A presentation by the Community Safety Manager, Brian Martin.

The Community Safety Manager, Brian Martin, gave Members a presentation on the Domestic Abuse Review.  The Clerk was requested to email a copy of the presentation to Members with the minutes. 

The presentation covered the following areas:

• Top ten facts about Domestic Abuse in England and Wales.
• National Issues with Domestic Abuse.
• Successful & Unsuccessful Outcomes.
• Local Statistics.
• Domestic Abuse Governance Improved.
• ‘Yasmin’s Journey’ – The true story of a domestic violence survivor and what could have been.
• Where does support come from locally.
• Initiatives.
• Support for Victims of Domestic Abuse.

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were noted:

Ø  That two to three years ago at a November Panel meeting Members had looked at a paper by the Domestic Abuse Co-ordinator and one conclusion was that the Domestic Abuse services provided by the Royal Borough were felt to be a bit dysfunctional.  It was noted that one of the recommendations had been to set up a Domestic Abuse Executive Group which was now in place. 

Ø  That the Domestic Abuse Executive Group was a multi agency group that had taken ownership of the problems linked to Domestic Abuse.

Ø  That a gap analysis regarding service provision had taken place and amongst other things identified that the Royal Borough did not have a perpetrator programme.  That in turn had led to a more detailed look at all facets of Domestic Abuse work in the borough.

Ø  That it would be very difficult to rank outcomes as different individuals had different outcomes / needs.

Ø  That whilst the level of crime overall was reducing Domestic Abuse was not. 

Ø  That the review was seeking to identify costs, resources and the level usage of services. Full findings had yet to be presented to the Domestic Abuse Executive Group.

Ø  That with regard to Yasmin’s journey (an example provided by National Women’s Aid) a needs-led intervention opportunity of £13,700 per annum had been missed and instead £47,323.50 per annum was being spent on supported housing for the rest of her life. 

Ø  That the Council had strong links with schools in the Royal Borough where they could raise awareness about Domestic Abuse at specific events.

Ø  That a challenge the Royal Borough faced was to encourage more agencies to refer people on via the MARAC and DASH training.

Ø  That the Community Safety Manager could provide Members outside of the meeting with figures about the number of families at risk in the Royal Borough.

Ø  That the Royal Borough did not have a refuge resource.

Ø  That whilst it was confirmed that non-crime cases were registered it was felt that the Thames Valley Police would be better equipped to answer any questions about the numbers of crimes and non-crimes in and outside of the Royal Borough.

Ø  That it was hoped that the gap analysis would provide a quantitative outcome regarding measuring success.

Ø  That MARAC hold agencies to account.

Ø  That the Community Safety Manager could provide Members outside of the meeting with an indication of the Royal Borough’s current spend.

The Chairman thanked the Community Safety Manager for his presentation.