Agenda and minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 June 2021 as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission, held on 15 June 2021 be approved as a correct record of proceedings.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items that required the exclusion of the public or press.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To receive communications from the Chair in respect of matters within the Commission’s remit and work programme.

There were no communications.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services and the Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services attended the meeting to provide a report on the how the Council worked to identify and support hidden victims of domestic abuse. At the meeting of the Improving lives Select Commission held on 26 January 2021 it had been resolved to receive further information on work surrounding how hidden victims of abuse were identified (Minute No.133 2020/21).

In introducing the report and presentation the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services noted the Council’s long-term commitment to supporting and identifying victims of domestic abuse and the role that the Improving Lives Select Commission had had in inputting into the Council’s Domestic Abuse Strategy.

The Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services noted how the implementation of Domestic Abuse Act 2021 had placed new responsibilities on local authorities with regards to domestic abuse, and as such the work that had been carried out on the refresh of the Council’s Domestic Abuse Strategy had needed to be extended in order to take account of the new requirements. The Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services advised that a key objective of the domestic abuse support services was to increase the number of domestic abuse victims accessing support.

In introducing the presentation, the Head of Community Safety advised that whilst the Home Office had estimated that there were approximately 20,000 incidents of domestic abuse in Rotherham each year, that in 2020 the Police had recorded 6,878 incidents and as such reiterated that in many cases victims would suffer a number of abusive incidents before reporting these issues to the Police. The Head of Community Safety advised that in addition, a lower number of referrals came through to Domestic Abuse support services than could be seen from Police incidents, and that whilst much of the difference between these figures would be due to repeated incidents involving the same victims and perpetrators, the figures did show that there remained a gap between incidents of domestic violence and the number of victims receiving or accepting support.

The presentation provided information on:

·       Incidents of domestic abuse in Rotherham in 2020 and the number of victims who accessed support.

·       Additional services provided in Rotherham, including the programme that worked with perpetrators of domestic abuse and multi-agency working.

·       Activity carried out to raise awareness and increase access to support services.

·       Training activity that had been carried out with delivery partners.

·       Deaths related to domestic abuse and the response to these incidents, including domestic homicide reviews.

·       The recommissioning of domestic abuse support services in Rotherham, outcome from the market engagement and the proposed domestic abuse pathway in Rotherham.

The Head of Community Safety noted that the Council and the Safer Rotherham Partnership (SRP) also prioritised issues surrounding female genital mutilation and so-called honour related abuse and assured members that these issues were being monitored carefully. The Head of Community Safety noted that further work was needed to raise awareness of these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

To consider and approve the Commission’s Work Programme.

The Committee considered its Work Programme for 2021/22.

Resolved: -

1)    That the Work Programme be updated as discussed.

2)    That the Work Programme for 2020/21 be approved.

For the Chair/project group leads to provide an update on the activity regarding sub and project groups of the he Improving Lives Select Commission.

The Chair provided a progress report on sub and project group activity.

Resolved: - That the update be noted.

To consider any item(s) the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Tuesday 21 September 2021 commencing at 10am at Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Tuesday 21 September 2021 at 10am at Rotherham Town Hall