Agenda item

To receive an overview of changes made to the delivery of domestic abuse services following the implementation of lockdown arrangements in March 2020.

Chantelle Fatania, Consultant in Public Health, introduced a briefing on domestic abuse supported by members of the Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) team, Manju Lukhman (VAWG Strategic Lead), Catherine Clark (VAWG Coordinator) and Caterina Giammarresi (VAWG Coordinator).

Chantelle Fatania highlighted the following key points from the report provided in the agenda pack:

• During the first national lockdown there had been an increase in calls to the national domestic abuse helplines for victims, rising use of the Women’s Aid online support tool, an increase in calls and messages to the Respect perpetrator phone line and website and an increase in calls to the NSPCC from children experiencing domestic abuse.
• Locally, service providers and partners such as the Police also reported increased contacts compared to the previous year and there was a widespread recognition that domestic abuse victims faced additional barriers to reporting during lockdown and were less likely to be able to contact others for help.
• Since the start of the pandemic, Haringey Council had worked with partners and service providers to identify and support residents who needed help. All commissioned domestic abuse services continued to operate with some transitioning to additional online and telephone support and referrals continued to VAWG and domestic abuse providers as normal. All specialist services commissioned by Haringey Council had reported increased levels of risk, complexity and severity at the point of referrals during lockdown.
• The Independent Domestic Violence Advocacy (IDVA) service offers support to women experiencing domestic abuse who are at a high risk of serious harm or homicide. There is also a Floating Support service, provided by Solace Women’s Aid, which offers support to women experiencing domestic abuse who are at a medium and standard risk of serious harm or homicide. Both services had transitioned to operating online and by telephone.
• The IRIS service offers support to women experiencing domestic abuse who present to their GP. Their clients had reported that the lockdown had made it harder to leave or get space from their perpetrator, had caused an increase in childcare responsibilities, that perpetrators have been using the pandemic as an excuse to further control the victim and that clients were reporting a decrease in emotional wellbeing.
• The Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) is a meeting where all high-risk domestic abuse cases are discussed and actions to increase safety are agreed by multi agency partners. At the start of the first lockdown, the MARAC had to undergo a rapid transformation into a virtual format, resulting in a significant increase in workload.
• At the start of the first lockdown, the refuges provided by Solace (15 spaces) were already full. The Ministry for Housing, Local Communities and Government (MHCLG) provided additional resources such as hotel accommodation and the London Black Women’s Project was commissioned to provide 4 single BME refuge spaces, which were due to open soon. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was provided to refuges and weekly food/essential supplies packages were provided to families in refuges as part of the Council’s emergency food delivery scheme.
• The VAWG team increased communications to make clear that VAWG services were still operating in the borough and provided details of how to get support via the Haringey Domestic Abuse Helpline. Communications information also included an email address which survivors could access in case speaking on the phone could put them at risk in the home and details of the ‘55 Silent Method’ which survivors could use in the event they needed to phone the police but were unable to speak. Communications information was sent out with the food parcels being delivered to thousands of homes across the borough.
• Other measures have included a two-hour Coordinated Community Response (CCR) webinar on recognising the signs of abuse which had been delivered to over 130 local practitioners and community members and the organisation of a VAWG BAME Community Forum to discuss barriers and solutions facing BAME women experiencing VAWG. 

The Panel welcomed the detailed report that had been provided and asked questions to the officers:

• Cllr Connor noted that on page 33 of the agenda pack it was stated that the total number of substantive offences from March to September 2020 was 4,361 in the Met Police North area and asked whether it has been possible to reduce the risk for women and girls in these situations. Catherine Giammarresi said that this figure came from Police data but said that a high level of Police reports may also reflect that the messaging that encourages people to report incidents was working. Manju Lukhman added that contacts to local services had been going up steadily but not drastically and that there was a piece of work to be done to reach other people who want to report but have not done so. A new commissioning response was planned to try to remove some of those barriers.
• Cllr Brabazon asked about the current situation with court proceedings. Catherine Clark confirmed that some delays to cases were occurring. She added that there are other options available to victims of domestic abuse that don’t involve going through a criminal court, such as civil orders which the IDVA service provides assistance to apply for. The Police also has powers that are being used including Domestic Violence Prevention Orders that don’t require extensive court involvement. Manju Lukhman added that there were currently significant delays in the Family Courts which had implications for domestic abuse cases, especially where children are involved.
• Cllr Brabazon asked about the implications of children having been out of schools. Manju Lukhman said that schools were a significant gap in referrals during lockdown. However, now that schools had reopened, a project called Operation Encompass was being used where schools are notified of Police cases. The Council had also commissioned a training programme for schools called POW (Protecting Our Women). Caterina Giammarresi added that, even before the lockdown, schools had been a priority for the VAWG team with a strand of work involving engaging with young people. The POW programme go into schools to provide direct one-to-one support and areas of concern can be fed back to the VAWG team.
• Cllr Stone asked the new duties and funding that would come with the Domestic Abuse Bill currently going through Parliament as outlined in the report. Manju Lukhman said that the Second Reading of the Bill was still being awaited and the £50,000 of funding expected for Haringey, while useful, still fell short of what was needed given the shortage of refuge spaces in the Borough.
• Cllr da Costa asked about the Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DVIP) which, according to the report, ended on 31^st October 2020 with interim arrangements put in place. Manju Lukhman explained that this related to a perpetrator project and she was confident that the service would be just as effective under the interim arrangements. A funding bid had recently been made with another partner to continue the project with a new model that would improve the service by including facilitators with language skills in key communities such as Turkish. The outcome of the funding bid was expected to be known in December.
• Cllr da Costa asked about support for the LGBT+ community as part of the team’s work. Manju Lukhman said that the team works closely with agencies that engage with this community. Future options include some joint commissioning work with other boroughs and also some community work to remove barriers and ensure that the community feels confident to approach services. This would be built into the VAWG commissioning strategy with new contracts expected to start in April 2022.
• Asked by Cllr Connor about engagement with community groups, Manju Lukhman said that there was likely to be unreported domestic abuse within some communities so it would be important to work with them to remove barriers to reporting. Caterina Giammarresi added that recommendations had emerged from the VAWG BAME forum, some of which were about community capacity building and peer to peer support. These measures would help people to feel more comfortable to make disclosures through individuals from within their community rather than directly to the Police or other local statutory services.
• Cllr Connor expressed concern about the shortage of refuge spaces and suggested that the Panel take this matter up with the Cabinet Member. Manju Lukhman said that a new building for refuge space had been secured but capital funding would be required and it was likely to be around three years before the spaces would be available. Additional capacity would therefore be required in the meantime.