The Committee received a presentation from Julie Webster, the Head of Public Health that provided summary detail of the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report for Wirral 2015/16 that focused on the Wirral Plan commitment to a pledge of zero tolerance to domestic abuse.

The Head of Public Health’s presentation informed that, in Wirral, strong multiagency working was taking place to both prevent domestic abuse and support victims to build a better future; this included the police, probation service, community and voluntary sector, advocacy, counselling, schools, family support and legal advice. Members heard that Wirral’s Domestic Abuse Alliance was leading the work to tackle domestic abuse with implementation of the cross agency domestic abuse strategy.

Members noted the content of the report that stated that there remained a strong perception that domestic abuse was mainly physical male on female violence. The report outlined, that this was only part of the picture and that domestic abuse manifested in many different ways for example, controlling behaviour and or emotional abuse. It affected any age, any race, any class and any gender, and can occur in all types of relationships and that it can happen in any area. While police recorded incidents are higher in our more deprived areas, domestic abuse as a proportion of all crime showed some of our more affluent areas had a greater prevalence than might be expected for localities with fewer social problems.

The Head of Public Health informed the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee that the impact of domestic abuse was far reaching as it affected individuals, families and society as a whole. She also explained that the impact on children was particularly worrying with 90% of domestic abuse being witnessed by children. Consequences included children becoming withdrawn, depressed and finding it difficult to communicate, and others may act out the aggression they have witnessed or blame themselves for the abuse. In adulthood children affected by domestic abuse have increased risk of poor mental health, substance misuse and behavioural problems, strengthening the argument to ensure that the Council and partners do all they can to intervene early and support families to deal with domestic abuse.

Members questioned the Head of Public Health on a variety of key points namely:

·  The link between alcohol an domestic abuse;

·  Concerns over the tracking or monitoring of repeat offenders;

·  Addressing the issue of vulnerable persons;

·  ‘Upstream’ work – to assist individuals in tackling problems to help avoid incidents of abuse;

·  The impact on children;

·  Links to deprivation;

·  Access to pathways for those who use drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism; and

·  Concerns over a perceived lack of mechanisms to share data across partner organisations.

The Head of Public Health confirmed that the points raised by Members would be relayed back to the Pledge Group dealing with the above concerns.

The Committee noted that there was a strong economic case to tackling domestic abuse. In addition to the significant suffering to victims it was estimated to cost the UK public services such as the criminal justice system, health, social care, housing, civil and legal services £3.1 billion per year with a £2.7 billion loss to the economy. Work to raise awareness of domestic abuse and the stories of some of the people who have been supported were described in the report. Members were recommended to take the opportunity in their own time view a short online film on www.wirral.gov.uk/domesticabuse that had been produced with the help of Tomorrow’s Women Wirral and Involve Northwest. The film provided first-hand accounts of domestic abuse and that how, with the right support, safe solutions can be found.

Members noted the summary recommendations held within the report, namely:

·  to increase awareness and understanding of what domestic abuse is and its impact;

·  that all frontline health and social care workers should be aware of domestic abuse as part of their daily work;

·  that children affected by domestic abuse should be provided with appropriate support at an early stage; and

·  a borough wide organisational commitment to the delivery of the Domestic Abuse Strategy and the work of the Domestic Abuse Alliance.

Resolved - That

1)  the Head of Public Health be thanked for her presentation; and

2)  theDirector of Public Health and her team be thanked and congratulated on their excellent work supporting the Public Health Annual Report.