The Committee is asked to consider the updates on progress against recommendations made by the Domestic Abuse Review Group and to agree any recommendations to Cabinet arising.

Cllr Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for a Safer, Healthy Oxford and Liz Jones, ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead have been invited to present this item.

Cllr Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for a Safer, Healthy Oxford introduced the report, which provided an update on the recommendations made by the Committee. In particular, she highlighted that:

·       Most of the recommendations had been agreed by Cabinet and a substantial number were already completed.

·       The Council was working towards Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) Accreditation which would take a year or two to achieve and a number of the Committee’s recommendations would be completed as part of that process.

·       The Council had been awarded funding for two Domestic Abuse Housing Link Workers who would support complex domestic abuse cases through the housing pathway.

Liz Jones, ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead highlighted a number of points, including:

·       That the Council was taking a whole Council approach to Domestic Abuse support.

·       That the DAHA Accreditation sought to delve into every aspect of work the Council does with victims and perpetrators of Domestic Abuse, which was why the process was lengthy.

·       That, in relation to recommendation 3 (relating to Domestic Abuse perpetrator programmes) there was a perpetrator programme through Oxfordshire County Council Children’s Social Care which was piloting a whole family approach to supporting Domestic Abuse across the county.

·       That it was hoped extended support for perpetrators to address their behaviour would be achieved through the revised service specification for the tender for Domestic Abuse services in Oxfordshire.

·       That housing was a key issue for victims wanting to flee Domestic Abuse. The Council was bound by legislation but committed to taking a needs-based approach.

·       That the Council was committed to driving the Domestic Abuse support agenda forward, including work to better embed support for children.

Cllr Tidball joined the meeting.

The Scrutiny Officer advised that, given the next Cabinet meeting was due to take place tomorrow, there would not be enough time to produce formal written recommendations for consideration at that meeting. He said that the Committee should consider submitting any recommendations informally via the Cabinet Member.

The Committee raised a number of points in relation to the update report, including:

·       Recommendation 14 – in response to a query about why this recommendation was not agreed by Cabinet, the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead confirmed that the Council was bound by legislation which prevented this recommendation being agreed.

·       Recommendation 15 – responding to questions, the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead said she felt the Council tenancy clauses regarding Domestic Abuse were strong enough, but said they could be strengthened further. The Committee asked if the clauses in Council tenancy agreements could be revisited. Cllr Upton added that she thought the recommendation was not agreed as the Council had no power to require private landlords to insert specific clauses into their tenancy agreements.

Cllr Djafari-Marbini joined the meeting.

·       Domestic Abuse training for officers – the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead said that the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a lower turnout at officer training, but that additional sessions would be organised and the relevant officers would be mandated to attend. She added that this training could not be mandated for all officers across the Council, but provided reassurance that Managers were pushing attendance with relevant officers.

·       Explanations where recommendations were not agreed – the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead informed the Committee that she had removed explanations where recommendations were not agreed from the report to make it easier to read.

·       Recommendation 21 – the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead confirmed that opportunities for ESOL classes were perceived as a bigger problem than in reality and that was why recommendation 21 was only agreed in part. She confirmed that she would be doing more work in this area in due course.

The Chair thanked Cllr Upton and the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead for attending to present the report.

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

Cllr Upton and the ASBIT Manager and Domestic Abuse Lead left the meeting and did not return.