The Equalities Board was scheduled to meet to discuss health inequalities, hate crime, and domestic abuse in Enfield. The board was also expected to review the minutes from their previous meeting and note their work programme for the coming year.

Tackling Health Inequalities

The Equalities Board was scheduled to receive an update on work done to tackle health inequalities in Enfield. The report pack included an analysis of key areas of health inequalities experienced by Enfield residents. It noted that patterns of deprivation and ethnicity form an inverse L across the borough - from Enfield Lock through Edmonton to New Southgate - closely aligning with poorer health outcomes.

The report pack also included the following key facts about Enfield:

• Enfield's population of over 327,000 is diverse and growing
• The borough ranks among the most deprived 25% nationally
• Enfield has the 9th highest rate of residents housed in temporary accommodation
• Environmental factors such as traffic volume and limited active travel infrastructure disproportionately affect deprived communities

The report pack considered health inequalities experienced by residents through a life course view, dividing the population into three groups:

• Start Well (0-18)
• Live Well (18 – 65)
• Age Well (>65)

For each of these groups, the report pack identified key issues and statistics. For example, under the Start Well category, the report pack stated that:

Oral health outcomes are particularly poor: Enfield has one of the highest numbers of hospital admissions for dental caries among young children in London, highlighting persistent inequalities in access to and uptake of preventative dental care.

The report pack also detailed some of the work being done to address health inequality, including public health commissioned services such as:

• Health Visiting for Children Aged 0-4
• School Nursing for Children Aged 5-19
• NHS Health Checks
• Sexual Health Services in Enfield
• Substance Misuse Services
• Smoking cessation services
• Oral Health promotion

Finally, the report pack listed activities undertaken by the Public Health team and Partners, and key projects focusing on inequality with the NHS. These included:

• Healthy High Streets
• Beat the Street
• Grow, Feed, Eat, Read – Urban Food Growing Project
• Albany Park
• Family hubs
• Community Hubs
• Youth Justice System (YJS) Health Team
• Journeys and Places
• Mental health services
• Immunisation and screening programmes
• Activities of LBE relating to Wider Determinants of Health
• Key Projects Focusing on Inequality with the NHS

Monitoring Report on Hate Crime in Enfield

The Equalities Board was scheduled to receive an update on the current numbers of hate crime incidents in Enfield and how they compare to the previous year. The report pack noted that Enfield has a long history of working in partnership to challenge hate and discrimination, and that the Safer and Stronger Communities Board (SSCB) recognises that hate crime remains under reported.

The report pack stated that racist and religious hate crime continues to represent the highest proportion of all the hate crime strands, accounting approximately 93% of all reported incidents.

In the twelve months leading up to November 2025, there were 580 hate crime offences recorded in Enfield, a decrease of 11% over the same period the previous year. However, Islamophobic and Antisemitic hate crime offences have increased, partly attributed to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that began in 2023.

The report pack also detailed some of the responses to hate crime, including:

• Working closely with community partners to tackle hate crime through collaborative initiatives
• Engaging young people, ensuring they play an active role in efforts to prevent hate crime
• Supporting the National Hate Crime Awareness Week
• Offering workshops and assemblies on hate crime to both primary and secondary schools within the borough
• Collaborating with national organisations that specialise in tackling hate crime, such as True-Vision and Stop Hate UK
• Seeking advice and guidance from dedicated organisations that share best practise models and specific guidance in respect to the communities they support, including the Community Security Trust (CST) and Galop
• Working to re-establish the Enfield Multi Faith Forum

Domestic Abuse

The Equalities Board was scheduled to receive a report on support for victims of domestic abuse. The report pack included an update on progress in achieving equality objectives, including data on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Domestic Abuse in Enfield. It also detailed steps being taken to encourage the reporting of Domestic Abuse and support services available, including those targeted at specific communities.

The report pack noted the development of the Safer Stronger Communities Board Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2026-30, and that extensive stakeholder consultation took place through a series of workshops and face to face sessions as well as with established partnership groups, including the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Group and the Domestic Violence Operations Group.

The draft strategy sets out a victim centred approach, and is based on a Public Health Approach based on three tiers:

• Primary: Preventing violence before it occurs
• Secondary: Respond to the immediate risk of violence
• Tertiary: Long term support for those impacted or affected by violence

The proposed agreed strategic priorities are:

• Work in partnership to support all victims and survivors no matter where they are in their journey
• Understand, prevent and tackle the root causes of all forms of violence
• Responding to the changing nature of how harassment and violence against women and girls is committed
• Holding perpetrators to account

The report pack also included current data on domestic abuse, including:

• The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) recorded incidents of crime, highlighting that Domestic Abuse accounts for over 40% of all Violence Against the Person crimes
• There were 3,446 Domestic Abuse offences in Enfield in a 12-month period, a 2.8% decrease on the previous 12-month period
• For the period January to December 2024 there were 506 cases discussed at Enfield Domestic Abuse Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference
• According to MPS statistics, the total number of online crimes in Enfield has increased by 2.5 times in 2024 compared to the year 2023
• Enfield Council commissions Solace Women's Aid to provide Independent Domestic Violence Advocacy Service (IDVA) for Enfield residents. Between October 2023 and September 2024 Solace has received 768 referrals

The report pack also detailed Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDR's) and Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR's), noting that there have been 18 Domestic Related Homicide Reviews in Enfield since 2016.

The report pack included equalities data, noting that:

• 73% of victims were recorded as female
• 78% of suspects were recorded as male
• Based om MPS data, 34% of domestic abuse Female victims were White, 17% were Black, 5% were Asian, and 2% were from other ethnicities and 16% were Unknown
• The highest proportion of domestic abuse female victims were aged 18–24 (12%), followed by equal proportions in the 25–29, 30–34, and 35–39 age groups (each at 10%)

The report pack also detailed Enfield Council's Domestic Abuse and Housing Policy 2023-26, explaining that the policy explains the rights of all Enfield residents to access safe accommodation away from abuse.

Work Programme

The Equalities Board was scheduled to note the Work Programme for 2025/26. The Equalities Board Work Programme 2025-26 v2 listed the following items for future meetings:

• Annual Equalities Report 2024/25
• Fairer Enfield
• Domestic Abuse
• Tackling Health Inequalities
• Monitoring report on hate crime in Enfield
• Voluntary Community Services
• Housing inequality in Enfield