Domestic Violence Services – Funding

Request and Response:

“I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

For the following questions I would like the figures for 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17.

Please note that Devon County Council (DCC) can only access data as far back as April 2013-April 2014 (12 months rolling data).  Information prior to this is not held.

  1. Total expenditure on all/any domestic violence services, broken down by each year

2013/14                                    2014/15                         2015/16                                         2017/18

Total gross expenditure   1,118,210   £963,619 £1,045,540  £943,442
DCC Contribution                 £881,436 £818,400    £830,400  £840,400

2.  Total expenditure on Women’s Refuges, broken down by each year.

None.  There is a refuge in Devon run by North Devon Against Domestic Abuse which is a Sovereign Voluntary Sector organisation.  This is funded through a combination of rental income and fundraising.

3.  Total expenditure on Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA), broken down by each year.

Information not held.  DCC contracts with Splitz Domestic Abuse Support Services who provide an IDVA service amongst other things, but this is part of a whole package of assistance which is not limited to IDVAs.  DCC requires Splitz to provide a service to high and medium risk victims, including a consistent service to the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC).

4.  Total expenditure on Floating Support, broken down by each year.

DCC does not commission floating support separate to the specialist contract.

5.  Total number of Housing Related Support Units for domestic violence victims for each year and, if possible, broken down by accommodation type, eg refuge, hostel, BnB place, council owned flat/house, private rented accommodation.

Please note that Devon County Council is not responsible for housing and therefore does not hold the information requested.  Housing is a function provided by District and Unitary councils in Devon. Please contact them directly using the information on the links provided to obtain this information.

6.  For each year:-

a) Number of cases explored by the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference

b) Number of cases deemed ‘high risk’ by the Multi agency Risk Assessment Conference.

Please note that a) and b) above are deemed to be the same thing in terms of MARAC data (all cases referred to MARAC are deemed to be ‘high risk’ by the referrer / referring agency).  Please see figures provided within the below table.

c) Number of referrals to refuge accommodation from the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference

Information not held.

Please also note that each MARAC in Devon holds a Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference once a month.  Each section of the table of 12 month rolling data will show the number of MARACs nationally, the number of MARAC cases discussed nationally, the number of MARACs in Devon and the number of ‘high risk’ cases discussed at each MARAC in Devon during that time frame. 

 April 2013 – March 2014:

Indicator National figure Most similar force group SafeLives recommends Police force East & Mid Devon Exeter (Devon) North Devon (Barnstaple) South & West Devon (Rural Devon)
Number of MARACS 274 52 N/A 12 1 1 1 1
Cases discussed 68,373 10,714 N/A 2,218 225 185 170 258

April 2014 – March 2015:

Indicator National figure Most similar force group SafeLives recommends Police force East & Mid Devon Exeter (Devon) North Devon (Barnstaple) South & West Devon (Rural Devon)
Number of MARACS 287 40 12 1 1 1 1
Cases discussed 78,144 8,264 2,259 219 184 167 256

April 2015 – March 2016:

Indicator National figure Most similar force group SafeLives recommends Police force East & Mid Devon Exeter (Devon) North Devon (Barnstaple) South & West Devon (Rural Devon)
Number of MARACS 282 40 12 1 1 1 1
Cases discussed 81,764 8,741 2,117 224 199 186 240

 

April 2016 – March 2017:

Indicator National figure Most similar force group SafeLives recommends Police force East & Mid Devon Exeter (Devon) North Devon (Barnstaple) South & West Devon (Rural Devon)
Number of MARACS 288 40 12 1 1 1 1
Cases discussed 86,881 10,378 2,434 286 222 201 263

7.  For each year, as at 1 January (or another marker point of your choice), how many people were employed Full-time equivalent as Independent Domestic Violence Advisors?”

During this timeframe there have always been at least 4 x MARAC (Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference) IDVAs and 3 x SDVC (Specialist Domestic Violence Court) IDVAs.  North Devon also had a Health IDVA based in North Devon Hospital for a number of years.