Agenda item

Invitees -

-       Mary Ryan - Head of Corporate Safeguarding/Head of Adult Services

-       Janice Dent - Regional VAWDASV Lead

-       Ann Hamlet - Head of Safeguarding Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB)

The Head of Corporate Safeguarding introduced the Regional VAWDASV Lead and the Chair of the Strategic Delivery Board/Head of Safeguarding for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB). The Act places a duty on the Local Authorities to report on progress made each financial year. The Head of Safeguarding (ABUHB) gave the Committee a brief overview on the Strategic Delivery Group and progress made on the work plan. Members were informed that the partners worked well together with good attendance despite the pandemic.

The Regional Lead discussed the three stages of the National Training Framework which has been developed by the Welsh Government, which includes the Ask and Act project. Many individuals in different organisations as front facing employees are planned to have training to ask specific questions to suspected victims in order to help them. This work was first used prior to the pandemic but unfortunately it was suspended due to the situation and it moved to e-learning. 2020-21 was an unprecedented year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this resulted in reduced ability of victims and perpetrators to seek support and necessitated a change in practice for all partner organisations. The Head of Corporate Safeguarding advised this is why it is so important to get back to face to face sessions to raise awareness of domestic violence.

The officers mentioned the help of Safeguarding champions who amalgamated the role to take on board that work so individuals in service area know that if they see something they are uncomfortable with; there is an open dialogue to ensure that staff are available to have these conversations.

The Committee asked the following:

·         Members thanked the officers for their comprehensive report. It was recognised that working from home in that service area must have been challenging. Concerns were expressed with domestic violence cases on the time from the point of contact, to escalations to have outcomes. Do the team have any figures on positive outcomes? With regard to schools, the team did not gain as much access to the pupils to inform them of domestic violence issues due to the pandemic. Members asked if the pupils will be given presentations in school about domestic violence. The Chair of the Committee added to this string of questions by asking the officers to confirm if the Councillors can do anything to assist.

The Head of Safeguarding assured the Council that they have been running the operation and compass project where if Police are called to a house for domestic abuse reports; they obtain the children’s school details and will send very brief details but will be aware that something happened that night. From the first lockdown the team explained they were concerned on how they would be able to operate that and from a welfare perspective, but they got picked up very quickly as they still have the communication – they know that domestic abuse happened but they do not know fully about it. The ones reported to the police that have the full attention, the team did deal with those. The VAWDASV Lead noted the White Ribbon Campaign which is most specifically for men to stand up against violence against women. For 2021, they did a challenge to raise awareness and used the operation and compass in 30. This was due to the vast amount of children impacted by Covid isolation; reducing the access to safe adults.

The VAWDASV Lead also noted that they have developed a presentation to share throughout the period with children and young people in local schools to get them involved. Committee was informed that Wales is concentrating on spectrum and on coercive control. Local schools have been given presentations on this and spectrum has been funded by the Welsh Government to fund sessions in schools to discuss healthy relationships. There are year 9 ambassadors for the White Ribbon Campaign alongside Gwent Police. It was stressed that the importance of everyone standing up together against violence and men challenging other men is a big focus to raise awareness. To stop the violence; the team noted it is about them challenging and changing the culture. The VAWSASV Lead also noted Baroness Wilcox raising questions about White Ribbon Campaign, naming Police South Wales and the Council when asking Home Office if that is something they could support rolling across all national police forces.

·         A Member raised four points;

a)    Queried if Councillors could be trained via the online system as staff were;

b)    Mentioned that they would appreciate to see a list of partners that the service team work with;

c)    Expressed concern that during the pandemic, women cannot ring in confidence as the perpetrator could be living in the same house;

d)    Lastly asked what challenges have been left by the impact of Covid and how have the partners dealt with the situation to help victims safely report a concern.

In response, Head of Safeguarding confirmed that the e-learning modules are mandatory and accessible for all even if a Member. It was agreed the officer will follow that up to ensure the Member has log in details. There has been a plethora of ideas such as materials from phones, secret lip balms to make contact and different websites to contact via email and text through various channels.

The VAWDASV Lead referred to the report that not long after lockdown, there was a huge increased number of calls to the England helpline. They did not see that in Wales, they saw a drop in referrals to police and local services which showed lack of availability but they worked with the Welsh Government to push messages to the public so they could access support. The Welsh Government clarified that if individuals are a victim of domestic abuse; they were allowed to leave the house during isolation. Local chemists, GPs, superstores were trained with messages on receipts to avoid phone calls in a way to get messages to the police. It was noted they saw the referrals rise as a result.

The officer reassured Members they are working with communities as much as possible. They have recently started a campaign with hair and beauty salons in Gwent where work is being done to help those seek support. Posters will be used and online training to ensure it’s a safe place for victims to get support.

The Head of Safeguarding (ABUHB) noted the IRIS project which is similar to the Ask and Act work but supported within the practices to provide people with opportunities to talk. GPs are busy but they have the time to identify something so the onsite referral system has had positive feedback as they’ve been able to pick up on things going on by asking a few questions. The team want passionate ambassadors to raise the profile so people are often thinking about it. It embeds in with these people and some people do not even recognise they are victims of Domestic Abuse.The Head of Safeguarding (NCC) noted they undertake work with the perpetrators also; their work is not just recognising the victims of abuse but also working with the pre-dominantly make perpetrators so they can change and stop them causing the abuse.

·         A Member asked if training could be provided to school governors so they can be aware of the terminology used.

The Head of Safeguarding (NCC) confirmed that all school governors have safeguarding training and when schools are to be compass schools. If an incident occurred in the night, the school would be made aware of that briefly. The officer ensured they make sure that happens with speaking with Nicole from their service team.

·         A Committee Member queried if television media has been used to raise awareness of domestic abuse against women.

The VAWSDAV Lead Officer confirmed that they do not pay for adverts but the Welsh Government and Central Government pay for those and run numerous campaigns via the media. The VAWSDAV Lead mentioned two main campaigns because of the amount of media coverage over the pandemic has been good in one way and not so good in another. They received a lot of funding for communities/services but with Women’s Aid, working with journalists as well on how they report things and the style of language that they use. It was noted the storylines of soap operas which have been mainstream about stalking, harassment and abuse.

·         A Committee Member referred to the nature and culture of sports teams mentioned in the report and queried if there are partnerships with those.

The Head of Safeguarding (NCC) noted that there is a wider recourse in safeguarding and the Safeguarding Board briefs third party sector partners of what they do. The VAWSDAV Lead meet with sporting organisations to discuss what they can do to help. The Lead noted that they have carried out awareness raising work, such as with Caerphilly sport coaches and attended Sports Wales Regional Meeting last recently. It was noted there is a big focus on safeguarding but not on the domestic abuse, so looking to work with coaches to build into the programme.

·         A Member noted how important it is for organisations such as Wales Rugby Union to raise awareness. Comment was made that rugby clubs etc. could put up literature in the buildings. As domestic abuse is learned behaviour, it could help challenge it.

The Head of Safeguarding (NCC) agreed and stated that early discussions with children are helpful as they need to know that domestic abuse is not and should not be the norm. It is more about prevention and having a safe space they can go to.

·         The Chair asked officers how training had been affected by the pandemic and if it has had to be done differently as a result. The Chair also queried if the support for the teams has been affected as they were working right through the pandemic.

The VAWSDAV Lead confirmed that the training changed from face to face to online learning. The difficult was on disclosure of what happened at the incident. It was not so simple to move work online due to safety concerns of victims living with the perpetrator. However it was noted there has been much more engagement since online and they have become more text savvy.

Members were informed that the staff work with partners early on to deal with vicarious trauma and they look at well-being plans which are funded by Welsh Government with counselling for staff members. They have also recently rolled out vicarious trauma training. It was also noted that there was a concern in Covid for individuals working at home while being talked to aggressively as part of the job but would not want that happening in their home so the partners ensured that there would be space for people to work in offices to focus there.

The VAWSDAV Lead mentioned there is a crisis across all of the agencies and for the first time ever this year they have received more funding from the Government. Due to the crisis, staff members are working more hours. The Head of Safeguarding (NCC) added that no one can do the work of raising awareness on their own and that they need to work proactively as partners i.e. council and third sector parties.

The Committee expressed their sincere thanks to the officers for their work and for taking the time to present to the Committee. The Chair reassured the partners that they were welcome to contact the Committee direct if there is anything they can help with.

Conclusions

The Committee noted the executive report and the progress of the key strategic priority work plans for VAWDASV within the corporate arrangements for the whole Council. The Committee wished make the following comments:

·         The Committee wished to applaud the team and officers on their fantastic work and perseverance for maintaining decorum as it must be a huge challenge working in that field of work. The Chair of the Committee advised that the team can have Member’s direct email addresses in the case  that the partnership would like for Members to champion anything that the partnership are doing.

·         The Committee commented that they would be keen to circulate any literature in offices, sports clubs and social media in order to raise awareness. The Scrutiny Adviser can arrange with the Regional VAWDASV Lead to acquire the materials. The Committee would also like for a delivery of White Ribbons if possible.

** From the 20^th January 2022 committee meeting, the Committee wished to amend the comments made to mention the work that Councillor Suller has done to raise awareness by circulating literature and posters the various venues in Newport throughout December 2021 and January 2022, and wished to note their gratitude. **

·         The Committee discussed the current work programmes taking place with universities via Barnardos and the Phoenix Project. Members suggested that it should be considered to be rolled out to sports clubs and schools. Once the partners have the results from the research of these programmes, please could they be shared with the Committee

·         If the partnership has not already, the Committee suggested that we could link in with GAVO as a local third party sector as an organisational hub for training, as they have a wide outreach.

·         The Committee also requested for the Scrutiny Adviser to liaise with the Head of Safeguarding to obtain the log in details for the online mandatory training for Members. This would help them promote it to their colleagues.

·         Members made comment about the inclusion of cases studies in the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children report in last month’s committee meeting, and said it interesting to read about the different situations and issues why children had to leave where they are from, as well as building build a bigger picture to scrutinise. Members then wondered if it would be possible in next year’s report could include some case studies so the Committee can see how the partners supported these people.