Agenda item

The report illustrates the extent and nature of domestic violence and abuse within Bath and North East Somerset.  It sets out the main aims of the Domestic Violence and Abuse Profile and what this means for Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Community Safety Partnership.

The Panel will receive a presentation on the 2012-2013 Domestic Violence and Abuse Profile, involving a clear analysis of data assembled from various agencies and key services. There will also be an opportunity to hear about the work of the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs), working in and with our communities to support victims and families.

The Panel will be invited to an open question and answer session at the end of the presentation.

The Chair invited Sue Dicks (Community Safety Manager) and Natalia Urry (Research and Intelligence Officer) to give their presentations to the Panel.

Natalia Urry gave her presentation ‘Domestic Violence and Abuse Profile’ (attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes) where she highlighted the following points:

·  Domestic Violence and Abuse (DV&A) definition

·  Overall rates and trends

·  Abuse characteristics (including the map with the number of domestic abuse related calls received by the police per 1000 of the population in B&NES  from April 2010-October 2012 by Ward)

·  Offender profile

·  Victim profile

·  Understanding and recording domestic abuse

Sue Dicks gave her presentation ‘Behind Closed Doors’ (attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes) where she highlighted the following points:

·  Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) – what they offer?

·  IDVA in B&NES

·  Southside – helping local people in their communities

·  Future plans

·  Number of agencies/organisations involved in helping victims

·  What the victim thinks initially?

·  Lisa’s story – short video from the Southside project

·  Tina Nash’s case

·  Domestic abuse has a lifetime impact on children

·  Some common Myth busters

·  What was learned? What is the Community Safety doing about it?

·  Diagram of organisations involved

·  Community Safety Partnership

·  Support contacts

The Chair thanked Sue Dicks and Natalia Urry for their presentations.

The Panel made the following points:

Councillor Katie Hall mentioned that in Hackney there was afternoon session with the GPs to train them in recognising the signs of DV&A.  Councillor Hall asked if that is something that this Council could pursue.

Natalia Urry responded that the example from Hackney is from the same IDVAs project, pilot that is set up in Hackney and Bristol.  Natalia Urry said that she is in contact with some of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) members on this matter and also there will be report presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) in November.

Sue Dicks added that there is on-going training with the GPs on DV&A.

Councillor Hall asked if the AWP have their information on DV&A.

Natalia Urry responded that the AWP may do have information on DV&A though getting that information from the GPs is difficult and takes quite long time.

Councillor Hall asked what specific action/s could be taken to reduce the abuse of elderly and people with disabilities.

Sue Dicks replied that this issue is part of the Adult Safeguarding Board remit which will be linked with the Health and Wellbeing Board work.

Sue Mountstevens suggested the following actions to be considered by the Council:

·  Council to look into having some sort of DV&A co-ordinator at A&Es.  This has been done is some parts of the country and it would be useful to separate couples in situations where DV&A was apparent.

·  Sue Mountstevens will have a meeting with the AWP Chief Executive on Monday 22^nd July so she could ask about the information on DV &A that they have.

·  Council to check if all their schools have secure emails.  The reason for this is when there is a case of DV&A in the family, the Public Protection Unit could inform schools where there has been domestic abuse incident so that they (schools) know that children were particularly involved in that incident.  This can only be done if the schools are having secure emails because of the sensitive data that would be sent.

Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones asked if it is a myth that people tend to ignore early signs of DV&A.

Sue Dicks responded that many victims say that didn’t see early signs of the violence.  Lot of victims make excuses for their partners.

Sue Mountstevens added that many victims say that they could see the early signs, and it is not until the later stage that they admit they are victims of DV&A.

Councillor Dave Laming commented that, according to the map given in the presentation, it looks like that wealthier areas in B&NES have very little cases reported.  Councillor Laming also commented that he didn’t see any connection with school governors who could play vital part in reporting DV&A.

Natalia Urry responded that there is a wealth of data about DV&A from different organisations.  Natalia Urry said that she didn’t look yet at the data from schools and took on board comment made by Councillor Laming.  It will also depend on how accessible this information is from schools.  In terms of the map – it is recorded according to the information received from the Police.

David Trethewey (Divisional Director for Policy and Partnerships) commented that officers will take on board suggestion from Sue Mountstevens in terms of secure emails in schools and discuss this suggestion with the colleagues from Education Services.

The Chair also welcomed suggestion from Sue Mountstevens in terms of the secure email for schools.  The Chair also suggested for officers to talk with schools forums on this matter and to receive an update on these issues at one of the future meetings of the Panel. The Chair noted the value of the IDVA service, and asked Sue MountStevens to confirm that the funding is secure for the continuation of this service in B&NES

Councillor Geoff Ward asked how 35 organisations involved in DV&A are regulated.

Sue Dicks responded that it is national issue and it is about finding a way for organisations to talk to each other.

Sue Dicks also said that Southside introduced four community hubs (Southdown, Peasedown St John, Keynsham and Foxhill).  This is where people could come and talk to our partners.

The Chair welcomed this information and asked if further information on the work of those four hubs could be included in the update at one of the future meetings. The Chair also noted the value of the IDVA service and asked Sue MountStevens to confirm that the funding is secure for the continuation of this service in B&NES.

It was RESOLVED to:

1.  Note the report and presentations from officers;

2.  Take on board suggestions from Sue Mountstevens (to look into setting up Domestic Violence and Abuse co-ordinator in the A&E and to look into setting up secure emails for schools) and requested from officers to explore these suggestions;

3.  Receive a further update on Domestic Violence and Abuse at one of the future Panel meetings with more information on how the actions from this debate were followed up.