MPA Domestic and Sexual Violence Board final report

Report: 6
Date: 1 September 2011
By: Chief Executive

Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the MPA Domestic and Sexual Violence Board Final Report.

A. Recommendation

That

1. Members note the report and agree the recommendations.

B. Supporting information

1. The attached report was produced to mark the completion of the MPA Domestic and Sexual Violence Boards programme of scrutiny for all 32 London boroughs. The report outlines how the DSVB began as a Domestic Violence Board in 2006, its findings and achievements from 2006 – 2011 and finally its legacy from 2011 onwards.

2. DSVB Members and practitioners attended the final DSVB meeting in July 2011 at which this report was discussed and the recommendations agreed. Those relating to the MPS were accepted by Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who was at that time the MPS lead for Violence against Women.

3. The prevalence of reported domestic and sexual violence is discussed and commented upon. The report notes that whilst domestic violence offences appear to be reducing, reporting of sexual violence offences continues to increase. Differences in volume of reporting over time are explored and some analysis of the demographics of reported domestic and sexual violence is provided.

4. The consistent findings from the DSVB meetings are explored and recommendations are made to the MPS to support continuous improvements. These are;

• Borough Commanders to review the Critical Success Factors highlighted in this report and those from previous DSVB reports and identify any areas for development within their own boroughs.
• As part of its continuous improvement programme SCD2 Sapphire Command should review serious sexual violence data for each unit (including a breakdown of reporting and sanction detections by demographic data and relationship type) to identify good practice in units and use this to ‘match’ successful units to support struggling ones.
• Borough Commanders to ensure the continued presence on every borough of Community Safety Units. Borough Commanders and SCD OCU Commanders to review and where necessary extend the resourcing of CSU and SCD2 teams in light of the volume of reporting of domestic violence (and other hate crime) and sexual violence.
• Territorial Policing (TP) Community Safety Unit to review reporting of so-called ‘honour’ based violence and forced marriage cases and support boroughs to encourage reporting.
• SCD2 (Sapphire- Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Investigation Command) to analyse in-depth the boroughs with the highest increases in reported rapes and serious sexual assaults and also those with significant decreases, and provides an update (including any necessary actions) to the MPA/Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and MPS Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Working Group.

5. The report also considered the legacy of the DSVB and the future work of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC). At the final DSVB meeting it was suggested that the Police and Crime Commissioner receive a letter when in post highlighting the recommendations for future governance of the MPS response to domestic and sexual violence. These were;

• The MOPC should retain the capacity and expertise to independently and rigorously review MPS strategy, policy, and practice across MPS units which deal in any way with domestic and sexual violence, encompassing all forms of violence against women.
•  Having reviewed the findings from the five years of reviewing operational delivery and policy development within the MPS, we would like to ensure the following continue to be rigorously pursued in terms of any future oversight and review processes of the MPS.
  • Consistency
  • Recording processes
  • Community engagement
  • Response to victims
  • Particular focus on those with vulnerabilities
  • Policy implementation
  • Prevention
  • Leadership
  • Partnership working
  • Organisational Learning
  • Training
• The MOPC through the London Crime Reduction Board, should use its capacity to oversee crime, community safety and criminal justice to conduct a whole system review of the criminal justice process for VAWG cases and identify key blockages and areas for improvement to be addressed by an action plan.
• The London Crime Reduction Board should explore existing VAWG prevention activity across London. Through partnership with boroughs, schools, health and others, identify gaps both in content and geographically and produce an action plan to fill those gaps.

6. The report also detailed some of the principles of oversight the DSVB found to be successful in its five years of practice;

• Work in partnership with experts from the voluntary sector as well as with statutory partners.
• Engage with community representatives to ensure a full picture. Borough intelligence is invaluable.
• Facilitate a dialogue with those who are to be scrutinised or reviewed. It is fair that they should have the opportunity to ask questions about the process.
• Maintain an internal focus on learning and improvement – a governance process should be as prepared to learn and develop as those it oversees.
• Make as much information as possible available to the public. We believe in a link between transparency and public trust and confidence.
• Direct accountability is a key principle guiding the proposed changes to police governance in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. We support this being applied in its most forthright sense; allowing Londoners to have ownership of and take part in the accountability process.

7. The report also detailed some of the successful outcomes the MPS had achieved as a result of the work of the DSVB. These have included;

• The creation of a pilot to access feedback from victims of domestic violence
• Inclusion of guidance on investigating sexual violence offences within the generic crime investigation Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs).
• The creation of a ‘flag on the MPS IT system to indicate cases of LGBT domestic abuse.
• Guidance disseminated to all 32 boroughs on the use of cautions in domestic violence cases.
• Supported joint working and facilitated dialogue between a number of boroughs, such as between Harrow and Islington in relation to engaging the health sector, and Haringey and Hounslow in relation to a MARAC Steering Group.
• Dip sampling of the use of cautions in Sutton and Newham, resulting in decreased use of cautions in both boroughs.
• A seminar held in South London (led by Lewisham SCD2 unit) to raise awareness of the role of Sapphire, the role of other agencies and to dispel myths. This was so successful other elder abuse seminars will now be conducted across other regions of London.

8. The report also includes a compendium of good practice within the MPS, entitled in DSVB reports as ‘critical success factors’ which outline specific and replicable ways to improve the MPS response to domestic and sexual violence. Critical success factors were also collated for previous Annual Reports and will be assembled into a single document and disseminated through the MPS.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. Equality and Diversity implications are explored in the content of the report. This includes recognition that ‘Violence against Women’ is agreed terminology defined by the United Nations and which includes types of offences such as domestic violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence, stalking and harassment, trafficking and prostitution, so-called ‘honour’ based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. It is also important to note that such crimes are also perpetrated against men and the term VAW simply reflects that they are disproportionally experienced by women.

Consideration of Met Forward

2. This area of work forms part of the Violence against Women section of the Met Partners strand.

Financial Implications

3. There are no financial implications resulting from this report.

Legal Implications

4. There are no legal implications resulting from this report.

Environmental Implications

5. There are no environmental implications resulting from this report.

Risk Implications

6. There are no risk implications directly resulting from this report. However it is accepted that domestic and sexual violence is a high risk, high volume area of business which carries significant risk both in terms of harm to the public and impact on the reputation of the MPS.

D. Background papers

• DSVB Annual Report 2009-10, January 2010 CEP Committee
• MPA/MPS Violence Against Women Annual Report, February 2011 CEP Committee

E. Contact details

Report authors: Lynne Abrams, Public Protection Policy Officer, MPA

For information contact:

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

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