Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director (Resident Services & Climate Change)

The ASB & Community Safety Manager presented a report outlining the revision of the Domestic Abuse policy which provides guidance on how the Council will deal with and respond to DA reports it receives through a framework of prevention, support and enforcement. The draft DA Policy reflects changes to the previous policy in the review of legislation and regulatory standards.

During the discussion the following points were raised:

·         A Member asked if residents who are presenting to us are being referred to the Herts Domestic Abuse helpline and if not it is something that should be done.

·         The ASB & Community Safety Manager responded it was something that is done as part of the housing obligations when people present as homeless but would be happy to check through the policy to ensure it is mentioned and come back to members to confirm. He also mentioned that there is a lot of information on the website that helps staff as well as residents before they approach and after they’ve approached also.

Action Check policy with regard to referring people on to Herts Domestic Abuse Helpline.

·         A Member explained about a difficult DA case and they had reached out to CAB and the first thing they asked was if they were male or female as the level of support will depend on their gender. In the equalities section there is no bias within what is provided. The member was seeking assurance that this is the situation because there are clearly some men who are in that situation and need every bit of support as women.

·         The ASB & Community Safety Manager reassured Members that this doesn’t play into the level of service that is offered, that question is asked at all.

·         A Member asked if it restricts the number of choices for referring people, for example for one gender there can be 10 choices but for another gender it might only be two or three.

·         The ASB & Community Safety Manager replied what the borough so far has not seen a lot of males reporting DA and, should a trend in this area rise significantly, it will be looked at to try and commission specific services to support these individuals who wish to flee violence.

·         A Member commented that one issue a man can face if they suffer from DA, is there are very few places they can go if they have children and in some cases the man has to go somewhere on their own. There is a need to have a refuge for men with children. 

·         There was discussion around the name of the policy which sounds cold and that there should be a strap line that says something in the lines of it helping and supporting people.  It was suggested that the policy could be called ‘The Domestic Abuse Support Policy’.

RESOLVED: unanimous

a)    The Panel noted the report as set out .

b)    The panel agreed that the decision to approve the policy be taken by the executive member using their delegated powers subject to any feedback from the resident’s panel.