Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

At this point in the meeting, the Executive Member is asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

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The Executive Member was asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they might have in respect of the business on the agenda.

None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Decision Session held on 17 January 2024.

Resolved:          That the minutes of the Decision Session held on 17 January 2024 be approved as a correct record.

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It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the session under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report presents the North Yorkshire and City of York Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-2028, together with the accompanying Equalities Impact Assessment, for approval and adoption by the Executive Member.

Resolved: To approve and adopt the North Yorkshire and York Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-2028.

Reason:   To commit City of York Council to support the key priorities and commitments.

The Executive Member considered a report presenting the North Yorkshire and City of York Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-2028 for approval and adoption.

The Director of Public Health provided an overview, noting that the strategy offered a coordinated multiagency approach to tackling domestic abuse, drawing on existing cross-working with North Yorkshire Council and other regional partners, and in line with new statutory requirements for local authorities under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Following on from a strategic needs assessment, the strategy involved commitments in four key priority areas, Prevention and Early Identification, Authentic and Inclusive Support for All, Driving Change Together, and Accountability, which would be used to help direct resources including additional funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Executive Member welcomed the work of officers and partners on the strategy, and in response to her questions on the scale of the problem locally it was confirmed that over 2000 domestic abuse related crimes were reported to North Yorkshire Police annually in York. Reporting had fallen in the first year of the pandemic but climbed by around 10% in 2021-22, although it remained to be seen if this was a rising trend or not. Challenges with the available data as indicated in the Equalities Impact Assessment accompanying the report were noted, including around disability, pregnancy and maternity; while disabled people experienced disproportionately higher rates of domestic abuse for longer periods of time, there were gaps in capturing information about disabled victims of domestic abuse locally.  

It was also confirmed that taking an ‘everyone’s business’ preventative public health approach should create opportunities for early intervention to break the cycleof domestic abuse. This meant ensuring basic training in domestic abuse awareness for health and other staff was carried out effectively at scale and volume.

Resolved: To approve and adopt the North Yorkshire and York Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-2028.

Reason:     To commit City of York Council to support the key priorities and commitments.