Agenda and minutes

The evacuation procedure was noted.

There were no interests declared.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 22 May 2025.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the Community Safety Select Committee meeting which was held on 22 May 2025 for approval and signature.  A query was raised in relation to the following item:

·       Action Plan for Agreed Recommendations – Review of Welcoming and Safe Town Centres: With reference to the early impact of Operation Shield, clarity was sought on whether local businesses had experienced their busiest day or, in fact, their busiest week (given how footfall was sometimes presented) – it was confirmed that officers had reported that the measure stated was ‘day’.

In related town centre matters, Members were saddened to learn of River Island announcing that it would be leaving Stockton High Street (Wellington Square).  The Committee acknowledged that it was disappointing to lose any shops, though expressed confidence that new businesses would continue to be attracted to town centre spaces.

AGREED that the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 22 May 2025 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider information from SBC Children’s Services (Early Help, Safeguarding and CIOC) and SBC Public Health.

The first evidence-gathering session for the Committee’s review of Children affected by Domestic Abuse considered submissions from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) departments, Public Health (Adults, Health and Wellbeing), and Early Help, Safeguarding and Children in our Care (Children’s Services).  Prior to these presentations, the Committee was reminded of the links to key documents within the covering report for this item, including:

Ø  Home Office: Domestic Abuse – Statutory Guidance (July 2022)

Ø  GOV.UK: Victims in their own right?  Babies, children and young people’s experiences of domestic abuse (part 3: opportunities to identify and intervene early)

Ø  Stockton-on-Tees Domestic Abuse Strategy 2022-2028

Ø  SBC Children and Young People Select Committee – Scrutiny Review of Domestic Abuse and its Impact on Children (2019-2020) (final report and subsequent Action Plan in relation to the agreed recommendations).

SBC PUBLIC HEALTH

Introduced by the SBC Strategic Health and Wellbeing Manager, information was provided as follows:

·       Defining domestic abuse: The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 stated that domestic abuse involved any single incident or pattern of conduct where someone’s behaviour towards another was abusive, and where the people involved were aged 16 or over, and were or had been personally connected to each other (including relatives and intimate relationships).  The different types of abuse comprised psychological, physical, sexual, financial and / or economic, emotional, and controlling and / or coercive behaviour.  A significant change in the law had led to children being recognised as victims in their own right if they saw or heard domestic abuse.  It was also important to distinguish that abusive behaviour directed at those aged 16 or over was deemed ‘domestic abuse’ but was categorised as ‘child abuse’ when directed at those under 16 years.

·       Prevalence of domestic abuse: According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2024), approximately one in five (20.5%) people aged 16 years and over had experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years – this equated to 33,508 people in Stockton-on-Tees given its 16 years+ population was estimated to be 163,456 (ONS population estimates, June 2023).  An estimated 4.8% (7,845) of people aged 16 years and over (6.6% of women and 3.0% of men) had experienced domestic abuse in the last year.

·       Domestic abuse in Stockton-on-Tees: Several statistics were highlighted in relation to the extent of domestic abuse within Stockton-on-Tees.  During 2023-2024, there were 5,225 recorded ‘incidents’ of domestic abuse across the Borough and 3,907 recorded domestic abuse ‘crimes’, with 17% of all crimes recorded by Cleveland Police during this period being domestic abuse-related.  The Stockton-on-Tees rate of 26 domestic abuse incidents and crimes per 1,000 population was slightly higher than the England and Wales average (24) but less then the North East average (32).

From a Local Authority perspective, during 2023-2024, 1,010 referrals into SBC Children’s Services had domestic abuse listed as the reason for contact, with 25% of referrals made to SBC Children’s Services over this period being domestic abuse-related (a reduced percentage compared to 2022-2023 when this was around  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSS/10/25

CHAIR’S UPDATE

The Chair had no further updates.

WORK PROGRAMME 2025-2026

Consideration was given to the Committee’s current work programme.  The next meeting was due to take place on 31 July 2025 where the second evidence-gathering session for the Children affected by Domestic Abuse review would be held.  In addition, the first progress update on the Action Plan which was agreed following the Committee’s previous review of Outdoor Play Provision would be presented (this had been pushed back a month so the scheduled discussions at Cabinet earlier in July 2025 could be relayed / reflected upon as part of the update).

AGREED that the Chair’s Update and Community Safety Select Committee Work Programme 2025-2026 be noted.