Agenda item

Purpose:  To inform the Executive of the new duty placed on local authorities as set out in the Domestic Abuse Bill, currently before Parliament, which includes a new duty for the Council to assess the need for support and prepare strategies to provide support for victims and their children [who need to reside] in relevant accommodation (also referred to as safe accommodation throughout this report).

Preparations have been undertaken in order to meet the new legal requirements and the Executive must agree how best the Council implements the new duty from April 2021 (if the Bill receives Royal Assent).

Resolved that:

·         The role of our Domestic Abuse Strategy Group is revised to enable it to become the ‘West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Board’ in order to fulfil the new requirements as set out in the Domestic Abuse Bill and accompanying statutory guidance.

·         Once received, the additional burden funding is used for two purposes; firstly to recruit administrative support within the Building Communities Together Team with responsibility for providing support to the West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Board and secondly commissioning additional services where gaps in support and safe accommodation have been identified through the required needs assessment.

This decision is not subject to call in as:

·      a delay in implementing the decision could compromise the Council's position.

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 6) concerning New Domestic Abuse and Safe Accommodation Duty. The report informed the Executive of the new duty placed on local authorities as set out in the Domestic Abuse Bill, currently before Parliament, which included a new duty for the Council to assess the need for support and to prepare strategies to provide support for victims and their children who needed to reside in relevant accommodation (referred to as safe accommodation throughout the report).

Preparations had been undertaken in order to meet new legal requirements and the Executive were asked to agree how best the Council implemented the new duty from April 2021 provided the Bill received Royal Assent. Councillor Howard Woollaston understood that the Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords yesterday. It put a duty on tier one authorities from April 1 of this year to assess the needs and to provide support to the victims of domestic abuse and their children. Domestic abuse was an important issue and he was delighted that the Government had found parliamentary time for this piece key piece of legislation. It was one of the key performance indicators that he kept a close eye on.

One of the recommendations was the formation of the West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Board which would be chaired by Andy Sharp, Executive Director. This Board would report directly to the Health and Wellbeing Board. He proposed acceptance of the recommendations set out in the report.

Councillor Lynne Doherty stated that there were 2.4 million victims of domestic abuse per year which included people of all ages and therefore she was pleased to see this Domestic Abuse Bill coming through. She had been involved in the Domestic Abuse Forum in West Berkshire and she welcomed the duty on local authorities to provide safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse.

Councillor Graham Bridgman also welcomed the prospective legislation. He noted that the Bill had not yet been passed into statute and there might therefore be some amendments required in the report in order to line up with the legislation. He therefore proposed that any changes to the Terms of Reference and everything that surrounded them should be considered in due course by the new West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Board and then the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Councillor Lee Dillon agreed with the comments made by Councillor Bridgman in that proposals made were based on a Bill, not on an Act of Parliament, and as long as it was subject to that final change then then his group would be supportive.

Councillor Carolyne Culver questioned to what extent the membership would change and how much of the overall funding figure would be spent on administration as opposed to delivery of the service. She also asked what the increase in the number of refuge places would be. Councillor Woollaston confirmed that the membership would consist of representatives from West Berkshire Council, victims and/or children of domestic abuse, Domestic Abuse Services, volunteers from Community Sector organisations, Healthcare Services, Police and Criminal Justice and Probation Services. At present in West Berkshire there were 4 units (6 bedrooms) available for refuge but Councillor Woollaston did not have the proposed number of increased refuge places and would therefore need to provide a written response to Councillor Culver.

Councillor Erik Pattenden queried the figures for domestic abuse. Nationally there had been a 7% increase in domestic abuse in April, May and June last year but that was not reflected locally and in Quarter 3 the performance report was showing a decrease. Councillor Woollaston responded that he had raised this issue as well and had been informed that it was a blip. In West Berkshire there had been little change in numbers throughout the pandemic.

RESOLVED that:

(1)     The role of the Domestic Abuse Strategy Group would be revised to enable it to become the ‘West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Board’ in order to fulfil the new requirements as set out in the Domestic Abuse Bill and accompanying statutory guidance. Appendices B and C set out the draft Terms of Reference and Procedure note.

(2)     Once received, the additional burden funding would be used for two purposes; firstly to recruit administrative support within the Building Communities Together Team with responsibility for providing support to the West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Board and secondly commissioning additional services where gaps in support and safe accommodation had been identified through the required needs assessment.

Other options considered:

(1)       Another option for consideration to enable the Council to meet the new Board requirement would be for the Homelessness Strategy Group to be revised (as suggested for the DA Strategy Group) to fulfil the role of the Domestic Abuse Board by continuing to meet quarterly but splitting into a two part meeting to take on the additional responsibilities and functions of the new Board.

(2)       This had not been recommended because although the group already had a focus on accommodation and homelessness, this new duty was passing through the Domestic Abuse Bill and the responsibility for domestic abuse currently sat with the Building Communities Together (BCT) Partnership. Therefore, it was felt that whilst this would be a viable option, the focus of domestic abuse should remain under the BCT Partnership.

(3)       There were no further options for consideration in regards to the additional burdens funding. Administration support was identified as a possible way to spend the money by the MHCLG due to how resource intensive the Board would be. It would also be required to commission services where appropriate to do so if the Needs Assessment identified any gaps.