Agenda item

The Scrutiny Committee invited members from various organisations to the committee to review work in Harlow and Essex on domestic abuse and sexual harassment.

The Committee welcomed to the meeting, Harlow District Commander, Paul Austin, Inspector of Essex Police Service, Natalie Rooney, Christine Howard, Strategic Manager for Community Safety Youth and Engagement, Director of Operations for Safer Places, Jayne Gentry and Operations Manager for Changing Pathways, Ranjit Sindhar.

The Committee also received a supplementary agenda with a brief written summary of Changing Pathways work (around domestic abuse and sexual harassment); the issues their organisation faced and how Harlow Council could help. The supplementary agenda also included a paper copy of the PowerPoint presentation from Essex Police.

Paul Austin and Natalie Rooney gave a presentation on local statistics for Domestic Abuse, Violence against Women and Girls and Sexual Harassment to members and Christine Howard, Jayne Gentry and Ranjit Sindhar detailed the roles of their organisations. Christine Howard is the Lead Officer on the Harlow Domestic Abuse Forum which is a priority subgroup for Safer Harlow Partnership. The group work with partners, statutory and non-statutory to raise awareness and understanding of Domestic Abuse. Jayne Gentry and Ranjit Sindhar described the work of their organisations. Safer Places provide support and safe accommodation for domestic abuse victims/survivors. Changing Pathways offer an outreach service in Harlow for high-risk victims who are supported by IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advisors) and standard and medium risk victims that are supported by Domestic Abuse Practitioners. They also offer a specialist service within the organisation for black and minoritized groups.

Questions

In response to questions by the Committee, Paul Austin and Natalie Rooney recognised that Harlow had the highest rate in Essex for cases of domestic violence and sexual offences. They  explained this could be due to many factors including deprivation, housing strain, lack of skills or employment. They believed Essex Police had the adequate resources to cope with this challenge and that they were engaging with other agencies issues to bring this number of cases down. Harlow also has its own dedicated Domestic Abuse Investigation Team which was not shared with neighbouring towns and which was making a significant impact.

They also recognised that the reporting of Domestic Violence was falling and that 50% of reported Domestic Violence crimes were not subsequently supported by victims/survivors,  as they were unwilling to give evidence. 

The police did try to go forward with convictions as ‘victimless crimes’ but this could be difficult. Support was always offered to those victims through other channels. Police also used the Achillies heel technique.

Paul Austin advised the Committee they had received data on hot spots for issues in Harlow by Essex Police which could be shared outside of the Committee.

Paul Austin also responded to concerns from members about how victims may not be reporting crime due to the recent findings of violence against women within the Police. These findings were not specifically related to Essex Police and they were working to increase public confidence, by their professional approach, by being visible and to being seen solving crimes. He mentioned that over the past 12 months Essex achieved the top improvement nationally on convictions of rape in England and Wales

In response to members questions about how Domestic Violence and crimes against men and members of the LGBTQIA+ Community were dealt with, Jayne Gentry stated they’d had training opportunities and a specialist from whom they sought advice when dealing with such cases.

Jayne Gentry responded to members questions on the improvement of contact and availability on weekends. She explained Safer Places had a 24/7 helpline available to deal with cases out of hours, but that not all organisations offered this. Out of hours cases were dealt with by the police in the first instance until they could be referred. Not all cases were straight forward, and multiple agencies may be involved. Lack of funding also played a key part. She also mentioned that there was a further ongoing six-month re-settlement programme being introduced to manage positive outcomes for Domestic Violence victims.

Changing Pathways staff kept up to date with their Equality and Diversity Training and they had dealt with cases from different communities and minorities who had different needs to give full support.

All organisations noted that the biggest task they all faced was educating the younger generations on positive and healthy relationships. This was key to preventing these kinds of crimes in the long term and work to achieve this aim had was being implemented across by all of the organisations.

The Chair then asked the representatives whether there was one thing Harlow Council could do that could help their organisations.

Paul Austin noted Harlow Council needed to publicise more the work of the Council. and the strong relationships that exist between the organisations around Harlow they work to tackle the issues of Domestic Abuse and Sexual Harassment.

Jayne Gentry noted that continued investment in young people in Harlow would benefit this work long term.

Councillor Tony Edwards thanked those who attended. Councillor Alastair Gunn advised any suggestions on recommendations regarding Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment that could be passed to Essex Police be circulated outside of the Committee.

The Committee unanimously agreed to continue the meeting as it had passed 9:30pm.