Decision details

(i)  That Cabinet approve the Strategy for the Provision of Support in Safe Accommodation.

(ii)  That Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director Communities, Culture and Homes, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Heritage, to make minor changes to the Strategy for the Provision of Support in Safe Accommodation during its period of effect.

The Council is required by s 57 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to prepare and publish a strategy for the provision of support to victims of domestic abuse, or their children, resulting in them being able to reside in safe accommodation, be it their own or new accommodation.

The Strategy will facilitate the work of the Council, in partnership with the Southampton Domestic Abuse Strategic Partnership Board (“the Board”), in tackling domestic abuse in Southampton. This will be achieved through the Coordinated Community Response model (adopted by the Strategy), which shifts responsibility for safety away from individual survivors to the community and services existing to support them.

It was considered whether the Council’s existing strategy for tackling domestic and sexual abuse (Southampton Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse Multi Agency Strategy 2017-2020) could be revised and renewed to meet the requirements of the Act. This option was rejected because the production of an entirely new strategy, following consultation with the new Board, presented the opportunity for the Council to adopt the Coordinated Community Response model. A whole-system strategy, dealing with other community-based domestic abuse support provision and issues associated with sexual violence and violence against women and girls, is due to be brought to Cabinet for approval in or around September 2022.