Domestic abuse is a ‘growing issue’ in Tameside as leaders reveal that incidents have soared in the past year.
A meeting of Tameside’s executive cabinet was told that that cases of domestic abuse reported to Greater Manchester Police had increased by 22pc. The number for 2019/20 stood at 4,424, rising to 5,409 in 2021/22. And the children’s social care department had seen referrals related to domestic abuse soar by 74 pc, with 1,850 made in 2019/20 and 3,222 last year.
In the week to March 31 Greater Manchester Police (GMP) conducted a dedicated week of action against domestic abuse in the region, in which 510 arrests related to domestic abuse had been made by officers. Addressing councillors at a meeting in Ashton-under-Lyne, Debbie Watson, the town hall’s director of population health said: “This continues to be a growing issue for us in Tameside.
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“We have seen significant increases of incidents of domestic abuse reported to the police and also increasingly seen via our children’s social care colleagues in terms of referrals related to domestic abuse rising considerably, threefold in the last few years.
“We are proposing to recommission our integrated domestic abuse support service.”
She added they are also intending to commission prevention sessions around violence against women and girls, which would be delivered in schools.
Councillor Eleanor Wills, cabinet member for health, revealed her own experiences of domestic abuse and coercive control in an emotional speech in 2020.
“Domestic abuse is everybody’s conversation, it’s without class. It’s something that people shy away from,” she said.
“I’m just a massive advocate of the service in general and I think as we move forward our work strategy will only get stronger.”
The cabinet has agreed to go out to commission services aimed at support victims and tackling domestic abuse over the next five years. It will see more than a million pounds spent each year on the issue from 2024/25.
Leaders want to introduce a ‘coordinated community response’ model which will address prevention, early intervention, crisis and long-term recovery and safety.
The cabinet report states that the authority is aiming to have contracts signed by January 31, and the service to start by April 1 next year.
Detective Superintendent Jamie Daniels, GMP’s lead for domestic abuse said that the force is now averaging nearly 1,500 domestic abuse arrests a month.
“Reports of domestic abuse crime have significantly risen, GMP has seen its outcome rate climb to 10pc, and like-for-like has seen over 1,800 additional offences solved in the rolling year, directly translating into greater justice for victims and survivors,” he added.
“These are huge improvements, but we are not pretending this is good enough and know more must be done to fight domestic abuse, raise standards, and improve trust and confidence in policing.
“We are committed to four key aims that range from improving our service delivery and bringing even more perpetrators to justice, through to reducing repeat victimisation and improving confidence in reporting.”
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