Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety, the Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene and the Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services attended the meeting to provide a progress report on the implementation of the Domestic Abuse Strategy 2017 – 20 and the activity that had been taking place in the development of an updated Domestic Abuse Strategy.

The report stated that the vision for the Domestic Abuse Strategy 2017 – 20, that had been developed in partnership with the Safer Rotherham Partnership, was: “In Rotherham we do not tolerate domestic abuse and as agencies, we will consistently identify risk, work to protect victims and address offending behaviour. In communities, we will promote the value of positive relationships and identify need, in order to focus on preventing conflict and abusive behaviours. Our services will work together, be responsive, evidence based and informed by those affected. Rotherham’s approach seeks to focus on improving the quality of relationships in the borough, whilst working to protect and support those already affected by domestic abuse.”

It was noted that within the strategy the vision had been broken down into a range of key objectives, and that in order enable the development of a refreshed strategy, a review of each objective had been carried out in order to reflect on progress and to identify any continuing gaps in the strategy. The report provided details on the objectives of the strategy alongside of an analysis of the progress made in the delivery of each objective. The full Domestic Abuse Strategy was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety noted the achievements of the strategy as well as the review activity that had taken place during its implementation that would be fed into the development of the refreshed strategy. The Cabinet Member noted that a report on the commissioning of Domestic Abuse Services would be considered by Cabinet on 23 November 2020, and that members would have the opportunity to scrutinise the report and recommendations as part the pre-decision scrutiny process.

The Cabinet Member noted that the issue of Domestic Abuse, and in particular the issue of stalking and harassment had been a key area of enquiry for the Improving Lives Select Commission in recent times. The Cabinet Member advised that as a result of these discussions the Safer Rotherham Partnership had undertaken further work and additional monitoring with regard to stalking and harassment in cases of domestic abuse. The Cabinet Member advised that stalking and harassment was often a part of a broader pattern of abusive behaviours in cases of domestic abuse, and as such stalking and harassment had been included in the standard assessment framework and was also a key part of the safety planning work undertaken by statutory and commissioned services.

The Cabinet Member assured members that the protection of victims from stalking and harassment was considered in the delivery of all services that provided to support victims of domestic abuse. The Cabinet Member also noted that work had been carried out regarding the issue of stalking by people not known by the victim and advised that data had shown that up to the end of 2019, no incidents of this type of stalking and harassment had been identified in Rotherham. The Cabinet Member advised that the Safer Rotherham Partnership had also developed a clear stalking pathway in order to provide clarity in terms of the support that would be offered to any victims of stalking by strangers.

The Chair noted how the provision of Domestic Abuses services and the support provided to victims had increased and developed over the period operation of the Domestic Abuse Strategy and welcomed the activity that was currently taking place to inform the development of a refreshed strategy.

Members asked whether the activity that had taken place around stalking and harassment also included stalking and harassment activity that had been carried out online. The Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services assured members that all forms of stalking and harassment activity were investigated if reported. Members also sought assurance that those receiving reports of domestic abuse had been trained to identify incidents of abuse that had been carried out online and were asking the right questions to enable a full picture of a situation to be gathered. The Head of Community Safety noted that this had been an area highlighted for further staff development and training. Members also asked for information on the number of non-molestation orders that had been issued and were advised by the Head of Community Safety that information on this would be circulated to members of the committee.

The Cabinet Member noted the challenges surrounding referrals being made to the police and other services during the pandemic due to the related restrictions on people’s lives, and advised that these issues would continue to be a challenge into the future as services continued to be delivered online. The Cabinet Member advised that despite the current challenges surrounding the provision of services, the profile of the problem of domestic abuse and the provision of support services in Rotherham had developed greatly in recent years. The Cabinet Member noted her thanks to the former South Yorkshire Police District Commander for Rotherham, Una Jennings for the work she had carried out in improving how domestic abuse was dealt with in Rotherham.  

Members agreed with the Cabinet Member’s concerns regarding the challenges of victims of domestic abuse being referred to services during the pandemic, noting that many successful methods such as the “Ask Angela” initiative were not currently accessible due to the restrictions. Members thanked the Cabinet Member for the significant work that she had carried out in raising the profile of domestic abuse and taking the actions that had been required in order to ensure that services related to combatting domestic abuse were as effective as possible.

Members also sought assurance that services were accessible to residents from all different backgrounds, including for those who English was not their first language. The Cabinet Member assured members that services were accessible to all members of the community and that services could support all victims of domestic abuse including men, people in co-abusive relationships and people in same sex relationships.

The Chair asked for further information on proactive and preventative work around domestic abuse. The Head of Community Safety provided information on the preventative work that was being carried out where an individual’s behaviour was providing cause for concern as well information on how preventative work was part of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education curriculum in schools.

The Chair asked whether service users would be involved in the development of the refreshed Domestic Abuse Strategy. The Head of Community Safety advised that feedback had been gathered throughout the period of operation of the current strategy noted that this information would be fed into the development of the refreshed strategy.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety, the Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene and the Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services for attending the meeting and answering members’ questions.

Resolved: -

1)    That the report be noted

2)    That information on the number of non-molestation orders issued in 2020 be circulated to members of the Improving Lives Select Commission

3)    That members of the Improving Lives Select Commission are involved in the development of the new Domestic Abuse Strategy.