Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services

Jane Lewis, Community Safety Strategy and Commissioning Manager, presented the report regarding approval of domestic violence and abuse commissioned services.  She highlighted the following information:

a)  legacy approval issues had come to light relating to a number of domestic and sexual violence and abuse commissioned services and the report sought to ensure that expenditure on these services had the appropriate approval;

b)  these services are included in the Nottingham City Council and Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Partnership Agreement, under which the Council receives funding and commissions domestic violence and abuse services on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership;

c)  there were two elements to the approval required: retrospective approval for expenditure on delivered services; and approval for future spend on a number of services until the new commissioning framework is in place.

During discussion and in response to questions from Committee members the following points were made:

d)  the fragmented nature of funding for domestic and sexual violence and abuse services can be very confusing;

e)  while the Council hasn’t increased funding into domestic violence services since 2012 it still compares well to other core cities.  This is not something that the Council would want to diminish.

Resolved to

(1)  approve retrospectively the expenditure incurred on the delivery of the domestic violence and abuse services, at a cost of £1,131,520, as detailed in appendix 1, and in line with the Partnership Agreement, until the new Commissioning Framework is in place;

(2)  approve expenditure on the continued delivery of domestic violence and abuse services, at a cost of £863,563, as detailed in appendix 1, in line with the Partnership Agreement until a new Commissioning framework is in place;

(3)  delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Communities, Environment and Resident Services to sign off contracts and variations to deliver the services, in line with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and the Council’s Partnership Agreement with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Reasons for recommendations

To meet the requirements of the Partnership Agreement signed between the Council and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to deliver domestic and sexual violence and abuse (DSVA) services.  DSVA reporting has increased in Nottingham to the statutory sector and the voluntary and community sector in a slow trajectory since 2017/18 with the Police receiving 7,800 reports of domestic violence and abuse, in 2021/22 reports are running at 8,457 with a dip during covid down to 4,069 reports.  The Juno Women’s Aid 24-hour free phone DSVA city/ county helpline has experienced a different trajectory, with an increase from 2012 of 1,300 calls to the city per year, rising in 2019 to 1,800 calls to the City per year to an increase during the Covid pandemic of 3,000 calls to the city and this increase has remained high at 4,000 calls to the City.  During the same timeframe Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference referrals of the highest risk survivors rose from 500 per year to over a 1000, with a 10% increase in the last year.  It is clear that there has been a year on year increase in reporting of domestic violence and abuse in Nottingham, with an increase in referrals to Women’s Aid in particular, with a huge increase during the Covid pandemic and no return to pre-Covid levels. The Council has not increased funding into these services during this time and in the last couple of years there has been an increase in the costs of providing services.

Approval is required for services which have been delivered in the last few years, as it has not been possible to confirm whether it was granted at the time and approvals are required going forward as the services are still being delivered in line with their contracts.

Other options considered

To break the Council’s Partnership Agreement with Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and return the funding. As the OPCC is a key funder of both domestic and sexual violence and abuse services which Nottingham citizens benefit from it was concluded that this would not be an appropriate approach and therefore rejected.

To ask the OPCC to commission the services on the Council’s behalf, despite the Partnership Agreement. This would put a huge burden on the OPCC when it is currently commissioning a wide range of services on the Council’s behalf, including a Perpetrator Programme, Stalking Service, Sexual Violence and Abuse services, Therapeutic Services for children, services for deaf survivors of domestic abuse and services for Black and Minoritised communities of domestic abuse survivors.  Therefore this option was rejected.