Agenda item

Attendees:

-       Mary Ryan – Safeguarding Manager

-       Rebecca Haycock – Manager of the Gwent Regional VAWDASV Team

-       Ann Hamlet – Lead Safeguarding Officer for Health (Head of Safeguarding Services ABUHB)

-       Robert Hartshorn – VAWDASV Chair of the Regional Partnership Board

The Safeguarding Manager presented an overview of how the six strategic priorities within the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) Strategy were being delivered in Newport, followed by the Attendees presenting upon the strategic priorities that aligned with their specific areas of expertise. 

The Committee asked the following questions;

·         A Member expressed concern that the VAWDASV training had only been delivered to 14% of school staff, whom they believed should have been a priority and asked what happened if school staff saw something that concerned them.

The Safeguarding Manager explained that the training to date had been successful and an unforeseen, but positive, result was a quarter of recipients had disclosed incidence of domestic violence. The set of national indicators provided a percentage of the number of people trained but did not highlight the quality of the training provided. With regard to school staff, the ‘Keeping Learning Safe’ document which was part of the national learner framework was used to ensure teachers were aware of their duty of care for the young people they worked with.

The Safeguarding Manager informed the Committee that the Local Authority’s Safeguarding Champions had been launched the previous month. These individuals would be taking the training back to their own team meetings. The Champions were nominated by their peers, or volunteered during Safeguarding week. The Champions would be receiving full training in the summer, from which they would be able to support people in their teams to seek and reach out for support needed.

There were a number of places where an individual or someone with concerns for the welfare of another could seek support or make a referral. These included a national helpline and a number of Third Sector organisations, including Newport Women’s Aid and the Newport City Council Safeguarding Hub. The Police could be contacted for high risk cases. 

The Safeguarding Manager explained that the e-learning Training would be rolled out to all Members over the summer of 2019. The upskilling of people in the community was also on the agenda, the hope would have been that by doing this there would have been more people to ask the right questions and to then appropriately deal with the information. 

The Committee agreed that all Members would benefit from training.

·         A Member asked about the methods of communication used by the VAWDASV team, particularly on social media and what joint working opportunities the team had pursued?

The Attendees explained that the Act was still relatively new and that they would focus on public sector organisations first, then private organisations and then the Third Sector. The VAWDASV team had been researching the options for communicating with the public and other professionals and the reach and impact of the options.

·         Members and Attendees discussed how the Act aims to provide a strategic focus to prevention, protection and support for all individuals affected by such violence and abuse. These individuals include male, female and transgender people. The VAWDASV team worked with victims but also perpetrators to establish why the violence happened and what can be done to prevent it happening in the future. 

·         A Member questioned the RAG status as there was no explanation of what constitutes Red Amber or Green status. 

The Committee were advised Welsh Government was consulting on national indicators and the information needed to set benchmarks and targets for each of the measures and actions would stem from this. Currently, Red Actions and Measures were considered to be really concerning, those that were Amber were problems that could be addressed. The Actions and Measures were reviewed at each quarterly board meeting and things changed relatively quickly.

The Committee that an action plan be developed indicating how each Red and Amber measures would be moved to the Green category after the Welsh Government consultation finishes and the results are published.

·         The Committee enquired as to what the Attendees meant when they said the term mandatory training and what was its aim. The Attendees explained that the training was to be used to raise awareness and how to best act if an issue was brought to your attention or you had concerns. The statutory responsibly relating to training was two-fold, the first was the e-learning package which was used to raise awareness of the VAWDASV Act. In this context mandatory means that all staff and volunteers must complete the e-learning training. The second statutory aspect was the ‘ask and act’ training, which takes place over a morning and the purpose is much more role specific to the individuals undertaking the course. Both training packages were suited to the local needs of Newport.

·         The Members enquired whether resources would be made available to meet an increase in the number of referrals increased drastically from a large number of people becoming more aware. The Members continued to state that it would not have been fair if the quality of service declined when the people needed it the most.

The Safeguarding Manager explained that the number of referrals they received was closely monitored and that additional resources would need to be sourced if there was a demand. The nature of the domestic violence dictated what additional resources would be required to provide the service.

There were four domestic homicides in Newport, which was the highest of any Local Authority in Wales. Domestic homicides in Gwent were not monitored by any service until this board was established. 

·         The Committee queried the factors causing the rise in domestic violence. The Attendees stated that the increase was related to young people. Government research had found that by the age of 21, what you have experienced will show in your behavioural traits. Domestic Violence was becoming more visible and was considered normal by some people.

The team had worked in partnership with a Merthyr Tydfil based project that taught young people about healthy relationships. The Attendees went onto clarify that while domestic violence was increasing with young people it is an issue in all cultures and all economic backgrounds.

·         The Members asked if there was anything that they could have been doing in the Community.

The Attendees explained that it was being looked at across Gwent and a lot of work was involved in preparing people to have those discussions with people who they thought might be at risk. There was a campaign that increased awareness of male violence against women which was being rolled out across Gwent. A whole school approach was also something that the Attendees believed would enable young people to obtain the support needed.

·         The Members asked about the sustainability of funding the service in Gwent, as the Members felt that losing the services was not an option. The Attendees explained that they asked the same question to the Welsh Government at each Board meeting and would continue to ask. 

·         The Committee wished to know what the key issues face by the team from taking the Act forward, what level of Officers do the board engage with and do they see the regional partnership working? The Attendees explained that resources were needed and the ever changing culture can sometimes mean that the work being complete just missed the mark. Additional resources would also help with the complexity of regional working, as sometimes the work being done does not fit the key themes identified by the five local authorities. The Board works with Head of Service and Directors across the five local authorities and the regional partnership was working to deliver the Act.

·         Members discussed the Council’s Corporate Safeguarding responsibility, and noted that a report was being presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee next month on this matter. The Committee noted the links between Corporate Safeguarding and reducing domestic abuse as one component of this Corporate responsibility. 

Conclusions

The Committee made the following comments and recommendations:

·         The Committee welcomed the update report upon delivering the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Strategy (VAWDASV) in Newport, which had many positives including the Home Office Recognition of the VAWDASV pilot in the Gwent Area.

·         The Committee requested an update on the progress made to be brought back to the Committee in one years’ time and that the report includes a clear ambition, action plans with clearly explained RAG status and more data to be included e.g. on prosecutions, etc.

·         Further information on the Action Plan measures and targets to be provided to the Committee when available and an explanation of the RAG categorisation targets.

·         The Committee expressed concern that sustainable funding was required otherwise limited resources could inhibit the work able to be done and the need to be mindful of the pressure of increasing work against limited funding resulting in only being able to light touch on a wide range of areas.

·         The Committee agreed that all Members would benefit from VAWDASV Training.