Agenda item

To consider the progress made to achieving White Ribbon Accreditation and actions taken to stop Violence Against Women and Girls.

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 43 to 54, which provided an update on progress made in achieving White Ribbon Accreditation and actions taken to stop Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWAG).

The report provided an overview of the local VAWAG strategy 2023-26, including the timeline for development, implementation and consultation plan.

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:

·         It was noted that this topic was of national and local importance, and focussed on prevention and social and cultural changes;

·         What measures of success had other Local Authorities used with White Ribbon Accreditation? Executive Member response – Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) would be assessing what other Local Authorities were doing as part of the development of our VAWAG plan, to understand what success looked like and how it would be measured. A set of KPIs would be developed, whilst Surrey County Council had gone through the accreditation process and their successes could be shared with the Committee;

·         Were WBC’s proposals ambitious enough – what percentage reduction of reports were we expecting? Executive Member response – Smart measurements would be put in place, however at this early-stage specifics could not be given;

·         Strategic themes were being shared with the community safety partnership in a few weeks time, what were these themes? Officer response – Themes around prevention education and awareness, safe spaces and places were in development alongside other strategic priorities including the justice system to enable better outcomes for victims;

·         It was noted that White Ribbon was an element of the VAWAG plan, which would look at issues on a much wider scale;

·         It was noted that 25 November was White Ribbon day, and lots of activities were planned to help show how important an issue this was;

·         It was noted that there would be vigils for the victims that did not survive, and communications would be sent out when details were more finalised;

·         It was noted that the Executive Member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services would work with the communications team to get information about these events to schools;

·         It was agreed that an update on the plan would be taken to the March 2023 meeting of the Committee.

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)      The Executive Member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services would work with the communications team to get information about White Ribbon events to schools;

3)      Successes and learning points from Surrey County Council, who had gone through the White Ribbon Accreditation process, be circulated to the Committee;

4)      A further update be considered by the Committee in March 2023.