Agenda item

As part of its deep dive, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee is provided with a presentation on the development of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan. The Committee is asked to: -

1.   Review and note the presentation on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan, and

2.   Consider whether it wishes to make any comment or suggestions to be taken account of in the final version of the delivery plan.

The Committee considered a report set out in the agenda supplement, which provided an overview of the key areas to be included in the delivery plan of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. This report was provided to the Committee as part of its annual review of crime and disorder matters in the borough and gave the Committee the opportunity to provide comment on the delivery plan before the final version was produced.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

• Councillor Ola Kolade – Cabinet Member for Community Safety
• Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain - Metropolitan Police
• Superintendent Mitchell Carr – Metropolitan Police
• Selene Grandison – Head of Croydon Probation Delivery Unit
• Kristian Aspinall – Director of Culture & Community Safety
• Ciara Goodwin – Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence Coordinator
• Alison Kennedy – FJS Operations Manager
• Christopher Rowney – Head of Violence Reduction Network
• Liz Ostrowski - Independent Consultant

The Chair highlighted that the Committee had held three separate community meetings to help educate themselves on people’s experience of violence against women and girls in the borough and the support provided by the Council and other statutory partners. The feedback provided had helped to inform the questions to be asked at this meeting. The Chair thanked the residents, community leaders, community and voluntary organisations and especially the survivors of domestic abuse who had given their time to speak to them about their experiences. Summaries of these meetings were uploaded with the agenda for the meeting and can be found here.

The first question raised by the Committee asked about the timeline for the creation of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan. It was confirmed that based upon the current timeline the delivery plan would be signed off at the Cabinet meeting in May. However, this may be moved to June depending on the timings.

As it was confirmed that the delivery plan did not need to go to a meeting of Council for final approval, it was questioned how all Members would be able to input into the delivery plan. It was agreed that a briefing session would be arranged for all Members to raise awareness.

It was confirmed that no additional funding had been allocated in the budget for delivery, but there was existing ringfenced funding available, which would be supplemented by increased contributions from Public Health and the Housing Revenue Account. At the same time other external avenues for funding were being aggressively pursued.

It was highlighted that many of the offences committed that were classified as knife crimes happened in the home environment, such as domestic abuse and homicide. As such, it was suggested that the information presented at Safer Neighbourhood Panel meetings should differentiate between crimes that were a result of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and those that were a result of youth violence. It was agreed that this would help to raise awareness of the level of VAWG related incidents within local communities, particularly in comparison to the level of youth violence.

It was questioned how the delivery plan would empower local community and voluntary organisations working within the VAWG sector. It was advised that there would be an emphasis in the final plan on collaboration, including looking to community organisations for advice and innovation. There was also a need to ensure that available funding was directed to the right sources to ensure the best possible outcomes were achieved.

As a follow-up, it was questioned whether there would be scope to transfer funding the Council spent on VAWG related services to community groups. It was advised that a certain level of service needed to be delivered through the current provision, which was the FJS, but there would be new commissioning opportunities for additional VAWG schemes in the forthcoming year that community organisations would be able to bid for. It was suggested that the Council should be signposting community organisations towards new funding sources when they became available.

It was highlighted that funding often tended to be more readily available for more high profile issues, such as knife crime. Even though violence against women and girls was the highest level of crime against women in the borough, it was the public perception that youth crime was worse. It was acknowledged that it was a national issue that VAWG was not looked at in the same way as other more publicly visible crimes.

In response to a question about the performance of the Croydon MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference), it was advised that it was very effective and seen as a centre of best practice for others across London. The MARAC currently met weekly due to the high number of referrals it received, but it was anticipated that delivery would change going forward as it was currently being reviewed.

It was questioned how the FJS and other partners engaged with local businesses to educate them about the signs of domestic violence. It was advised that there had been outreach work with local businesses, but this had stopped during the pandemic. It was agreed that this should be revisited going forward. It was highlighted that it was important to promote early intervention initiatives and to expand the number of places people felt able to talk about domestic abuse.

It was questioned whether there was sufficient engagement with male community leaders and whether any thought had been given to engaging with Crystal Palace Football Club on a campaign to raise awareness of VAWG. It was agreed that there was a clear need to be mindful of the role of men in preventing VAWG, which would be reflected in the delivery plan. The possibility of engaging with Crystal Palace Football Club would also be explored.

It was highlighted that from the community meetings it was clear there were a lot of organisations doing good work across the borough on VAWG, but there was no central repository to bring this information together. As such it was asked whether the Council could take a lead on compiling and publicising this information. It was advised that the Council was in the process of reviewing its community safety presence online, which would include ensuring there was up to date information on VAWG groups and services available. The Committee suggested that this information should also be available in a physical format that was available for distribution in the community.

It was confirmed that the Croydon University Hospital had recruited 55 domestic abuse champions who were supported by professional domestic abuse workers in the organisation. The Council’s own Guardians Programme had 22 staff members involved, but this would be revisited as part of the delivery plan. The Committee suggested that the possibility of establishing a network of community champions should be explored as part of the delivery plan.

Regarding the work of the FJS, it was confirmed that each member of staff had a high risk caseload of 30 clients. In addition to this staff were also required to carry out assessments, meet drop-in clients and supported referrals. Only the FJS dealt with the high risk referrals from MARAC, although lower risk cases could be referred to the community and voluntary sector for further support as needed.

It was noted that VAWG came in many different forms and was not solely related to abuse in a home setting, as such it was questioned whether there was any plans to tackle public harrassment. It was advised that the Police had an action plan that came into effect from December 2023, which included a strand on safe spaces. As part of the Croydon Safer Streets operation, there was an app for people to log where they felt unsafe which allowed the Police to target hotspot areas. Additional lighting had also been installed in certain areas to help ensure people felt safer.  It was confirmed that there was a strand in the delivery plan to raise public awareness about the different forms of VAWG.

An update was requested on the DRIVE scheme that aimed to address the behaviour of perpetrators of domestic abuse. It was confirmed that the scheme had been rolled out across London for high risk perpetrators, alongside a separate programme for mid-risk offenders which aimed to work holistically with families to lower risk. The Police had also been piloting domestic abuse orders which carried a positive requirement of perpetrators. 

As a follow up, it was questioned whether staff had sufficient training to prevent perpetrators from manipulating the system at the expense of their victims. It was acknowledged that there was still some way to go to ensure staff were fully aware of the issues involved, but further education would continue to be provided. From the consultation process to inform the delivery strategy there was support for early intervention with perpetrators, providing the right level of support could be provided at the right time. It was confirmed that there would be theme on working with perpetrators in the delivery plan.

It was noted that as a national organisation it could be a challenge for the Probation Service to work with local community groups on VAWG, particularly around information sharing, but the service did work with the FJS and MARAC. It was confirmed that the consent of the perpetrator was not always needed to share information, but any decision was taken on a case by case basis depending on the risks involved. In the first instance a perpetrator would be encouraged to self-refer themselves for support.

Given the limited availability of legal aid, it was questioned whether more could be done to ensure that survivors had better access to legal representation or other advocacy services. It was advised that it was difficult to answer as it was known before legal aid was cut nationally there would be a negative impact. There were four law firms who worked with the FJS on a pro bono basis, but their capacity was limited. It was suggested that options for expanding support through other law firms should be explored, including on a pan-London basis.

From the feedback given at the meeting with victims, most had highlighted that they felt they had been subjected to racialised stereotyping in some instances which had impacted upon the support they received. It was noted that the consultation had also highlighted the need for cultural competence as people needed different types and levels of support. Therefore, cultural competence training for staff informed by local communities was vital alongside an approach that prioritised individuals being asked what support they needed rather than trying to fit them into a more generic approach. It was highlighted that the Police’s new VAWG Strategy did reflect the different experiences of different communities and how this would be addressed in front line services. 

Another issue raised from the community meetings and within the report was the need to improve the support available for children who had experienced an abusive environment. As such it was questioned what was planned for this area. It was noted in the consultation that families did not always know what services were available or were unable to afford the cost. As such, it was essential to provide support for these young people as evidence clearly indicated that it could lead to more significant issues in the longer term.

At this point the Committee concluded its questioning and agreed the following, actions, conclusions and recommendations, before moving onto the next agenda item.  The Chair also thanked all the attendees for their engagement with the questions of the Committee throughout the meeting.

Actions

Following its discussion of the report on the Delivery Plan for the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, and informed by Scrutiny’s meetings listening to victims, community groups and the public, the Committee agreed the following actions to follow-up outside of the meeting: -

1. A request was made for the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan, including accompanying community engagement report, to be share with the Committee, once available.
2. The Committee requested that any key performance indicators relating to the Family Justice Service and those for any other work streams relating to tackling violence against women and girls are shared with them.

Conclusions

Following its discussion of the report on the Delivery Plan for the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, and informed by Scrutiny’s meetings listening to victims, community groups and the public, the Committee reached the following conclusions: -

1. The Committee welcomed the development of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan for Croydon, including a supporting report prepared by an independent consultant which had been informed by community engagement.
2. The Committee welcomed confirmation that a briefing would be provided for Members on the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan.
3. The Committee welcomed confirmation that the Council looked to transfer funding, where possible, to community and voluntary sector groups through the commissioning of services and to prioritise them for any future grant funding. It was agreed that it was important to maximise the effectiveness of this approach by raising awareness amongst these organisations of any new funding opportunities becoming available.
4. There was a concern that awareness about the excellent services available on VAWG, in both the statutory and third sector, were not well known by the public, and this needs to be addressed.
5. There was concern about the cultural competence and equal treatment of victims, particularly from black and ethnic minority communities, that had also been picked up by the work of the Council’s independent consultant. This needed to be addressed.
6. In light of comments from the community meetings about the lack of awareness of the services available in the borough, the Committee welcomed confirmation there would be a review of the information provided in the community safety pages of the Council website, as this would be an opportunity to provide a centralised source outlining the support available in the borough. It was suggested that the production of hard copies of this information should also be explored for community distribution.

Recommendations

Following its discussion of the report on the Delivery Plan for the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, and informed by Scrutiny’s meetings listening to victims, community groups and the public, the Committee agreed to submit the following recommendations for the consideration of the Mayor: -

1. As the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Delivery Plan was still being developed, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee recommends that the follow areas are included in the final plan:

·         To restart the pre-pandemic workstream providing targeted engagement about the signs of violence against women and girls with local businesses, such as barber shops, hairdressers, and those businesses in the nighttime economy.

·         The provision of new Domestic Abuse Champions across the statutory partners was welcomed and as such the scope of this should be expanded to identifying and training potential community based champions.

·         The Delivery Plan needs to include a focus on children coming from families experiencing domestic abuse. Even if they are not experiencing the abuse directly, they will suffer fallout if it’s happening between others in the home.

·         There needed to be training provided for all statutory partners on the many different forms of violence against women and girls, and to improve the cultural competence of those support victims.

·         That document is created to set out the support and services available for victims of violence against women and girls, that can be distributed within local communities.

·         The Delivery Plan needs to have a proper emphasis on perpetrators and how to hold them to account.

·         There needs to be clear focus in the Delivery Plan that Violence Against Women and Girls is a ‘male problem’ and as such there needed to be increased engagement with male community leaders about the issues involved.

·         The possibility of partnering with Crystal Palace Football Club on a campaign to tackle violence against women and girls should be explored.

·         There should be key performance indicators included in the Mayor’s Business Plan Performance reports that would measure the performance of the Delivery Plan. 

The Committee also agreed to submit the following recommendation to the Metropolitan Police for their consideration: -

1. The Committee recommends that the Police review the data provided for Neighbourhood Panel meetings to ensure that it clearly outlined the number of cases linked to domestic violence and the wider umbrella of offences related to violence against women and girls.  In doing so, it would help raise community awareness of the scale of the crimes linked to violence against women and girls.