Restructure of the MPA Domestic Violence Board into a Domestic and Sexual Violence Board

Report: 5
Date: 14 January 2010
By: Chief Executive

Summary

The report introduces the MPA Domestic and Sexual Violence Board Annual Report 2009-10 and its recommendations. See Appendix A for the Annual Report.

A. Recommendation

1. That Members accept the content and recommendations from the Domestic and Sexual Violence Board Annual 2009-10 report.

B. Supporting information

Context

1. In 2006 the MPA established a Domestic Violence Board, to monitor the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) response to domestic violence, which covered 10 boroughs over two years and supported improvements in local practice as well as driving change corporately around data collection and partnership working. However it was recognised that the drivers behind both domestic and sexual abuse are closely linked and the crimes themselves do not always occur independently. Additionally, on 25 November 2008 the Mayor of London announced the development of a London Violence Against Women Strategy, which aims to prevent and reduce violence against women in the capital and have a positive impact on service provision. A National Strategy was launched in March of 2009 with similar aims. In order to appropriately ensure that the MPA is supporting the implementation of the strategies and to support partnership working locally, the board expanded to become a Domestic and Sexual Violence Board (DSVB) in April 2009.

2. Though the Board is MPA-led, it is a multi-agency board, with members from other national and pan-London organisations such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Greater London Authority, the Havens and the Greater London Domestic Violence Project in order to harness their specialist knowledge and expertise. Senior representatives from the MPS Violent Crime Directorate and Specialist Crime are also present to take forward any issues of concerns as well as support any organisational learning from examples of good practice locally.

3. This expansion in remit has also allowed for a number of positive changes for the Board, including updating the areas which the MPA invites the BOCUs to report on. As well as data on offence prevalence, training, and levels of attrition, the BOCU report will include information on frequency of contact with victims/ survivors, partnership working locally, as well as suggestions for organisational improvement based on local experience and good practice.

4. In 2009, seven Borough Operational Command Units presented their response to domestic and sexual violence locally. These were; Bexley, Greenwich, Richmond, Merton, Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark. The intention of this year’s Annual Report is to identify and collate all the issues which presented and were discussed at a number of meetings and were therefore identifiable as regional, rather than local issues. A number of these were issues which may well be relevant for any front line service delivery agency, such as ensuring consistency across boroughs. Others were clearly part of a wider shift towards ensuring that sexual violence service provision for victims is equal to that of domestic violence, though this change is still in its infancy.

5. Questionnaires are sent to Members, guests, and BOCUs and Sapphire [1] teams who have attended over the previous year. These seek feedback on the successful and less successful areas of the boards’ work and invite suggestions for improvement. These also identified ways in which the DSVB could improve, including shorter reports and Board representation from sexual violence agencies.

6. Recommendations from the Domestic and Sexual Violence Board Annual Report 2009-10 to the MPS are;

• Review the volume of rapes and serious sexual offences which have been recorded as ‘no-crime’ or ‘crime-related incidents’ against the Home Office Counting Rules to ensure compliance.
• Review the different levels of compliance across the MPS in recording domestic violence incidents and offences and support standardised compliance.
• Borough Commanders to lobby their CDRPs to include sexual violence service provision within their CDRP priorities, projects and/or local service development plans.
• Develop joint targets with CPS on both domestic and sexual violence.
• Ensure consistent levels across MPS of community engagement with local communities specifically on domestic and sexual violence, and with diverse groups.
• Explore options for safely accessing feedback from victims of domestic violence, perhaps in partnership with stakeholders.
• Disseminate the findings from their Domestic Violence homicide reviews across the MPS, and proactively identify learning opportunities from reviews across other business areas, such as Specialist Crime Directorate child protection serious case reviews, or reviews conducted into cases of rape and serious sexual offences. Disseminate also the critical success factors identified by Bexley to BOCUs.
• Ensure that data on diversity of victims and offenders is collected and appropriately recorded.

7. To ensure that these recommendations are taken forward the DSVB will hold a closed thematic session in April 2010 with Area Commanders, in which an action plan to take forward recommendations will be discussed.

C. Race and equality impact

1. No direct impact results from this paper or the Annual Report, though it is understood that additional barriers affect victims from BMER communities, such as language barriers and lack of access to public funds. Whilst it is recognised that domestic and sexual abuse affects males, both issues disproportionately impact on females as victims , particularly those issues which often have cultural implications such as so-called ‘honour’ based violence and female genital mutilation.

2. Initial research commissioned by the MPS Diversity Board showed disproportionality in the MPS response to domestic abuse across a number of diversity strands. The DSVB has commissioned a similar project for 2010 to explore disproportionality in the MPS response to sexual violence. The annual thematic sessions in 2009 have been in relation to abuse of older people and abuse of disabled people.

3. Via the Commissioning Brief, we consistently request diversity data on victims and suspects of domestic and sexual violence, and enquire about aspects of domestic and sexual violence which are culturally specific or which affects certain communities disproportionately. For example we ask for data on the number of forced marriages and cases of 'honour' based violence (HBV), as well as whether the HBV Action Plan was fit for purpose. Each borough is asked how it engages with communities, and how they build trust and confidence, particularly with 'hard to reach' communities or in relation to sensitive cultural issues.

D. Financial implications

The MPA Oversight and Review Team coordinates and administrates the DSVB and will continue to provide the human and office resources to do so. Additional costs of the DSVB in 2009 were as follows:

• Catering £1405 (approximately)
• TOTAL £1405 (Jan 2009 – Jan 2010)

E. Legal implications

None given.

F. Background papers

• MPA Domestic Violence Board Annual report 2007 – 08, CEP Committee 15.01.09

G. Contact details

Report author(s): Lynne Abrams, Policing Policy, Scrutiny and Oversight Unit, MPA

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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