Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Peter Hudson, Arif Hussain and Tom Hunter-Watts.  The Chairman asked if the Policy Officer could write to Doug Anson to check if he wished to be included in the Task and Finish Group, as he had not attended the first two meetings.

Action: Policy Officer

Margaret Aston and Ruth Vigor-Hedderly declared that they were Spokespersons for Community Engagement, which includes the Community Safety team, who are responsible for Domestic Violence.   

The minutes of the meeting of the 21 November, to be confirmed

The minutes of the meeting held on 21^st November 2011 were confirmed as a correct record.

Purpose – The Chairman of the Task and Finish Group will present the evidence programme for the review, including an outline of written evidence to be invited. Members will be requested to provide any comments by email due to the limited time available for discussion in the meeting.

Contributors

Lesley Clarke, Chairman of the Task and Finish Group

Madeleine Thorpe, Policy Officer

Papers

-          Evidence Programme summary paper

-          Domestic Violence acronyms list

-          Summary of Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004

-          Statutory duties of partners on Domestic Violence – to follow

-          Comparative reporting figures for Buckinghamshire and rest of Thames Valley – to follow

-          Women’s Aid Refuge and Outreach information – to follow

-          Summary of Domestic Violence support for men in Buckinghamshire – to follow

Madeleine Thorpe, Policy Officer, took members through the proposed evidence gathering programme which would concentrate on three main themes – identifying victims of domestic violence, what services were in place and do they meet the needs and the impact of domestic violence on children and young people.

As part of the evidence gathering a simple online questionnaire would be distributed to all county councillors, district councillors and parish councillors to identify the level of general awareness of domestic violence in the community.  A member commented that it was important to encourage all councillors to respond. The Chairman asked if it was possible to monitor who had responded, but members were advised that the survey had to be anonymous.

A member commented that the domestic violence presentation at their Local Area Forum (LAF) was very well received and thought-provoking.  The Chairman agreed and suggested that the findings of the review and the new domestic violence strategy should be reported back to the LAFs. 

Purpose – This item is for members to explore Thames Valley Police’s recording arrangements for incidents of Domestic Violence. The contributor will address the following questions, and then members will have the opportunity to ask any supplementary questions.

-          How does TVP record incidents of domestic violence?

o       Are incidents correctly categorised?

o       How well are repeat incidents captured?

o       Recording of age / gender / ethnicity.

-          Are there specific protocols/guidelines for frontline officers to follow when responding to incidents of domestic violence, and what do they cover?

o       How does TVP ensure these guidelines are met?

Contributors

Chris Innes, Chief Inspector, Thames Valley Police

Papers – none

The Chairman welcomed DI Chris Inness of Thames Valley Police (TVP) to the meeting.  The DI had been asked to brief members on the recording arrangements used by TVP.  During the briefing and subsequent questions from members the following points were noted:

·         A central call centre takes all TVP calls and all incidents and crimes are recorded on the CEDAR database.  The system will then flag if the reporter or victim is a repeat caller or has been identified as a high risk victim. 

·         A crime will then be allocated for attendance - if a crime is in action, there is immediate attendance and an incident of domestic violence (DV) is guaranteed attendance within 20 minutes. 

·         A member asked if police officers attending a DV incident would utilise blue lights and sirens, as this could alert the perpetrator.  DI Inness advised that whilst sometimes the police would use a silent approach, the blue lights and sirens could sometimes be useful, because if the perpetrator flees the scene it can prevent a DV incident escalating.

·         All frontline staff are trained to recognise and deal with DV incidents.  DI Inness commented that training provision had really improved over the last five years and especially during the past 2 years with support of partners. Members were interested in content of the training and DI Inness agreed to share the Power Point presentation with members.

Action: DI Inness

·         The recording of incidents is scrutinised by performance monitoring teams to ensure compliance with central police recording standards.  Also three referral and assessment centres have been opened in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire during 2011 to improve partnership working. 

·         Officers attending DV incidents use a Domestic Abuse Stalking and Harassment (DASH) risk assessment form to make an initial assessment.  A standard risk level would be an incident not likely to cause serious harm.  A medium risk level is an incident where there could be a risk of serious harm with a change in circumstances and a high level risk is where indicators suggest a risk of serious harm at any time.   

·         The DASH form is intelligence led and encourages positive interaction, often leading to arrest of the perpetrator. Officers were encouraged to always consider arrest and if they choose not to arrest then they would need to get this decision signed off by their superviser. 

·         A member asked how the Police would know if a woman had been granted a safe haven in her own home by a judge through the civil courts, if the Police had had no previous involvement in the case.  DI Inness advised that TVP were reliant on solicitors informing them of civil court orders. There is a new National Centre for Domestic Violence database which records non-molestation orders but TVP had to be proactive in checking it.  Often with civil court orders the first the Police know about it is when they attend a DV incident, whereas the communication between the Police and criminal justice colleagues is very good.

·         A member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Purpose – Members will receive an explanation of current commissioning arrangements for Domestic Violence services in the county, and a summary of options to improve them. This will include funding detail.

Contributors

Susie Yapp, Safer Bucks Partnership Manager

Lynda Ayres, Children and Young People’s Commissioner

Papers – Proposal for Domestic Violence Commissioning in Partnership in  

Buckinghamshire

The Chairman welcomed Susie Yapp, Safer Bucks Partnership Manager and Lynda Ayres, Children and Young People’s Commissioner to the meeting.  Susie Yapp took members through her report proposing a more integrated approach to commissioning for Domestic Violence and Abuse.  The proposal recommended using the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Board, in conjunction with the Adult’s and Children’s Safeguarding Boards, to develop an overarching Domestic and Violence Abuse Commissioning Strategy with aligned budgets.

Members believed that this was a sensible approach and were happy to consider recommending aligned budgets and commissioning processes.  Susie Yapp and Lynda Ayres were asked to provide specific points that could be covered in such a recommendation.

Action: Susie Yapp/Lynda Ayres

A member asked what services were commissioned by Children and Young People’s services currently.  Lynda Ayres explained that Children and Young People’s Services commission Aylesbury and Wycombe Women’s Aid to provide services.  Women and children who are supported by the Aylesbury and Wycombe refuges may not be Bucks residents as it may not be safe for local women to be accommodated in Bucks.  Refuges across the country have reciprocal arrangements to accommodate women from out of area.

Aylesbury and Wycombe Women’s Aids have separate management structures but work closely together.  Services commissioned include support services for children in the refuges, such as therapeutic play sessions.  Further therapeutic play sessions are also held at Children’s Centres for children not resident in the refuges – referrals may be from Health Visitors and the Women’s Aid outreach service.  

The Freedom Programme is offered to women who are victims of DV.  This looks at protective behaviours for the future and helps to build their self-esteem.  A member asked if women from Bucks who go to refuges in Hertfordshire or other local authorities would receive comparable levels of service.  Lynda Ayres explained that the Freedom Programme was a national initiative and Women’s Aid run refuges nationally. There is also an Adolescent Freedom Programme for girls aged 13 or over who have experienced domestic abuse within their homes and/or in personal relationships, which aims to prevent repetition of this in their own relationships in future.  At BCC, ‘This is Abuse’ website (www.thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/spot-the-signs) is being promoted to young people and staff within Children and Young people’s services, to help young people identify abuse and understand what a healthy relationship should be. 

Susie Yapp advised members that a new elected post of Police and Crime Commissioner was to be introduced in 2012.  The Police and Crime Commissioner will be responsible for Community Safety funding.  Susie Yapp is participating in a Thames Valley wide needs assessment with Police and other partners to ensure that priorities are identified and presented to the new Police and Crime Commissioner with a collective voice.     

The Chairman thanked Susie Yapp and Lynda Ayres for attending the meeting.  

Wednesday 18 January 2011, 2pm, Mezzanine 1, County Hall, Aylesbury

Wednesday 18 January 2011, 2pm, Mezzanine 1, County Hall, Aylesbury