Councillors have questioned whether the cost of living crisis is linked to an increased rate of domestic abuse cases in Wigan. After data revealed an 11 per cent increase of domestic abuse referrals to services in the borough from this time last year, Coun Mary Callaghan questioned officers on whether residents’ safety was impacted by the cost of living crisis.
Officer Sean Melling told the Confident Council Scrutiny Committee that across April, May and June there were 516 referrals to the Wigan Borough Domestic Abuse Service. This was an increase of 51 from the last quarter (465 referrals), Wigan Town Hall heard on October 17.
The officer explained that Wigan Council are working with the police on this issue as well as the Department for Work and Pensions to avoid financial control issues. He explained that the increase is positive in one way as it means more people are coming forward, but he did agree the cost of living crisis may have been causing added stress to households in this period.
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Coun Stuart Gerrard took issue with the fact that the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors cases in this quarter took an average of 122 days to complete compared to 83 in the same period last year - a 47 per cent increase in time taken. He wanted to know what could be done to speed up court proceedings that were blamed for this rise.
The officer explained that the backlog is being worked through in court after a period of strikes, but he said they wanted to make sure people understand the process of reporting domestic violence.
“We want to see more people reporting domestic violence,” the officer said. “We want to make sure people are aware of these issues.”
He went on to say how they will continue to monitor numbers and work with courts and GMP around streamlining cases for better outcomes and monitor the effect of warmer weather on the referral rate. It is believed that domestic abuse incidents tend to increase going into spring and summer months both regionally and nationally due to warmer weather linked with the increased consumption of alcohol.
During April, May and June this year, the Wigan Borough Domestic Abuse Service helpline received 1658 calls - an average of 28 calls per day.
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