Agenda item

Report of Liz Gaulton, Acting Director of Public Health and Craig Hickin, Head of Environmental Services

The Board considered a report of Liz Gaulton, Acting Director of Public Health and Craig Hickin, Head of Environmental Services which sought approval for the draft Coventry Domestic Abuse Strategy for 2018-2021, a copy of which was set out at an appendix to the report.

The report highlighted that the annual cost of domestic abuse in Coventry was estimated to be £34.8m.

The strategy had been drafted by a multi-agency working group and it was anticipated that the strategy and a wider needs analysis would inform recommissioning of the domestic abuse services. An action plan would support implementation of the strategy. The action plan and further data was set out at appendices to the strategy.

The strategy covered domestic abuse including honour based violence and forced marriage which were both defined as forms of domestic violence and abuse. The strategy acknowledged that while anyone could experience domestic abuse, there were certain characteristics that could increase a person’s risk, its effects, and/or create barriers to accessing help and support. The strategy acknowledged that while anyone could experience domestic abuse, there were certain characteristics which could increase a person’s risk, its effects, and/or create barriers to accessing help and support. The following groups were identified as falling within these categories: children; older people; adults with care and support needs, including disabled people; men; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender; black, Asian minority ethnic and refugees; and people with mental illness and /or substance misuse problems.

The Board noted that the strategy had been informed by engagement with a wide number of stakeholders. A co-design event had been held with professional stakeholders to discuss priorities, identify any gaps and suggest how the strategy could address them. The key issues raised were detailed. Targeted engagement with young people aged 15-18 had taken place through the Positive Youth Foundation by convening a focus group, while the adults with care and support needs were surveyed through Grapevine.

The following priorities areas were to be taken forward through the strategy and had been developed using the Government’s Contest model:

·  Prepare – the development of a strong governance and service commission structure to provide high quality, equitable services that were shaped around the needs of victims, ensuring that their voices were heard and responded to

·  Prevent – a long term approach to improve awareness, understanding and early identification of abuse at all levels of society. Victims would be empowered to report and staff would be given the skills and confidence. Interventions tailored to victims at all levels of risk with a range of needs would help to break the intergenerational cycle of abuse and minimise repeat victimisation 

·  Protect – there would be effective information sharing and referral pathways between key agencies, breaking down organisational barriers to ensure victims of abuse were identified and protected. The safety of victims, and that of their children (where relevant) would be paramount. Victims would be supported to access safe and appropriate accommodation and safeguarding procedures would be robustly implemented to ensure that children and vulnerable adults were protected, and that the voice of the child was always heard

·  Pursue – an approach centred on achieving justice and positive outcomes for victims, including reductions in offending. There would be better understanding of perpetrator risk to support the use of court and out of court disposals so that they were held accountable for their actions and appropriately supported to understand and change their offending behaviour.

The report set out the outcomes for each of the four priority areas including how the outcomes would be achieved.

The Board noted the membership of the Domestic Abuse Working Group. It was proposed that the Working Group would become a Steering Group to support the recommissioning of the Domestic Abuse Service in 2018 and to implement the Strategy’s action plan. The Board also noted the dates of meetings of other local Boards where the strategy was to be submitted for approval. It was anticipated that the strategy would be launched in April.

Members discussed the issues raised by the report including the scale of the problem in Coventry. The Chair, Councillor Caan asked members to share the strategy within their organisations. 

RESOLVED that:

(1) The Coventry Domestic Abuse Strategy 2018-2021 be endorsed.

(2) Members be requested to share the strategy within their organisations.