gathers the information they need and then may not need any additional support for some time, with others needing weeks or months or years of support, especially if there are ongoing court cases. The commissioned service primarily focused on cases where the abuse was current, developing safety plans, putting in place the emotional and practical support they need, so (although this would need to be double-checked) probably around 3 or 4 months, but the emotional impact on a victim-survivor and child is likely to last for many years and so some will need ongoing emotional support – at which point, they are likely to be referred to Kaleidoscopic whose support offer is open ended;

·          What were the success criteria for the service? Officer response – Ultimately, that the person is not murdered or seriously harmed. Within this, for each client, success will mean different things – feeling more confident; being able to secure occupancy of their home; feeling more in control of their finances; having an injunction in place; being supported to report the abuse to the police etc;

·          What happens if only the statutory requirements are delivered, and what staffing is required for that? Officer response - The statutory duty only covers a couple of percent of those who need to access support in Wokingham so only delivering on the statutory requirements would mean that the vast majority of those affected by domestic abuse in Wokingham would not receive any specialist support or be safeguarded. This then has an impact on wider services – increase A&E / GP attendances; anti-social behaviour; criminal damage; serious crime etc;

·          Ideally, what would be the required level of staffing, and what is the delta between that and what was in place now? Officer response – This answer would be provided at a later date;

·          With regards to home modifications for safe houses - how much did that cost? Officer response - These depend on the property but probably average around £50 - £200 per property. In a lot of cases, it will be lower value items needed, e.g. door chain, lock change, fireproof letter box. Others will need a video doorbell and for some more extensive measures (e.g. changes to internal doors, fencing etc) which could cost a few hundred pound. Instillation of measures is part of a wider Adult Services contract. The scheme is managed by the Community Engagement Team and support for the victim-survivors and their children in these properties is via the central Government new duty’s money;

·          With regards to the perpetrator service, do you get referrals from enforcement agencies as you mentioned victims are passed on? Officer response - The majority of referrals are from Children’s Services or self-referrals although we are working with the police to try and increase the referrals for those who are on the police radar but the case isn’t progressing to court. The probation service had their own perpetrator programme which the courts mandate people to attend;

·          With regards to response times to issues, what was the service level agreement and how often is it missed or reached? Officer response – A fuller response would be provided, but it was understood that Cranstoun were meeting it’s KPI to respond to referrals within one working day;

·          What danger was there to the Council for a failure case? Officer response - All domestic murders and DA linked suicides require a full multi agency review which are published and would lead to poor headlines, loss of confidence in our response, cost of undertaking the review as well as the tragic loss of life itself and the impact on the family and wider community. The Home Office estimates the cost to the criminal justice system, health service, social care and housing to be just over £1M for each domestic abuse murder- this doesn’t include the wider costs such as loss of income, impact on family, etc.  In addition to Domestic Homicide Reviews, the council also has Serious Case Reviews, where near misses and failures are highlighted. Poor headlines are a major issue due to the impact this has on future victim-survivors confidence in help seeking.

RESOLVED That:

1)      Katie Lloyd, Andrea West, Vickie Robertson, Sarah Kerr, Narinder Brar, Francesca Hobson and Karen Evans be thanked for attending the meeting;

2)      Officers continue to carefully monitor the need for any additional growth bid to manage staff case load;

3)      Statistics of prevention programmes in schools be provided to the Committee via Kaleidoscopic;

4)      Information regarding ideal staffing levels and KPIs and response times be circulated to the Committee.