Domestic abuse rates have risen steadily over the past few years – putting support services and staff under greater pressure than ever before.
The below template Council Motions are adapted from a motion from the Lib Dem group on Hull City Council. That full motion can be found here.
These motions are most appropriate for Tier 1 authorities with statutory duties to support victims of domestic abuse – as well as statutory roles to ensure safety through the licensing process. Though there are some points, such as safe spaces in Council buildings, that are appropriate to all councils.
The domestic abuse statistics can be localised for different regions using the downloadable tables on the links below:
England and Wales Motion:
Council notes that over 1.45 million domestic abuse related incidents were recorded by police in England and Wales in 2020/21. Of these 845,734 were recorded as crimes. This represents a 6% increase from the previous year and 18% of all offences recorded by the police in this year.
[PLEASE INSERT A PARAGRAPH DETAILING THE NUMBER OF LOCAL DOMESTIC ABUSE CASES BEING DEALT WITH BY YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITY. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND FIGURES FROM YOUR COUNCIL’S DOEMSTIC ABUSE TEAM.]
Domestic abuse support services are under greater pressure than ever before. Council notes that incidents of domestic abuse tend to rise during periods of financial and emotional pressure. This was true during Covid-19 lockdowns and there is a strong probability that, as the cost-of-living crisis causes more hardship over winter, there could be further increases in domestic abuse incidents over the coming months.
Council praises the dedicated staff who ensure those who seek support in [AREA NAME] get the help they need. Despite increasing demand for support, staff are working above and beyond to keep victims safe.
Council notes the need to increase the number of skilled and qualified support workers to ensure all victims can get the help and assistance they need. Council also notes that the support to deliver this is required from central Government. Council believes that there must be significant and sustainable funding from the Government to support victims of domestic abuse.
Council therefore resolves to:
- Instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Government to secure separate and permanent income streams for domestic abuse support services here in [AREA NAME] to ensure adequate numbers of appropriately skilled staff can be recruited to support victims.
- Call upon the Chief Executive to work with the Local Government Association to lobby for the provision of support for victims of domestic abuse to become a statutory function of local authorities, with funding being provided via the national funding settlement.
- Explore how the authority can create safe spaces within all Council customer facing buildings to enable victims access services safely and privately.
- Require a report to be produced for the Licensing Committee to explore initiatives such as ‘Ask for Angela’ and how they can be made a mandatory aspect of the licensing process.
Scotland Motion:
Council notes that 65,251 domestic abuse related incidents were recorded by police in Scotland in 2020/21. This represents a 4% increase from the previous year and the fifth year in a row that domestic abuse incidents have risen.
[PLEASE INSERT A PARAGRAPH DETAILING THE NUMBER OF LOCAL DOMESTIC ABUSE CASES BEING DEALT WITH BY YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITY. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND FIGURES FROM YOUR COUNCIL’S DOEMSTIC ABUSE TEAM.]
Domestic abuse support services are under greater pressure than ever before. Council notes that incidents of domestic abuse tend to rise during periods of financial and emotional pressure. This was true during Covid-19 lockdowns and there is a strong probability that, as the cost-of-living crisis causes more hardship over winter, there could be further increases in domestic abuse incidents over the coming months.
Council praises the dedicated staff who ensure those who seek support in [AREA NAME] get the help they need. Despite increasing demand for support, staff are working above and beyond to keep victims safe.
Council notes the need to increase the number of skilled and qualified support workers to ensure all victims can get the help and assistance they need. Council also notes that the support to deliver this is required from central Government. Council believes that there must be significant and sustainable funding from the Government to support victims of domestic abuse.
Council therefore resolves to:
- Instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Government to secure separate and permanent income streams for domestic abuse support services here in [AREA NAME] to ensure adequate numbers of appropriately skilled staff can be recruited to support victims.
- Call upon the Chief Executive to work with the Local Government Association to lobby for the provision of support for victims of domestic abuse to become a statutory function of local authorities, with funding being provided via the national funding settlement.
- Explore how the authority can create safe spaces within all Council customer facing buildings to enable victims access services safely and privately.
- Require a report to be produced for the Licensing Committee to explore initiatives such as ‘Ask for Angela’ and how they can be made a mandatory aspect of the licensing process.