Leeds domestic violence support service sees 60 per cent rise in one year

Councillors praised the work done by officers working with domestic violence sufferers.

It follows a report which states the number of those referred to a domestic violence support service in Leeds increased by more than 60 per cent in just a year.

The council’s executive board met this week to discuss the issue, with one senior councillor claiming the council had to do more to help avoid incidents taking place in the first place.

The report claims that the number of domestic violence victims being supported by the Front Door Safeguarding Hub, which was established in 2015, rose to 3,654 in 2018, a 62.5 percent increase on the previous year.

Coun Debra Coupar, the authority’s deputy leader, told the meeting: “Domestic violence is still a serious issue that we need to take as such and we need to tackle it in that way.

“I am happy with the services and level of commitment from the staff, I have to say all our departments see it is an extremely sensitive issue they are dealing with.

“I dare say there are cases that fall through the net, but if they are, we need to be made aware as early as possible so we can help deal with it.”

The report states: “The Front Door Safeguarding Hub (FDSH) involves over 15 agencies meeting on a daily basis at a daily Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) meeting.

“The aim of the meeting is to share information and co-ordinate responses to high risk cases of domestic violence and abuse. Action plans are established for each case with agreed interventions relating to victims, children and perpetrators.

“Since the FDSH was established in April 2015, there has been an annual increase in referrals from all agencies. In 2018, 3,654 victims at high risk of harm from domestic violence were supported.

“This is a 62.5 percent increase on 2017 figures and indicates the growing awareness of risk factors and referral procedures among practitioners.”

Coun Coupar, said this could partly be due to increased awareness of the service.

She added: “We are a victim of our own success, with all the things we are doing that has raised the profile.

“People are feeling confident, they are coming forward and asking for the help they need. The work is ongoing and I am pleased with it.”

The council’s Liberal Democrats leader Coun Stewart Golton claimed more work needed to be done to prevent domestic violence from happening in the first place.

He said: “There doesn’t seem to be any understanding about how it can be reduced. In terms of prevention, we need to prevent the number of times the individual suffers.

“We need to get a message that this will not be tolerated at all, and we will not allow any further increase. The criminal justice element is part of the civic partnership which is absent from this report.”

The council’s director of communities and environment James Rogers said: “When we started this work a number of years ago, there was a recognition that there was a massive number of unreported incidents of domestic violence.

“By raising the profile, we are getting the message out there that we will take action on domestic violence.”

Council Leader Judith Blake (Lab) said: “The causes of domestic violence are many and varied, but we believe that the cutting of early intervention grants was very short sighted. Along with a rise in poverty – there is a whole cocktail of reasons why the pressure point in families is still growing.

“We need to make sure that everyone in our communities have a safe pace that they can go and report.”