Report attached.

Contact: Wendy Bulman, Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead, Shropshire Council 

The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead presented an update on domestic abuse, outlining progress against Health and Wellbeing Board priorities. Key objectives included strengthening strategic planning, improving partnership governance, embedding survivor voice within processes, and ensuring alignment with statutory duties under the Domestic Abuse Act. A refreshed needs assessment had been completed, identifying prevalence levels, service pressures, gaps in provision, and experiences within rural communities.

The Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board had reviewed its membership to support more effective decision?making. Improvements had been made in data maturity, with ongoing work to centralise domestic abuse data to assist with dashboard development. Lived experience had been increasingly integrated into service planning, shifting from basic feedback mechanisms to more meaningful co?production.

The partnership strategy had been developed through workshops involving individuals with lived experience and rural expertise. This had resulted in specific commitments to address rural disparities in access, awareness and safety. A public consultation had been undertaken, and the strategy was now being finalised for approval.

Operational forums had been established and were ready to implement the action plans once the strategy was approved. The Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board was embedding evidence?based decision?making and progressing work towards a centralised data repository. Survivor voice was continuing to be strengthened, supported by the roles of the Lived Experience Officer and an advisory group.

Commissioning practices were evolving, with limited local authority funding available for community?based support and ongoing efforts to pool partnership resources. Survivors had highlighted the importance of perpetrator accountability and the provision of appropriate support to prevent the creation of future victims.

The needs assessment identified mental health as the most common disability experienced by victims, with health services frequently encountering domestic abuse. The role of MARAC (multi?agency risk assessment conference) in supporting high?risk victims was noted. Next steps included finalising the strategy, implementing a three?year action plan, launching a performance dashboard and expanding rural outreach. Risks identified included data gaps, unequal rural access, limited survivor engagement and insufficient representation of LGBT voices.

Recommendations arising from the assessment included strengthening data quality, expanding rural outreach, formalising survivor voice within commissioning processes and enhancing workforce training across sectors.

The Chair asked whether the strategy aligned with violence against women and girls initiatives. The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead confirmed that it did and noted that the wider Violence Against Women and Girls strategy incorporated sexual abuse and sexual violence considerations.

The Assistant Director for Prevention and Commissioning suggested further collaboration through neighbourhood and play space initiatives, supported by the new neighbourhood framework and left?shift funding of £2.9 million for 2026–27. The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead welcomed this offer.

The Director of Children’s Services expressed support for multi?agency training and data development work, emphasising the need for clarity and consistency around lead practitioner roles and the use of early indicators to support prevention.

The Portfolio Holder for Social Care asked about the timeline for developing the performance dashboard and whether it would capture the relationship between domestic abuse and drug and alcohol misuse. The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead explained that the dashboard was in development, with quarterly updates being provided to the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board. She advised that further work was required to incorporate external partner data, particularly in relation to drug and alcohol services, to avoid duplication and improve accuracy.

The Chair asked whether the dashboard was accessible to Board members. The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead clarified that access currently remained limited to Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board members while development work continued.

The Chair sought clarification regarding the blockers associated with data sharing.  In response, it was explained that the primary barrier related to obtaining the necessary permissions from data owners to enable information to be transferred between systems and incorporated into the dashboard. It was further noted that, for external partners, the main challenges concerned data formatting and the ability to share and integrate information effectively in order to produce a single, consistent version of the data.

The Lead Officer for the VCSA asked about opportunities for involvement. The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead confirmed that voluntary and community sector participation was welcomed at both the operational forum and the partnership board and offered to facilitate appropriate introductions.

The Executive Director of Public Health reiterated the importance of ensuring that domestic abuse services, mental health, and drug and alcohol work were embedded within neighbourhood and hub frameworks, both for strategic alignment and for coordinated workforce training.

RESOLVED:

to support data sharing, enable rural outreach by offering Community spaces, champion survivor?inclusive commissioning practices, and enhance workforce training.