DELEGATED POWERS REPORT NO. 1150 SUBJECT: North London Rape Crisis Centre Partnership Control sheet All of the following actions MUST be completed at each stage of the process and the signed and dated report MUST be passed to Democratic Service for publishing All reports 1. Democratic Services receive draft report Name of DSO Nick Musgrove 2. Democratic Services cleared draft report as being constitutionally appropriate 3. Finance clearance obtained (report author to complete) 4. Staff and other resources issues clearance obtained (report author to complete) 5. Trade Union response received (Staffing issues only) 6. Legal clearance obtained from (report author to complete) 7. Policy & Partnerships clearance obtained (report author to complete) 8. Equalities & Diversity clearance obtained (report author to complete) 9. The above process has been checked and verified by Director, Head of Service or Deputy (report author to complete) 10. Signed & dated report, scanned or hard copy received by Democratic Services for publishing 11. Report published by Dem Services to website Name of DSO Nick Musgrove Name of Fin. officer Sadhna Patel 20/08/2010 Name of Res. officer Name of TU rep. Name of Legal officer Phillipa Dieobi 23 August 2010 Name of P&P officer Nick Musgrove Name of officer Nick Musgrove Name Val Lambe 31/08/2010 Name of DSO Jonathan Regal 17/09/2010 Name of DSO Jonathan Regal 17/09/2010 Officer reports: 12. Head of Service informed report is published and can be implemented. Name of DSO Cabinet Member reports: 13. Expiry of call-in period 14. Report circulated for call-in purposes to COSC Name of DSO members & copied to Cabinet & Head of Service Jonathan Regal 17/09/2010
ACTION TAKEN BY CABINET MEMBER(S) UNDER DELEGATED POWERS (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION) Subject Cabinet Member(s) North London Rape Crisis Centre Partnership Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Cohesion and Cabinet Member for Resources & Performance of decision 31 August 2010 decision comes into effect Summary Officer Contributors Status (public or exempt) Wards affected Enclosures Reason for exemption from call-in (if appropriate) 31 August 2010 This report introduces a North London Rape Crisis Partnership and the establishment of a Rape Crisis Centre for the North London Quadrant Paul Lamb, Community Protection Group Manager Val Lambe, Interim Assistant Director Environment and Operations Public All Draft Partnership Agreement for Rape Crisis Provision Not applicable Contact for further information: Paul Lamb 020 8359 7491. Serial No. 1150
1. RELEVANT PREVIOUS DECISIONS 1.1 None. 2. CORPORATE PRIORITIES AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS 2.1 Sharing opportunities, sharing responsibilities and Better services with less money are priorities within the 2010-2013 Corporate Plan. 2.2 Sharing opportunities, sharing responsibilities: A strategic objective is to embed a safeguarding culture throughout Barnet to make children, young people and adults remain safe. 2.3 Better services with less money: A strategic objective is to make sure we get best value from resources across the public sector, including our people and assets. 2.4 The Corporate Plan identifies low levels of crime as one of the factors that will Barnet s position as a Successful London Suburb. 3. RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES 3.1 It is estimated that only around 1 in 10 sexual assaults are reported to the Police. There is a risk that without increasing Rape Crisis provision through a service that is independent, victims may be deterred from accessing long term support services, especially for those who would rather not report offences to the Police. 4. EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES 4.1 The Greater London Authority rape crisis needs assessment identified that: Reported rapes and sexual offences have increased in London over the last 12 months by 14.5% (MPS). Sexual violence overwhelmingly affects women 92% of rape victims are women. Only around 1 in 10 sexual assaults are reported to the police (Home Office). More than 1 in 5 girls in the most recent NSPCC study reported some form of sexual abuse before they were 18. Women in London are underserved in terms of specialist sexual violence services compared to other regions. 1 in 5 London boroughs have a specialised voluntary sector sexual violence support service, compared to 1 in 4 local authorities across Britain. 4.2 Each London borough also provided data from their respective areas for sexual offences in 2008/09 to supplement a North London Quadrant needs analysis. In Barnet 66% of victims of all sexual offences were under the age of 18. 92% of victims of sexual offences were female. The ethnicity of victims was proportionally reflective of the overall Barnet population. The western corridor of the borough represented the area with the highest number of recorded sexual offences.
4.3 The service will be accessible to women and girls aged 14 years and above regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and faith and regardless of whether the event was recent or historical. The service will work with women and young girls only. However, the successful service provider will be required to signpost appropriate details of services offering support for male victims of sexual violence and sexual assault also. The service specification also sets out a range of skills, aptitudes and knowledge required to fulfil the contract including expertise of working across the full range and contexts of sexual violence, being an organisation that challenges gender inequality and has experience of working with women and girls from different cultural backgrounds and across age groups including girls and young women. 4.4 It is intended to locate Barnet s satellite rape crisis premise within the western corridor of the borough. 5. USE OF RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS (Finance, Procurement, Performance & Value for Money, Staffing, IT, Property, Sustainability) 5.1 The Greater London Authority will fund the provision of a North London Rape Crisis Centre until 31 st March 2012 and 340K has been committed. The agreement between the boroughs therefore covers the period until 31 st March 2012 at which time it will expire. 5.2 The participating Councils may wish to extend the agreement beyond 31 st March 2012 and make arrangements for procuring a new service provider. If this was pursued each participating Council would be expected to contribute to the cost of the service in equal measure. Any such extension will be subject to service review, business case and approval through London Borough of Barnet s democratic process in accordance with its constitution. 5.3 As part of the agreement each participating borough will contribute 5K, which will be used to conduct a service review to evaluate the project. Barnet s contribution will be made from existing resources within the safer communities budget 2010/11. 5.4 The service will be provided using a hub and spoke model. The London Boroughs of Islington and Westminster are the joint commissioning leads for the North London quadrant and Islington will house the main service delivery hub. Each participating borough will identify suitable premises within their area to provide satellite accommodation where services can be provided locally. The aim is to provide such accommodation free of charge, for example share existing premises of partners such as NHS Barnet or voluntary sector organisations. However, if this is not possible, costs will be met from the funding provided by the Greater London Authority. 5.5 An advertisement has been published requesting expressions of interest from service providers. It is envisaged the North London Rape Crisis Centre will be operational October 2010. 5.6 Each London borough is required to have a nominated officer to represent it on a steering group. For Barnet this officer will be the Domestic Violence Co-ordinator.
6. LEGAL ISSUES 6.1 The agreement between the boroughs will be entered into pursuant to sections 101,102 and 111 of the Local Government Act 1972, section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999, section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Authorities (Arrangements and Discharge of Functions) Regulations 2000. 7. CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS 7.1 Constitution, Part 3, Responsibility for Functions section 3.3.1 Cabinet Members are empowered to discharge the executive functions that fall within their portfolio, whether or not they are also delegated to officers, except for matters specifically reserved to Council, Cabinet or cabinet committees. 8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 8.1 London is served by only two rape crisis centres in Croydon and Ealing respectively. The Ealing centre only became operational during July 2010. The Mayor of London has stated this provision is inadequate and has confirmed that 1.4m will be allocated over the next three years to facilitate expansion of rape crisis centres in London. 8.2 The aim is to establish rape crisis provision across four London quadrants. Barnet is clustered in the North with the London Boroughs of Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. 8.3 A North London Rape Crisis Steering Group has been established, formed from the boroughs above, with Islington and Westminster being the joint lead commissioning boroughs, working collaboratively with all the member boroughs to set up a North London Rape Crisis Centre. 8.4 Rape Crisis Centres respond to all forms of sexual violence from harassment to rape and trafficking. Services are by and for women and provide long term support, advocacy and counselling. They are independent and community based and primarily support those who do not wish to report to the Police. 8.5 At present survivors of sexual violence in Barnet are required to travel to Croydon if they need to access services provided by a Rape Crisis Centre. Travelling such a distance is a substantial disincentive to accessing services. 8.6 The Safer Communities Partnership Board acknowledged the establishment of a North London Rape Crisis Centre and expressed its support on 20 th July 2010. 9. LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS 9.1 None.
10. DECISION OF THE CABINET MEMBER(S) We authorise the following action: 10.1 To enter into a formal agreement with the North London Rape Crisis Provision Partnership to provide a Rape Crisis Centre until 31st March 2012. Signed Councillor Daniel Thomas Cabinet Member for Resources & Performance 31 August 2010 Signed Councillor Joanna Tambourides Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Cohesion 31 August 2010