Agenda item

In 2014 the then PCC Adam Simmonds had a vision of a one stop shop for victims.  A contract was originally awarded to Victim Support for 3years.  Voice was then set up as a limited company.  The aims are:-

·         Ensuring the victim was at the centre

·         Single point of contact

·         Signposting

·         Continuity of care and support

·         Helping victim to cope, recover and thrive.

The different strands of support were:-

·         Adult victims and witnesses

·         Children and young people

·         Road harm – anyone affected by a road traffic collision

·         Restorative justice

Voice gave support to

·         any resident aged 6 or over,

·         resident within Northamptonshire who was a victim of crime, persistent asb or serious life changing fire incident 

·         witnesses of crime that was going through the Court system

·         reported or unreported to the police

·         no time limitation

Exclusions were:-

·         anyone aged under 6 years old

·         not resident within Northamptonshire

·         homicide, rape

·         institutionalised (HMP/Care)

During an average month Voice received 3,500 referrals for the county.

Sunflower was now part of Voice and they provided immediate support for victims of domestic abuse scoring 14 or more on the DASH or otherwise considered high risk.  They had a hospital IDVA (independent domestic violence adviser) and a Stalking IDVA had recently completed their training.  From Q2 2018/19 to Q2 2019/20 there had been a 87.11% increase in referrals.  During Q2 2019/20 there had been 700 referrals to IDVA/HIDVA, 335 referrals into MARAC with 293 cases being heard.

Stats for Voice, q2 July – September 2019

·         10,799 referrals across adult, cyp, road hard and Restorative Justice.

·         79.56% contacted within 72 hours

·         31.79% referrals received were DA related

·         Approx. 4.2% accepted immediate, practical or ongoing support

·         929 support sessions held

·         80.52% reported better able to cope

·         80.52% reported improved feeling of safety

·         83.85% witness attendance

Voice also had 2 facilities across the county for video link in extreme cases so that victims did not have to attend court in person.  CPS did the applications to court for video links.

OPCC funding

£142k for Sunflower – high risk DA victims

£200k – Voice to support medium level risk DA victims

£50k for PIPA – Prevent Intimate Partner Abuse – a programme run by NDAS

£30k – Intensive programme for high risk perpetrators

£5k – campaign to promote an environment for support that people can recognise – it was thought this was the #cutitout campaign launched recently to give hairdressers/barbers/beauticians the skills to recognise and signpost victims of DA that may disclose to them.  The launch was attended by approximately 150 people.

MW stated the issues had come up as victims referred to agencies by community groups were not getting a good response and felt they were being pushed from pillar to post. 

For those reporting crimes, Voice now had a data controller with the police and would make every effort to make contact with victims.  Agreements had been made with EMAS, NGH and KGH for people that disclosed so Voice could make contact.

Funding for Sunflower had not kept pace and no increase had been asked for to funders for the last 10 years.  Funding at the same rate had been secured for the next year but the door had also been left open to ask for more and this was currently being worked on.

RD stated that the level of service was dictated by the level of funding.  NDAS had been working at a deficit of £275k last year and they had to dig into reserves.  This year would be similar.  However, the Board had agreed to recruit another advice worker as they were so busy they could barely answer the phone.  If a victim had plucked up the courage to contact them and they didn’t have the resources to answer the phone, it was unlikely they would try again.  RD was trying to get enough capacity to retain their reputation as it was vitally important to get the confidence of victims.

Eve did not get funded as they were a Christian organisation even though they were open to all and raised their own funds.

RD stated that it was really difficult to support victims with no recourse to public funds and there were generally a lot of complexities in the cases around language barriers and faith amongst other things.  Previously NDAS had done what they could but resources were now so stretched they really couldn’t.  However, the MHCLG had released some funding for safe access for DA victims and NDAS were looking to do a bid with Eve and could work in support for those with no recourse.  The deadline for submission was 20 January.  Action: RP put RD in touch with community groups.

RD stated that if anyone knew of any families who were struggling to buy presents for their children to contact NDAS with details of the children’s ages and interests if possible.