The Royal Borough of Greenwich Health and Wellbeing Board met to discuss the council's response to domestic abuse, and to agree the Greenwich Better Care Fund plan and submission for 2025-26. The board noted the forward work plan for upcoming meetings.

Domestic Abuse Response

The board received an overview of the work being undertaken in the Royal Borough of Greenwich to address domestic abuse (DA) and violence against women and girls (VAWG). This included discussions on current support services, lived experience representation, and next steps to strengthen the collective response.

Dr. Charlene Noel, Head of Community Safety and Integrative Enforcement, and Annette Wooten, Senior Community Safety Specialist for violence against women and girls and modern slavery, gave a presentation on the council's strategic and operational work to address domestic abuse.

Key points from the presentation and discussion:

• Data and Trends:

  • One in seven notifiable offences reported to the police were flagged as domestic abuse.
  • Violence against the person offences were the most prevalent crime group, with assault without injury and actual bodily harm being the most prominent subtypes.
  • Domestic abuse was flagged in 36% of rape offences and 18% of sexual offences.
  • Stalking was the fourth most prevalent offence type.
  • There were 38 recorded cases of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation in 2022.
  • In 2024-25, there were 3,496 domestic abuse offences reported to the police, a 13% decrease from the previous year.
  • The Greenwich Domestic Violence and Abuse (GDVA) Helpline received 2,498 calls and 4,035 web-based enquiries.
  • There were 767 referrals to the MARAC[^2], with 345 being repeat referrals. 407 cases involved children, affecting a total of 837 children. [^2]: MARAC stands for Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference, a meeting to share information regarding high-risk cases of domestic abuse.

• MARAC Effectiveness: Analysis suggested that up to 60% of domestic abuse victims reported no further violence following intervention by MARAC and a specialist support service.

• GP Referrals: There has been a significant improvement in GP referrals since 2020, following the implementation of the IRIS project[^3] and the commissioning of a health IDVA[^4]. Referrals to MARAC from GPs increased from 0 to 22 in 2024-25. [^3]: The IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety) project is a training and support programme for GPs to help them identify and respond to domestic abuse. [^4]: IDVA stands for Independent Domestic Violence Advisor.

• Perpetrator Intervention: The Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Group (DAPG) monitors high-risk perpetrators identified at MARAC, with early analysis showing a promising impact on reducing repeat referrals.

• Working Together to End Male Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy: The council is developing a new strategy to shift the focus towards male accountability, prevention, and cultural change. The strategy aims to challenge societal norms, engage men and boys as allies, implement educational programmes, support victims and survivors, and ensure robust enforcement of laws.

• Action Plan for Male Psychological Safety: Building on the strategy consultation, the council is developing an action plan for ensuring male psychological safety, which will aim to support emotional wellbeing, prevent online radicalisation, promote pro-social behaviours, and align with the themes of the EMVAWG strategy.

• Call to Action: Dr. Charlene Noel asked the Health and Wellbeing Board to consider how it could help with direct inquiry, public health data support, trauma-informed training, commissioning of domestic abuse IDVAs, and support for global majority communities.

• Housing Referrals: Councillor Pat Slattery, Cabinet Member Housing Management, Neighbourhoods and Homelessness, asked for reassurance that housing services were making appropriate referrals, and whether the 30 bed spaces for refuge provision were sufficient.

• Measuring Outcomes: Andrew George, Oxleas NHS Trust, asked what the key outputs were to measure the innovative stuff outlined towards the end of the talk, and what the overlaps and synergies were between partner organisations.

• Training Repetition: Nupur Yogarajah, South East London Integrated Care Board, suggested scheduling the IRIS education again during surgery closures.

• Secondary Care Pathways: Kate Anderson, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, asked about pathways for secondary care, such as from the ED, maternity services, and paediatrics.

• Oversight: Rachel Taggart-Ryan, Cabinet Member Community Safety and Enforcement, raised a question about oversight of the implementation of recommendations from domestic homicide reviews.

• Court Decisions: Rachel Taggart-Ryan, Cabinet Member Community Safety and Enforcement, also asked how the council was advocating and getting its professional opinions to influence court decisions on access to children, even when it might be recommending that it is not safe for access to take place.

• Bed Spaces: Rachel Taggart-Ryan, Cabinet Member Community Safety and Enforcement, asked whether there was room to have a conversation with place and growth around looking for another building that the council owns that could be put to use for more bed space.

• London-wide Context: Jamie Carswell, Royal Borough of Greenwich, observed that it is a complicated issue because of the cross-London flows around refuge provision, and that's why the GLA[^5] is the primary commissioner of the services across London. [^5]: GLA stands for the Greater London Authority.

Florence Kroll, Royal Borough of Greenwich, provided an overview of the prevalence of domestic abuse in Children's Services and the impact on children. She noted that domestic abuse is a high proportion of their work in children's social care and in family support abuse in that referral. She also noted that domestic abuse is a factor of 40% of the cases notified to the national panel in child safeguarding practice reviews.

Laura Downs, Stacey, Dorothy, Karen and Annie, lived experience representatives, shared their personal experiences of domestic abuse, and what they thought the council should be doing.

Sam, Royal Borough of Greenwich, presented a self-assessment of health and well-being board partner agencies, which identified current good practice, current practice, and where improvements could be made.

Greenwich Better Care Fund Plan and Submission for 2025-26

The board formally agreed the Greenwich Better Care Fund plan and submission for 2025/26, which was submitted on 31 March 2025. The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a pooled fund that was created in 2013, initially as a mechanism to transfer funds from the NHS to social care and mitigate the impact of austerity. The total funding envelope for the BCF in 25/26 is £52,234,230.

Health and Wellbeing Board Forward Work Plan

The board noted the work items that are scheduled to be presented to the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board taking place in September 2025:

• Analysis of Emergency Department attendances at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
• Equality, Diversity And Inclusion:
  • Anti Racism Community of Practice
  • Ethnic Inequity
  • Anti Racism Strategy