Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Board held on 29 September 2010 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

DSVB Members

• Kirsten Hearn, MPA
• Valerie Brasse, MPA
• Cindy Butts, MPA
• Clive Lawton, MPA
• Louise Smith, CPS
• Colin Fitzgerald, Respect
• Yeliz Osman, GLA
• Sophie Davies, Victim Support
• Anthony Wills, Standing Together
• Marion Winterholler, Havens

MPS

• DCS Caroline Bates, MPS SCD2
• DSU Bryan Sweeting, MPS SCD2
• A/DCS Darren Williams MPS VCD
• DCI Sam Faulkner, MPS VCD
• DI Dave McNaughton
• Cmdr Simon Bray, MPS Westminster
• DCS Sue Hill, MPS Westminster
• DI Kevin Armstrong, MPS Westminster
• DCI Mick Forteath, MPS Westminster
• DI Simon Prankard, MPS SCD2 Westminster
• DCI Carl Mehta, MPS SCD2
• Det. Supt. Adrian Usher, MPS Islington
• DCI Steve Wallace, MPS Islington
• DI Yasmin Lelani, MPS Islington
• PC Michael Atkinson, MPS Islington
• DI Ruth Holloway, MPS SCD2 Islington
• DS Mark Holloway, MPS SCD2 Islington
• PC Natalie Crichton, MPS SCD2 Islington
• DCS Richard Martin, MPS SCD9 OCU Commander

MPA

• Siobhan Coldwell, MPA
• Lynne Abrams, MPA

Apologies

• Jo Clarke, Havens
• Elizabeth Harrison, Havens
• Denise Marshall, Eaves
• Yvonne Traynor, RASASC Croydon
• Davina James-Hanman, AVA
• Natalie Ker Watson, Victim Support
• Jennette Arnold, MPA
• Kit Malthouse, MPA
• DCI Mark Yexley, MPS SCD2
• DS Sharon Stratton, MPS VCD

Guests

• Jennie Roocroft, Westminster Local Authority
• Helena Stevenson, Westminster Housing
• Sadia Joseph, Womens Trust
• Anne Clark, Islington
• Keith Stanger, Islington
• Alva Bailey, Islington
• Clare Brighton, Islington
• Louise Round, Islington
• Chezerina Dhaliwal, Islington
• Anthony Nagle, Islington Children’s Social Care
• Val Lunn, Solace Womens Aid
• Nigel Chapelle, NHS
• Namita Prakash, Survivors Trust
• Feride Baycan, Imece
• Viviana Rosenkranz, Latin American Womens Aid

Session One

1. Westminster

1.1 KH welcomed Westminster and invited Cmdr Simon Bray to introduce the report. SB stated Westminster had focused resources and effort in this area over time and this was evidenced in their high arrest and sanction detection rates. DCS Sue Hill stated this good performance was consistently improving and the borough had improved their SD rates from 20 to 60 pc. Robust supervision also contributed to this. All officers on borough were provided with a case study outlining a case of a friend of SH, this personalises the issues for officers. Victim care is important on the borough so VCOP compliance is monitored carefully. Concerns were around the volume of younger victims, although because the ACPO guidance limits the MPS response to adults these may not be getting the best service.

Action: DSVB to contact ACPO lead to discuss limitations of DV definition

1.2 There has been an increase in reported sex offences and the BOCU and SCD2 will work together whenever necessary to tackle this. SH stated that like everywhere else funding was a concern for the coming months.
DSU Bryan Sweeting stated that Westminster was one of the SDC2 units for a single borough and the transition had been a smooth one.

1.3 AW referenced paragraph 2.2 in the report and said this sounded fantastic but it's not happening across the board, and asked about the proportion of sanction detections which were charges not cautions. SH said DV cases get the Rolls Royce treatment, people's safety is paramount. SH said that part of the difficulty was the differing targets between CPS and MPS. VB noted that some members were smiling because in the previous session the group had discussed Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin's claim that he would challenge those officers which claimed this impacted on performance. VB said it's obvious there is good performance here; is this because of you and your passion? SH said it's all Westminster officers, and would maintain that a caution was better than nothing, it gives officers something to build on. KH asked for reassurance that there were no repeat cautions.

Action: Westminster BOCU to confirm there have been no repeat cautions for domestic violence

1.4 VB asked about resilience around funding. Jennie Roocroft (JR) stated Safer Westminster had agreed VAWG as part of its three year priorities, As part of this all partners have been asked to contribute to the IDVA service going forward. The Local Authority has mainstreamed funding for many of the VAWG posts so services are part of core funding rather than relying on grant funded. However other project such as the sanctuary scheme remain at risk as grant funding is reduced.

1.5 VB asked about the unsupported prosecutions. Kevin Armstrong stated that they reviewed this and compared to other boroughs there is a low amount, so as a result of preparing for this process they are instructing officers to review their actions and decisions around unsupported prosecutions.

Action: Westminster BOCU to update the DSVB on any action taken to tackle the low number of unsupported prosecutions (see Lambeth follow up report).

1.6 Louise Smith (LS) said they need to make sure officers understand that the evidence base for a caution and a charge is the same, so the decision comes down to whether it's in the public interest. AW stated it is concerning that it sounds like the borough is putting the responsibility on the victim. It is the states responsibility to prosecute; there is too much focus on arrest and not enough on evidence. SH said we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. If we didn't take action and had low SD rates we'd be challenged on that, and arresting is also a way of immediately reducing the risk. Westminster resources and prioritises domestic violence and has the most officers in the CSU pro rata for cases than other boroughs. SB added that the borough has also invested in digital cameras to improve evidence collection.

1.7 AW acknowledged the passion for the subject and the CSU resources but said the decisions that concern him are those made by response officers on scene. DCI Mick Forteath stated front counter officers are receiving training to address these types of concerns; this will include DV, HBV, and other types of violence. Sardia Joseph (SJ) noted that whilst there is value in the positive action approach, victim’s wishes about going to court should be taken into account.

1.8 Cindy Butts asked about the success of the DV Forum, the lack of inclusion of DV in the control strategy and how the transient nature of the borough population impacts on the response to DV? SH responded that the control strategy is about directing resources and DV already has a dedicated resource allocated to it. SB added that one of the benefits of the developing MPS response to Violence thought its Anti-Violence Strategy is the move away from crime types and borough boundaries to a ‘Victim Offender Location Time’ model which ensures that borough responses to things like DV are less impacted by a transient working population. Helena Stevenson (HS) outlined the function of the DV Forum and its subgroups and referred to the Phoenix group, a peer support network and reference group for the network. She said the DV Forum sits between the operational activity and the borough strategies.

1.9 VB asked about the Sanction Detection rate for SCD2 and why there had been several cases that should have gone to SCD2 investigated by the BOCU and vice versa. Simon Prankard (SP) responded that for Stranger 1 offences the Sanction Detection rate was 45%. VB challenged the focus on Stranger 1 offences and asked about the overall SD rate, which was 13%. SP stated since this report was completed the overall SD rate was 20%, so the picture was improving. VB stated the DSVB would like to see this overall improvement continue.

Action: Westminster SCD2 to feedback on the continued improvement in sanction detections for all sexual offences, not just those categorised as Stranger 1s.

1.10 SP added that BOCU and SCD2 offences will sometimes be originally picked up by another unit and then may stay with them if the investigation has sufficiently developed or officers have successfully built up trust with the victims and it would be detrimental to transfer. CB added that these decisions are agreed between the BOCU and SCD2, and SCD5 where relevant. VB noted that 11% of rape victims being aged under-18 was lower than what might be expected across the MPS; the average is closer to 30%. She also noted that ethnicity of victims and offenders seemed to be skewed and asked for follow up on this.

Action: Westminster SCD2 to explore and feedback why there may be fewer rape reports from victims aged under 18 than might be expected from the MPS average,

Action: Westminster SCD2 to explore and feedback why victim ethnicity is two thirds white and perpetrator ethnicity is two thirds black.

1.11 Marion Winterholler asked about an ISVA post and borough funding for sexual violence partnership projects and services. JR confirmed there is an ISVA post, funded by the Home Office, and is attached to the supplier of the advocacy contract. This will form part of the partnership’s scoping going forward to support the IDVA contract. SH said they have had some success in engaging with heads of schools but more difficulty accessing independent schools. KH asked about the lack of LGBT data. SH stated as a result of preparing for the DSVB this has been picked up as an issue and the CSU DI has reviewed the reports and found a third of them were not properly flagged. This will now be addressed.

Action: Westminster BOCU and Westminster SCD2 to feedback on the impact of intrusive supervision around LGBT flagging.

1.12 KH thanked Westminster for their report and their involvement in the discussion and stated they would receive a letter with the actions shortly.

Session Two

2. Islington

2.1 KH welcomed Islington and invited D. Supt. Adrian Usher (AU) to introduce the report. AU stated that Borough Commander Mike Wise apologised for not being able to be there as he was giving evidence in a court case. He stated that like Westminster, Islington invested in the people responding to domestic and sexual violence. They were proud of their sexual investigation unit with the BOCU, and officers across the BOCU receive training every 3 months on DV and community safety. The borough has a permanent full-time LGBT Liaison Officer and 3 part-time LGBT LO’s. He added that despite having to identify ¼ million pounds of savings there was a commitment to ensure that community safety would not be affected. DCI Carl Mehta stated that for SCD2 Islington was brigaded with Camden borough. The unit is based in Islington which ensured good working relationships with BOCU counterparts.

2.2 VB started by congratulating the borough as they are one of the few to include sexual violence in their borough priorities and to have an ‘honour’-based violence action plan. However she said the incident to crime ratio was worrying and said that the unsupported prosecution figure was as low as it can get at zero. She asked for more information about the BOCU Sexual Offences Investigation Unit. AU said the SOIU has been reviewed by Territorial Policing and was described as a beacon of excellence.

Action: Islington BOCU to share report for dissemination. TP CSU Delivery Unit to ensure this is shared across all BOCUs.

2.3 AU stated that the incident to crime ratio seems low because officers are encouraged to report all incidents, no matter how seemingly minor, as they build up an intelligence picture and show patterns of abuse, which helps the MPS to tackle DV at the earliest stage possible. In relation to unsupported prosecutions AU stated that the borough sometimes gets permission from the CPS and then informs victim that a prosecution is going ahead, which allows them to support it without having to make the decision to prosecute. There have also been occasions where they have tried to take a prosecution forward and the CPS decided not to prosecute. It was noted that the data was missing for SCD2 and this would need to be included.

Action: Islington SCD2 to share data on unsupported prosecutions, as well as remaining missing data from report.

2.4 KH asked about the lack of LGBT data. PC Michael Atkinson stated that there had been 50 incidents, 28 crimes and 14 charges which amounts to a 50% SD rate; the highest in the MPS. This success is due to working hard to gain confirmed. Cindy Butts asked how this is achieved. MA stated this is through events at LGBT venues in the borough, advice on third party reporting and linking in with voluntary and community organisations in the borough like Galop.

Action: Islington to link in with Westminster BOCU and share good practice. Islington should also adopt and feedback on the practice in Westminster around improving recording.

2.5 Cindy Butts asked about the Whittington Hospital pilot project, and the Bronze Group. Keith Stanger said the Bronze group was created following 3 youth murders in the borough, with the aim of coordinating the response to the 20 young people most at risk of committing violence in the borough. It was dominated by young men but it was noted that there was a high proportion of cases of domestic violence in teenage relationships and domestic violence within the family, such as sons against mothers. Anne Clarke (AC) added that from this came various work stands and links into other organisations such as Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DViP) community perpetrator programmes. Val Lunn (VL) added that the young people sub-group in the forum have also addressed this issue. VB asked about how this links in with MARAC and MAPPA? AC stated there are clear referral pathways and KS added that each case has a lead agency round the table and all activity is coordinated through them to avoid multiple agencies trying to tackle one family unit. A Silver group sits above it to take on strategic issues arising from the Bronze group.

2.6 Nigel Chappell (NC) said the Whittington project is based on a model developed in Cardiff of health intervention which reduced injuries by 40% over a 7 year period. So far 7 cases have been referred to the MARAC and 60 – 70% of the victims identified hadn’t reported to the police. Whittington refer to Victim Support and Womens Aid. VB asked about the security of the project given the future financial climate. NC said this is a clear case of spending to save and this case could be put to CDRPs and GP Consortia.

Action: Outline of early evidence of cost benefit of Whittington pilot project and positive outcomes, to be fed back and MPA to share with health partners through London VAW Panel.

2.7 MW asked about ISVA provision and sexual violence funding through the partnership. Alva Bailey (AV) stated the borough have been asked to identify a 50% saving on grant funding, so commissioning will be different moving forward but the borough will ensure that IDVA/ISVA services still exist. Islington is leading for North London on the rape crisis service provision so victims of sexual violence will be better served in future. Clare Brighton added that there is also work underway with drug and alcohol services, and local sex worker projects to train existing service providers to identify DV.

2.8 Sophie Davies asked how the LGBT phone number was being promoted. AU said this is for all adults and is currently being piloted.

Action: Feedback on the success of the pilot.

2.9 KH thanked Islington for their report and their involvement in the discussion and stated they would receive a letter with the actions shortly.

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