Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report and presentation on a proposed future model for a jointly commissioned Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse service for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.  The Commission is recommended to comment on the proposals and support further engagement with the consultation exercise.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report and presentation on a proposed future model for a jointly commissioned Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse service for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. 

Councillor Russell (Deputy City Mayor with responsibility for Social Care and Anti-Poverty) explained that it was proposed that the services would be commissioned for three years on a fixed budget.  This made it one of the few Council service areas not to be subject to a reduction in budget, reflecting the importance attached to these services.

The following points were made during discussion on this:

·           Consultation on the proposed new service model would run until 24 November 2019.  This would include a series of face-to-face events, as well as an opportunity to respond on-line.  The cost of providing the information in community languages was being investigated, but some of the workshops would be held in community languages;

·           Not all of the face-to-face events being planned wold be open to the public to attend, due to the nature of the issues to be discussed.  However, officers would welcome the opportunity to visit specific groups if requested as part of the consultation process;

·           Since 2015 these services had been provided across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and there was a commitment to continue to share knowledge and services on a cross-border basis where it was effective to do so.  However, it was recognised that each area had very different needs and resources;

·           Account had been taken of national expectations in the development of the proposed service model, along with data on who was using the services and who was not;

·           A high volume of demand for services had led to some delays in receiving support under the current model;

·           The new service system model included separate provision for domestic abuse and sexual violence, which previously had been offered as a combined service;

·           Safe accommodation was often the first step towards someone feeling safe, but this needed to be flexible, due to differing needs;

·           Although there was no local authority-funded counselling provision, the Police and Crime Commissioner would continue to fund some;

·           Current services were provided through four specialist contracts by three specialist providers, who sub-contracted counselling work to other specialist providers;

·           The Council funded services related to support, not legal processes.  However, the current provider worked alongside solicitors to find people help with legal processes.  This included clinics operated in conjunction with local law firms, which provided advice and access to services;

·           Locally, approximately 20 – 25% of victims going to the Police were male, which was in line with national figures and was reflected in the structure of services provided;

·           Over 70% of people contacting the service provider UAVA (United Against Violence and Abuse) were separated from their partner and were experiencing post-separation abuse;

·           The diversity of the community in Leicester made it inappropriate to have one generic definition of black and minority ethnic service users.  Care was being taken to ensure that there was no disparity between groups and/or communities and to identify if any group and/or community needed specific provision.  This was reflected in the Equality Impact Assessment prepared as part of the service redesign process;

·           Information on the diversity of service users and the wards they were from was available and could be provided to the Commission if wished; and

·           It was hoped that people who had used the services and those who had received abuse would respond to the consultation, to advise on whether the services proposed were the right ones and would be accessible, as this would help the Council assess whether the proposed new service model was the right one.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be received and welcomed;

2)    That the Head of Community Safety and Protection be asked to send a reminder to all Councillors about the consultation on future domestic and sexual violence and abuse services in Leicester and an invitation to respond to the survey at https://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/; and

3)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to present a report to the Commission at an appropriate time on the diversity of users of domestic and sexual violence and abuse services in Leicester, including the wards and/or areas of the city service users are from and, if possible, information on identified barriers to accessing the services.

Councillor Solanki arrived at the meeting during consideration of this item