Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Andrew Dinsmore.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meetings on 20 November 2024 and 4 February 2025 to be accurate.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meetings held on 20 November 2024 and 4 February 2025 were agreed as accurate record.

This report provides the Committee with the opportunity to scrutinise the Council’s approach to responding to and preventing Violence Against Women and Girls in Hammersmith & Fulham.  It covers the financial period of 2023-2025. 

Annabel Moores (Violence Against Women & Girls Lead) briefed members on H&F’s work on ending VAWG, including the Coordinated Community Responses (CCR) , specialist domestic abuse court, co-located Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA), securing an additional £250,000 of core Council funding to continue delivering VAWG services, the VAWG Strategy 2022-2027 and its four main objectives, healthy relationships podcast series co-produced with young people and street harassment PSPO and perpetrators services.  </AI4>

Liz Mack (Chief Executive, Advance Charity) outlined the work of Advance and introduced the Angelou Partnership which was formed in 2015 to address the needs of women experiencing violence and abuse and delivered by a consortium of VAWG organisations with Advance being the lead partner. She highlighted the single point of access and shared referral process as well as the specialist workers under the current service model.

Amy Glover (Director of Services for Domestic Abuse, Advance) highlighted the uniqueness of Angelou and its services as well as other services in LBHF, notable trends and the forward plan to expand support for survivors.

Sally Jackson (Head of Service, Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse (STADA)) introduced the background of STADA and remarked that Hammersmith was the ‘home’ of STADA and the CCR in the UK.  She outlined the CCR and the response in practice including the criminal justice system, housing and outcomes of specialist domestic abuse court.  She also briefed members on the Impact Project and perpetrators services.

Caterina Giammarresi (VAWG Programmes & Partnerships Lead) briefed members on domestic abuse safe accommodation in H&F, local domestic abuse refuge provision and access, H&F’s responses to challenges and DASA needs assessment.

NOTE: The combined presentation slides are attached in the Appendix

Noting STADA was celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year, Councillor Sally Taylor asked about the extent of changes that had taken place since then. Sally Jackson remarked that women today were better at recognising domestic violence which had led to increased reporting year on year.  Unlike then when the theme of health was not on the table, there was now more professional intervention from midwives, GPs, social workers and mental health teams, reflecting an increased understanding of domestic abuse throughout the society. In addition, services could now engage people earlier at the beginning of a relationship such that women would ask questions that were regarded as super sensitive many years ago. There were also more challenges nowadays such as accessibility of pornography, education about a loving relationship and young men’s view of masculinity.

On Councillor Taylor’s further question, Sally Jackson referred to the murder statistics that about 30 men a year would be killed mostly by a male perpetrator because of domestic abuse.  Men tended to be more violent in our society and hopefully going forward some men would be more confident to report if they were being subjected to domestic abuse.

The Chair asked about the anticipated changes in the next few decades. Amy Glover recalled when she first joined Advance, there was no perpetrator programme  with the focus  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This report provides an update on the work of the Gangs, Violence & Exploitation Unit for financial year 2024/25 alongside sharing information on upcoming projects for the 2025/26 financial year.

Gemma Lightfoot (Manger, Gangs, Violence and Exploitation Unit (GVEU)) introduced the report.

Said Mohamud (Chief Executive Officer, Minaret Community Centre (MCC)) briefed members that MCC was a frontline charity established in 2009 located In Fulham. The Community Centre assisted the whole community but mainly focussed on the Horn of Africa community

MCC aimed at bridging the gap between the community and the services they received. He said that the ‘My Ends’ project was developed to target at fewer people in a better way.  Through the My Ends project the MCC had connected with the police, Law Enforcement officers and school representatives through workshops and events to tackle gangs and violence  within the community, Sharing some cases, Said noted the year-long project, which shall end in the next quarter, was very effective as it created a secure environment for people to talk in confidence.  He stressed that with everyone going for an extra mile, he believed children would be saved.

Dominique Alexander (Member, GVEU Young People’s Action Group (YPAG)) shared the impact that the GVEU had had on her life, including:

· the benefits of having long-term support from an outreach worker;

· her experience on the GVEU’s Rebel Records Project; and

· her experience as an ambassador on our newly-formed YPAG.

The Chair thanked colleagues in GVEU and the two representatives in sharing their incredible work.  

On GVEU’s future plans, Gemma Lightfoot noted the unit would continue with their innovation to become one of the best in London in terms of violence reduction.   They also planned to continue with early intervention via enforcement in collaboration with the Police and Probation. With increased funding from public health, therapeutic teams could offer more timely intervention support to help the young people and community.

Regarding violence reduction across the borough boundaries, Gemma Lightfoot noted that unlike some boroughs having tensions with their neighbours, H&F was in the same Basic Command Unit with two neighbouring boroughs, i.e. Westminster City Council and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsa and enjoyed excellent working relationships at all levels with them. The outreach workers shared information and community contacts, held cross-borough intelligence meetings and joined each other’s events. At this moment in time there was minimal cross border tensions. The GVEU also met with other neighbouring boroughs to discuss tensions and concerns.

Councillor Rebecca Harvey (Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety) appreciated the fantastic work of GVEU which had brought real changes and turned people’s lives around. 

Echoing her appreciation, the Chair also thanked the wonderful work done by the two representatives as a community leader and an ambassador to help the young people.

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the report.

To note the date of the next meeting:

·       17 June 2025

The Committee noted the next meeting would be held on 17 June 2025.