Agenda and minutes

To note that Mrs. D. Taylor CC remains the Cabinet Lead Member for Community Safety at Leicestershire County Council and therefore according to the Terms of Reference she is appointed Chair of the Leicestershire Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board for the 2022/23 year.

RESOLVED:

That it be noted that Mrs. D. Taylor CC remains the Cabinet Lead Member for Community Safety at Leicestershire County Council and therefore according to the Terms of Reference she is appointed Chair of the Leicestershire Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board for the 2022/23 year.

The Terms of Reference of the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board state that the Vice Chair of the Board will be appointed at the first meeting of every municipal year. Nominations will be sought at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That Mr. N. Bannister CC (Combined Fire Authority) be appointed Vice Chairman until the first meeting of the Board in the 2023/24 municipal year.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the Board and the list of apologies was noted.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2022 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record, subject to an amendment to minute no. 3: Appointment of Vice-Chairman to state that Mr. N. Bannister CC be appointed Vice Chairman until the first meeting of the Board in the 2022/23 municipal year.

A presentation will be given by Lillie Green, Healthy Homes Officer, Public Health, Leicestershire County Council.

The Board received a presentation from Lillie Green, Healthy Homes Officer, Public Health, Leicestershire County Council regarding the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 5’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)              The Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance focused on Housing Associations. Private sector housing providers would not be accredited for the scheme.

(ii)             The Pan-London Housing Reciprocal was a scheme that meant people with social tenancies who were at serious risk of harm could access another social tenancy in a different borough in London and remain safe. The scheme worked as a ‘central pot’ rather than a direct swap between two applicants. The scheme had been found to be successful and it prevented people remaining in refuge accommodation for long periods of time. It was intended to run a similar scheme in Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester City was not included). Currently Rutland was not part of the Housing Reciprocal but they were welcome to join.

(iii)            Those people using the Housing Alliance would receive support to ensure that they were still able to travel to their place of work and that their children could attend school.

(iv)           Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service offered to carry out safety checks of properties and this needed to be better publicised so that all Districts were aware.

(v)             The availability of housing stock was a challenge at the current time for many reasons including that guests from Ukraine also required housing.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the presentation be noted;

(b)        That a further update regarding the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance be provided at the next meeting of the Board.

Gurjit Samra-Rai, Service Manager (Safer Communities), Leicestershire County Council will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Gurjit Samra-Rai, Temporary Head of Service – Safer Communities and Resettlement, Leicestershire County Council, which set out the spend plan for the Domestic Abuse Act funding. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report Gurjit Samra-Rai emphasised that the funding for Year 1 and Year 2 had now been joined up. All contracts had been sent out and although the funding had not gone out at the end of the financial year it was now being released. The Housing Commissioning post was originally intended to be funded in year 1 but had now been moved to year 2.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) had an online portal where localities were expected to provide feedback on how the Domestic Abuse Act funding was being used. DLUHC had confirmed that they were happy with the Leicestershire proposals so far. A further update was to be provided to DLUHC by 30 June 2022. It was expected that DLUHC would be carrying out an evaluation of how the funding had been implemented in year 1 and sharing good practice.

(ii)         With regards to concerns that male victims of Domestic Abuse were not coming forward for support, a communications campaign was taking place to publicise the support that was available using social media and leaflets. Victims and survivors were being consulted on how they thought the service could be better publicised. It was suggested that advertising on buses and bin lorries could be used to get messages across.  It was also important to communicate to victims of Domestic Abuse how the various services linked together and that there was a whole system in place not just isolated services.

(iii)       In response to a question regarding the Specialist DA Support roles, whether they were part time and whether pensions were included in the costs, Gurjit Samra-Rai agreed to provide further details after the meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the Domestic Abuse Act Spend Plan be noted;

(b)        That a further report be brought to the next meeting of the Board regarding the Spend Plan and the success of the recruitment processes.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Friday 23 September 2022 at 9.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on 23 September 2022 at 9.00am.