Blackburn with Darwen action on 'distressing' domestic abuse

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s public health boss had promised continued action with the police after the authority’s ‘distressing’ failure to meet its own performance target to tackle repeat domestic abuse.

Cllr Damian Talbot made the pledge as the authority’s ruling executive board meeting on Thursday discussed an update by council leader Cllr Phil Riley on its Corporate Plan Performance for April 1 to June 30.

A special ‘exception report’ revealed that the number of repeat domestic abuse cases reported to a special The Multi-Agency Risk Reduction Assessment Conference (MARRAC) relating to individuals who have had a previous case heard within the last two years had gone up from 21 to 31.

Cllr Talbot, who also chairs the borough’s domestic abuse partnership, said: “This is a complex and very distressing situation.

“But more victims are engaging with the process and more of these cases are being recorded.”

He said that one problem was that victims often did not wish to press charges leaving the perpetrator out there and able to repeat the abuse.

But Cllr Talbot said the council would continue to work with the police to tackle the issue.

Overall the number of domestic abuse cases reported in the three months fell from 114 cases in April 1 to June 30 2024 to the 78 in the same period this year.

But the level of repeat cases heard at MARRAC currently sits above the target annual rate of 25 per cent at 39 per cent.

Cllr Riley said: “These figures are not disturbing but they are certainly food for thought.’

His update said that out of 44 Key Performance Indicators, 21 measures were rated Green (on or above target), 10 measures Amber (not currently on target) and four were rated Red (significantly below target). Nine measures could not be assessed.

The other three performance measures rated as Red are on increasing the number of Care Act Carer Assessments completed; the percentage of safeguarding adult enquiries triaged within one day; and the net total of new foster carers to look after borough children.

Cllr Riley said these failures reflected the ambitious goals the council had set itself and pointed to its success in hitting its target to cut town hall staff absence when the trend in other authorities nationwide had gone the other way.

Children’s services boss Cllr Julie Gunn said the fostering target had been missed because of five resignations of carers for appropriate and personal reasons.