Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Board held on 6 October 2009 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Kirsten Hearn, MPA (Chair)
• Valerie Brasse, MPA (Co-chair)
• Cindy Butts, MPA
• Anthony Wills, Standing Together
• Yeliz Osman GLA
• Elizabeth Harrison, Havens
• Marion Winterholler, Havens
• Jo Clarke, Havens
• Nicola Speechly, GOL
• Louise Smith, CPS

MPA officers

• Siobhan Coldwell
• Lynne Abrams
• Despina Petrou

Other

• Cmdr Mark Simmons, MPS TPHQ
• DCS Caroline Bates, MPS SCD2
• DCS Julian Worker, MPS TPHQ
• DCI Mark Yexley, MPS SCD2
• D. Supt Jim Sirett, MPS SCD2
• DI Jim Foley, MPS TPHQ
• DS Sharon Stratton, MPS TPHQ
• Susan Paterson, DCFD
• Vicky Kielinger, DCFD
• Stewart Low, Wandsworth Borough Commander
• DCI Mark Cranwell, Wandsworth BOCU
• DI Alan Hodges, Wandsworth BOCU
• Jenny Iliff, Wandsworth DV Coordinator
• Chris Bourlet, Merton Borough Commander
• DI Jim Wingrave, Merton BOCU
• Annalise Elliot, Merton Community Safety
• Melissa Caslake, Merton
• Sharon Tucker, Merton
• Trude Scott, CPS BCP Merton
• Jade Holvey, Lambeth DV Coordinator
• Hazel Saunders, Lambeth Victim Support
• Alison Eaton, Sussex police
• Asha Davies-Jama, Beverley Lewis House
• Sophie Davies, Victim Support London
• Sheila Williams, Older Feminists Network
• Astra Blaug, Older Feminists Network
• Caitriona Scanlan, Camden
• Emma Bell, Jewish Women’s Aid
• Foluke Ajayi, Poplar Harca Housing Association
• Kathy Billington, GoL

Apologies

• Richard Tracey, MPA Member
• Sam Evans, MPA
• Susan Doran, MPA
• Colin Fitzgerald, Respect
• Denise Marshall, Eaves
• DCI Gerry Campbell, MPS
• Margaret Jones, Victim Support Merton
• Suzan Fearon, Victim Support Wandsworth
• Nadia Inwood, Victim Support London

DSVB Open Sessions

1. Wandsworth BOCU response to domestic and sexual violence

1.1 Kirsten Hearn welcomed the London borough of Wandsworth. She described that they had 10 minutes to discuss the papers they had produced to the board which would then follow answers and questions from members. Stewart Low thanked the members for being here today and explained that tackling domestic and sexual violence is essential in his borough. He introduced the report, exploring good practice, performance outcomes, and the areas that they felt were challenging and would like to keep improving. Kirsten Hearn advised that the session was now open to question and answers. Elizabeth Harrison queried why there are no visible stats to show under 18’s for serious sexual offences. Mark Cranwell advised that there were some issues with accessing appropriate data, however in this case the commissioning brief form the MPA requested data on over 18’s only as some sexual offences on under 18’s would be investigated by SCD5, who do not present to the DSVB.

1.2 Nicola questioned if high risk victims are referred to MARAC. Alan Hodgeson stated that they have a total of 207 referrals and 26 repeat referrals. MARAC have a database with all referrals in order to monitor all referrals. Karen praised the inclusion of monitoring of drug and alcohol abuse. Karen Bailey raised the question on relationship working with drug and alcohol agencies. Alan stated they have had good working relationships and also explore mental health issues at MARAC.

1.3 Kirsten Hearn asked if there were any early findings from the one stop review and feedback in the involvement of the agencies. Alan replied overall there is positive feedback on all agencies from the surveys received. A particularly strong area identified from the feedback is the legal advice given.

1.4 Cindy Butts asked Stewart what his role as leader was and how his commitment was communicated to staff. Stewart advised that he ensures that their borough invests in the appropriate staff on the sexual offences unit. They are currently performing very well on positive action. He stated he personally oversees reviewing rape offences.

1.5 Anthony Wills asked a question on partnership structure across the borough, and how it fits into the CDRP, and queried that as Wandsworth has much of the extra support in place, my now go for SDVC accreditation? Stewart Low advised that they had not thus far been able to pursue accreditation but that they have stretch targets from the local authority in relation to performance. However he advised that the money given is subject to audit and they will speak with partners on how best to use the money. Stewart Low said that he would like to put money back into sexual and domestic violence.

Action: Wandsworth to feedback on the possibility of pursuing an SDVC within the borough.

1.6 Yeliz Osman asked whether there were plans were to appoint ISVA’s. Mark Cranwell noted that they had put in an unsuccessful application. Elizabeth Harrison asked what the borough was doing around sexual violence partnership working. Anthony Wills said that there was clear evidence that domestic violence forums work is patchy and that a replication of that might not always make sense. Elizabeth Harrison noted that Tower Hamlets have an excellent SV forum so the success differs from borough to borough. Mark Cranwell referred to the sexual violence intelligence meetings which were implemented after the Kirk Reid investigation, they have community confidence which they had an action plan for and they are currently working with various areas such as MARAC.

Action: Wandsworth to explore possibility of SV forum or integrating SV partnership work into existing forums.

Action: Wandsworth to confirm that the fortnightly sexual violence intelligence meetings continue to take place post-SCD2, and provide an update on how SCD2 is involved in this process.

1.7 Valerie Brasse stated she wanted clarity on the partnership as she wasn’t clear how well they functioned given that some CDRP information was missing in the report. She asked about how partners were brought in when looking at the domestic violence homicide reviews. Stewart Low stated that information would be provided

Action: Wandsworth to provide a brief outline of any projects stemming from the CDRP relating to domestic and/or sexual violence.

Action: Wandsworth to provide an outline of the process of engagement with local partners in undertaking the three DV homicide reviews.

1.8 Cindy Butts asked how community confidence is measured. Mark Cranwell advised that there has been a decrease in community confidence in the last 3 years and that confidence specifically on investigating sexual violence is difficult to measure – they don’t know who isn’t reporting. There are no stats and figures but this is an ongoing process. It is possible it is linked to Kirk Reid. With regards to the Kirk Reid matter the borough is engaging in local media and have apologised to the borough on this incident. The borough engaged with sex street workers, A&E, front line training advisors and in developing with the community to improve on consistency. Mark Yexley said that with regards to SCD2 they are forming a reference group and looking at areas where they are underreporting in order for then to access what they need to do to improve and receive feedback.

1.9 Karen Bailey asked what the reasons were for 50% of staff not being trained. Alan explained that this was due to the planning cycle and the natural process of staff change, but is something that will take effect in the near future. Kirsten Hearn asked about the statistics with regards to LGBT and disability and young people and the engagement that takes place with them. Mark Cranwell stated again that there had been difficulty accessing the appropriate data.
Action: Wandsworth to provide data across domestic and sexual violence in relation to disability and sexuality of victims and perpetrators to be provided as requested in the Commissioning Brief.

1.10 Lynne Abrams queried the volume of serious sexual offences which are CRI’d or no-crimed, and what process was in place to ensure this was proportionate and reasonable. Stewart Low replied that these are centrally checked but agreed that the numbers did seem high.

Action: Wandsworth to explore why 25% of serious sexual offences are no crimed or CRI’d and feedback any measures taken to review this.

1.11 Kirsten Hearn explained that the MPA will write a letter to the Borough Commander with regards to following up the actions and thanked the borough of Wandsworth for their presentation and for attending the meeting.

2. Merton Borough Operational command Unit- Response to Domestic & Sexual Violence

2.1 Kirsten Hearn welcomed Merton borough and advised that they had 10 minutes to go through their paper. Borough Commander Chris Bourlet advised that when he arrived in post Merton’s performance has not been the best but that this year all the indicators are showing a more positive performance, linked to appropriate resourcing including dedicated admin support, and strong partnership working. They are now in a position where they are comfortable with performance and can explore how to build on that.

2.2 Kirsten Hearn thanked Chris for the presentation and noted obvious improvements, however she stated she was concerned that there were no stats on disability. Jim Wingrave stated that like Wandsworth, they had difficulties accessing the data and have carried out local research which has given them the data on disability. Stats are available now which can be provided now or at a later date.

Action: Merton to provide data across domestic and sexual violence in relation to disability and sexuality of victims and perpetrators to be provided as requested in the Commissioning Brief.

2.3 Elizabeth Harrison drew attention to the data on page 5 which states a third of all suspects were under 20 years of age and 45% of victims were under 20 years of age. Chris Bourlet noted that they had seen changed in attitudes to sex and sexual assault in younger people. He states that they have an e-mail system whereby young people can voice their concerns confidentially. Feedback has so far been positive. Karen brought up the point that the borough needs to be more careful on the language they use in the reports. Her point was accepted as the borough is keen not to point blame on the victim.

Action: Merton to provide feedback on the use of the email reporting system in schools and any increased reporting of sexual exploitation through this process.

2.4 Valerie Brasse made a point that the number of DV incidents that turn into crimes is low. She also questioned why cautions represented 13% of their Sanction Detection rate for serious sexual offences? Chris Bourlet assured her that none of those cautions were for rape, but agreed that the volume warranted further exploration.

Action: Merton to provide an exploration of the volume of serious sexual offences resulting in a caution (13%) and consideration of how this might be reduced.

2.5 Valerie Brasse queried the proportion of male victims in the incidents, which was not then translated into crimes, and said that the number of DV incidents seemed high in comparison to the crimes. Anthony Wills asked about the process for accepting an incident is a crime and recording it as such. This prompted a full discussion on the process of following a 999 call through the MPS recording system. Jim Wingrave explained that a number of 999 calls are received, and recorded onto the CAD system. Since there may be repeat calls for a single incident, not all the 999 calls then end up on the reporting system, known as CRIS. Merton’s CAD to CRIS ratio is very high. However some of the callouts do not amount to substantive crimes, these are recorded as incidents. The difficulty with accessing comprehensible data was discussed again and Julian Worker agreed to take this forward.

Action: Merton to provide an examination of the unusually high proportion of males (approximately a third) in the recorded incidents of domestic violence, which is then not reflected in the proportion of males represented in figure for domestic violence crimes.

Action: Julian Worker to ensure provision of statistics.

2.6 Cindy Butts congratulated Merton on the creative and proactive work they have done, and questioned where this work is heading. Chris responded that a lot of the initiatives are at early stages so difficult to determine where they are heading. For example the Merton Against Trafficking (MAT) project is currently clearing out advertisements from windows, agencies etc on the exploitation of women, this is the next action. Next step is enforcement activity around brothels in the borough and to make the borough a harder place to operate in. Annalise said the next step is to evaluate these projects, a process which Merton completes through its partnership structures. Some, like the CSU email, are still in their early stages.

Action: Merton to provide an assessment of the success of the CSU email system pilot.

2.7 Marion Winterholler announced that she was pleased to see that Merton were proactively working with young people however; she queried a section of the report exploring access to Havens. Jim responded that there have been examples in which women had reported but then decided against attending a Haven. With the new SCD2 Sapphire team it is hoped women will be supported to access Havens by MPS officers facilitating access. Yeliz Osman noted that Merton should also ensure that they are accessing other services like Rape Crisis, as they provide support to people reporting historical abuse.

2.8 Karen Bailey asked about how the public protection group and desk will fare with a single DI having a wider remit. Jim advised that the public protection desk falls under his responsibility and is now looking at young children and how sexual abuse affect them, but that these two areas fit very neatly together. CID and other policing responsibilities will remain under another DI. Chris Bourlet added that they have a social worker who is on the public protection desk.

2.9 Melissa Caslake said that with regards to sexual violence they are looking at prevention as well as awareness. Looking at a better relationship in order to make improvements, need to ensure victims have access to outside resources. Annalise Eliot spoke about the sustainability of funding IDVAs and the resilience of the Community Safety team around DV knowledge. Their decision not to have a DV Coordinator means that four staff members have the appropriate knowledge and skills.

Action: Merton to provide an update on outcomes relating to policing (e.g. increased reporting or criminal justice outcomes) to date of the project exploring identification and awareness of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

2.10 Susan Paterson asked how Merton are engaging with women experiencing homophobic and transphobic abuse. Jim replied that Merton have a meeting with Diversity and Citizen Focus representatives to tap into the MPS resources.

Action: Merton to provide an update on how these groups are being engaged with.

2.11 Karen Bailey asked about honour based violence, the new action plan and how it has worked. Chris Bourlet explained that Merton had a high profile ‘honour’ killing and have learned from that tragedy, and that awareness has been increased. They have also undergone multi agency training and are currently tapping into information from TPHQ and are keen to ensure they are doing everything possible to keep victims safe. Kirsten Hearn thanked Merton for attending and advised that a letter will be sent to Merton with all the follow up actions.

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