Domestic Abuse Strategy consultation 2024

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 requires local authorities, with assistance from the local partnership board (LPB) to conduct a local needs assessment to determine the level of support required within safe accommodation in their area. A full definition of safe accommodation is outlined in Appendix 2.

The Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment 2024 (PDF) highlighted there is a good overall provision of services and response to domestic abuse in Central Bedfordshire. However, further work is needed to build on the progress already made; this includes strengthening support for young people and minoritised or seldom heard groups.

Residents shared that they were not always aware they were experiencing domestic abuse until after the relationship had ended, or where they could access help and support until they came into contact with a statutory service, like Children’s Services or the police. More can be done to provide access to appropriate specialist services in community-based settings, making it easier for all residents to access the specialist support they need at any point in their journey to safety.

As a result of this feedback, we intend to continue to focus on the following objectives in the 2025 to 2030 Domestic Abuse Strategy:

1. We will equip children and young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to recognise and develop healthy relationships
2. We will ensure that all agencies work together to offer the right support at the right time as every contact counts
3. We will ensure all partners work together to provide opportunities and support for individuals that harm to change their behaviour and influence the Criminal Justice System in holding perpetrators to account and seeking positive outcomes for victims​
4. We will raise levels of domestic abuse awareness and confidence with all professionals and employees to enable them to identify and respond effectively to domestic abuse at the earliest opportunity

We propose to remove the current Outcome 5: ‘The Council are commissioning the right services to meet the needs of our residents’ and its objective: ‘Commissioning partners and stakeholders to work together to use intelligent commissioning principles to provide services that meet residents’ needs.’

We are proposing this change because understanding needs and commissioning of support affects all outcomes and objectives.

We propose to introduce a new outcome: ‘Everyone can rebuild their lives and live free from domestic abuse’ and objective: ‘We will ensure that there are safe housing options for those affected by domestic abuse, with help and support to build resilience and live safely’.

This is a core focus of our safe accommodation duty, and the needs assessment has identified that we need to focus on ensuring better support for young people and minoritised and seldom heard groups. As part of this objective, we plan to:  

• explore and report on barriers for minoritised groups in relation to safer accommodation and wider support
• review commissioned services across the partnership to make best use of available resource in line with our statutory duties​