Issue - meetings

This report seeks approval from Members for adoption of a set of policies and procedures, developed to support both staff members and residents who may be experiencing domestic abuse, as part of the Borough Council’s work to achieve accreditation from the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA).

Consideration was given to a set of revised and new domestic abuse policies and procedures, developed to support staff members and residents as part of the work that the Borough Council were undertaking to tackle domestic abuse and working towards achieving the ‘bronze’ level of the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) accreditation scheme – a benchmark for Local Authorities and Housing Associations to respond to domestic abuse in the UK.

An updated draft of the Borough Council’s Domestic Abuse Policy for Staff, setting out how the Council would identify signs of domestic abuse among staff and respond to disclosure and what support would be provided to staff members experiencing domestic abuse, was attached at Annex 1, with an associated procedure for disclosing domestic abuse attached at Annex 2.

In addition, a set of policy and procedure had also been developed to support residents approaching the Borough Council’s Housing Services for support with accommodation/housing advice, for reasons of domestic abuse, as set out in Annex 3 and Annex 4 respectively.

Members acknowledged the progress made by the Borough Council in aligning relevant policies and procedures with the DAHA standards and commented on the robustness of these measures.

The Chair proposed, seconded by Councillor Clokey, and the Committee unanimously

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the Domestic Abuse Policy for Staff, attached at Annex 1, be approved and adopted;

(2)          the Domestic Abuse Procedure for Staff, attached at Annex 2, be approved and adopted;

(3)          the Resident’s Domestic Abuse Policy, attached at Annex 3, be approved and adopted; and

(4)          the Resident’s Domestic Abuse Procedure, attached at Annex 4, be approved and adopted.