Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Mrs Margaret Aston.

Mrs Vigor-Hedderly declared an interest as she is Cabinet Spokesperson for the Voluntary Sector under the Community Engagement portfolio.

An interest was declared on behalf of Mrs Aston as she is Cabinet Spokesperson for Locality Working under the Community Engagement portfolio.

The Chairman advised that legal guidance had been sought.  As the Task & Finish group does not cover the specific portfolio areas, Mrs Vigor-Hedderly and Mrs Aston are able to sit on the Task & Finish Group.

Purpose

The Chairman of the Task and Finish Group will set out the context of the review and expectations for the Task and Finish Group. Members will have the opportunity to discuss their particular areas of interest.

Contributors: All members

Papers: None

Lesley Clarke, Chairman of the Domestic Violence Task & Finish Group, welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that Domestic Violence is a very important topic.  The purpose of the review is to understand more about Domestic Violence and how it is being addressed in Buckinghamshire.

Mrs Clarke went on to say that the new Domestic Violence strategy will begin in April 2012, and this review will feed into the strategy.  Recommendations from the Task & Finish Group will go to the Overview & Scrutiny Commissioning Committee, County Council’s Cabinet, and if relevant, to partner organisations through the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Board.

Purpose

Members will receive a presentation giving an overview of Domestic Violence in the county, including the scale of the issue, the funding picture and the services provided in Buckinghamshire.

Contributors

Susie Yapp, Safer Bucks Partnership Manager

Teresa Martin, Senior Domestic Violence Coordinator, Buckinghamshire County Council

Papers: None

The Chairman welcomed Susie Yapp, Safer Bucks Partnership Manager and Teresa Martin, Senior Domestic Violence Coordinator, Buckinghamshire County Council to the meeting.

Teresa Martin took members though a PowerPoint presentation which gave an overview of Domestic Violence and Abuse in Buckinghamshire and outlined the following key points;

• The term Domestic Abuse encapsulates both Domestic Violence and Abuse.  It is important to understand that Domestic Abuse also includes emotional abuse where the abuser seeks power and control over their victim and that emotional abuse can be as powerful as physical abuse. 

• The period of 6 months to 1 year post-separation is one of the most dangerous times for a woman to become a victim of serious domestic violence.

• Figures from the British Crime Survey 2010/11 report that every year 1 million women experience at least one incident of Domestic Violence (DV) – nearly 20,000 women a week and in the highest rate of repeat victimisation of any serious crime, RV accounts for 73% of all incidents of DV.

• There were 6,044 incidents of Domestic Abuse reported to police in 2010-11.  In the last financial year there have been two DV related homicides in Aylesbury.  The impact on the victim and the wider family needs to be considered.

• The Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) is part of a co-ordinated community response to domestic abuse, incorporating representatives from statutory, community and voluntary agencies working with victims/survivors, children and the alleged perpetrator.  High risk cases can be referred to MARAC for multi agencies to address.

• There has been an escalation of incidents of DV with high risk indicators.  A risk assessment tool entitled the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour Based Violence (DASH) is used to assess levels of risk and enable professionals to recognise and provide for intervention and prevention.

• There is known to be a lot of under-reporting of DV incidents.  16,504 women and girls between the ages of 16-59 have been victim of DV in Buckinghamshire in the past year (Home Office ready reckoner tool was used to calculate these figures) with 6,044 incidents reported to the police.

• In the Child Protection plans Domestic Abuse is the highest Primary Presenting Factor for parents (314 plans in total) closely followed by substance abuse (219 plans in total) which shows DV is a very real issue.

• Domestic Violence is one of the top 3 priorities for the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Board (as well as Anti Social Behaviour and Serious Acquisitive Crime).

• A considerable amount of funding is received from Children and Young People (£114,450 in 2011/12).  Funding for 2012/13 is to be confirmed. 

• Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) are one area where there is a considerable risk in future.

• The SSBPB has to manage a significant loss in funding due to a cut in the Safer Communities Fund of the order of 50% against the 10/11 baseline.  The SSBPB is drafting a budget which in the best case scenario would continue to invest £75k into IDVA; however this still represents a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Purpose

Members will receive an explanation of a self-assessment recently undertaken by Buckinghamshire County Council and of the outstanding actions from the county’s current Domestic Violence and Abuse Strategy, to enable them to consider priority areas for improvement.

Contributors

Susie Yapp, Safer Bucks Partnership Manager

Teresa Martin, Senior Domestic Violence Coordinator, Buckinghamshire County Council

Papers:

Summary report on self-assessment and current DVA Strategy – to follow

Teresa Martin explained that the Audit Commission have produced a Domestic Abuse Partnership: Area Self-Assessment tool to help areas think about the strengths and weaknesses of the Domestic Abuse Partnership.

There are three themes and four areas of work;

Themes

• A joint partnership approach
• A victim centred approach including an understanding of diversity
• Effective use of funds, understanding costs, benefits and outcomes

Aspects

• Prevention
• Early identification
• Advice and support
• Dealing with perpetrators

Completion of the self-assessment identified that Buckinghamshire is doing well in a majority of areas but areas of improvement have been identified within the Partnership and are to be incorporated into the new strategy.

The current DV strategy for 2009-2012 is coming to an end in March 2012 and from this an action plan will be developed.

Due to changes in the environmental funding some areas have slipped back.  The areas that were identified in needing development in Buckinghamshire are as follows;

• Developing ways of learning from victims/survivors to help with strategy and service improvements

There are ways of learning from victims/survivors.  It is important that the wants/needs of women, children and perpetrators are incorporated into the current strategy.  The development of a focus group and the setting up of a more structured group with greater inclusion of victims of DV is being looked into.

• Strategies & available information do not reflect the diversity of local needs

Sue Burke has met with different groups in the community to engage with them and make sure they are part of the next strategy and action plan and that services are available for delivery to all.  Wycombe Women’s Aid provide outreach to Asian women. Workers now speak some of the Asian languages but a gap has arisen those who can speak African languages. 

• Services need to better reflect local geography

In Buckinghamshire 35% of people live in rural areas and some services are not easily accessible i.e. public transport.  Those living in rural areas quite often report any signs of DV to Health Visitors and GPs; therefore training needs to take place to identify the signs of DV. The Freedom Programme, a twelve week programme providing to men and women about domestic violence is now in place in 9 locations across the county.  The Women’s Institute have commissioned a report called ‘Violence Against Women in Rural and Urban Areas’. A note will be taken of the recommendations from the report.

• Identify spend on prevention as a first step to accessing the cost-effectiveness of alternative activities

• The partnership should ensure that housing options fit the diversity of local victims including across gender

After the update the following questions were raised;

A member asked for a summary of the report

Action: see link below

http://tinyurl.com/c62t5py

A member said there is 24 hour monitoring/protection in refuges and asked how are victims of DV violence protected when they leave their own homes

Teresa Martin said that the Sanctuary Scheme needs to be addressed as one area to be considered is if the woman moves out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Purpose

Members will consider their approach to evidence gathering for the review, including agreeing an outline programme of witnesses and topics.

Contributors

Madeleine Thorpe, Policy Officer

Papers

Outline of evidence for review – to follow

Madeleine Thorpe outlined the Scope of the Review and the areas to be addressed as follows;

• Performance of services in the county
• Development of the 2012-15 Domestic Violence Strategy
• Involvement of Victims
• Honour Based Violence/ Forced Marriage
• Rural Communities (with low access to DV services)
• Prevention of Domestic Violence – working with Children & Young People

The review would also look at how Agencies work together and how data is shared and gives the opportunity to look at proposed commissioning changes.

The next steps include;

• Inviting a police representative to a meeting to explain how their data is shared
• Arranging visits to Aylesbury MARAC, Wycombe Women’s Aid, Asian Women’s Group, High Wycombe,
• Inviting a representative from Karma Nirvana to attend a meeting

After the update the following questions were raised;

The Chairman referred to a document previously available which gave examples of Best Practice which could be looked at to see what someone else was doing before individuals/organisations starting the work themselves

Teresa Martin advised this was the National Domestic Violence Co-ordinator Network

Action: Madeleine Thorpe

A member asked if it would be possible to speak to any perpetrators and where would men go to discuss DV

Teresa Martin explained that MARAC includes males and that the group may want to speak to a male IDVA and Broken Rainbow (they run a 1:1 male perpetrator programme) and Neil Blacklock, the director of Respect.

A member said the areas of priority should be where there are children involved.

The Chairman asked if there were any members of the review based in rural areas

The suggestion was of Margaret Aston and Ruth Vigor Hedderly ‘majoring’ in rural areas.

A member said the group needs to link up with Districts as follows;

• Rachel in South Bucks
• Tony Pecks, Home Choice Lettings
• Martin Holt, Chiltern District Council

The Chairman asked the 3 district councillors if they could find out whether the Choice Lettings scheme impacts on the DV groups within their own Council.

A member said more women might come forward if there are safety mechanisms in place

Susie Yapp explained that a lot of women are placed in refuges outside Buckinghamshire.  There is a reciprocal arrangement in place across the country.

A member referred to the figures shown in the slides of 125 women and 154 children in refuges in Buckinghamshire and said it would be interesting to know if these women and children are Bucks residents and if not which refuges across the country are housing Buckinghamshire women.

Teresa Martin explained that the figures have previously been looked at.  The number of women from other counties coming into refuges in Buckinghamshire and the number of Buckinghamshire residents going to refuges outside the county is roughly balanced.  Teresa added that it is quite often young people, not home owners in refuges and that home owners tend to stay in their own homes because of the investment they have in the property.

Teresa Martin asked if it would be helpful for a directory of services  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Wednesday 7^th December 2011, 1pm, Mezz Room 2, NCO, Aylesbury

The next meeting will take be held on Wednesday 7 December 2011, 1pm Mezz 2, County Offices, Aylesbury