The Audit Commission today launched a tool to help public bodies answer the question, ‘how good are we at tackling domestic abuse?’
The tool helps local commissioners and practitioners evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their local services and partnerships. It uses self-assessment techniques to focus on priority issues, such as:
- shaping services around the needs of the victims and recognising their differing needs;
- constructive and complementary working between different agencies;
- making the best use of limited funding; and
- effective prevention.
Successfully tackling domestic abuse is vital for victims and their families – and brings economic benefits to the local bodies involved. Each serious case costs local agencies around £20,000, and the impact is felt across the public sector. Emergency health services, the police and the criminal justice system, face immediate direct costs. There are also long-term costs to local councils, especially to their social services, education and housing departments.
Reductions in local funding mean that it has never been more important for those working in this field to look at the efficiency and effectiveness of every aspect of their service. This is essential to maintain the benefits that have been achieved in recent years – a reduction of 67 percent in reported incidents of serious domestic violence between 1997 and 2009/10.
Andy McKeon, MD Policy, Analysis and Research, said:
‘We all know that the public sector is facing a challenging time financially. Councils and their partners must make every penny count and make tough decisions about their spending. Making a domestic abuse service more efficient and effective means victims can continue to get the support they need. We hope that the self-assessment tool we’ve launched today will help councils, police and all those involved in preventing and dealing with domestic abuse, get the most from their service.’
The online tool includes case studies that illustrate successful approaches to improving domestic abuse services. It also identifies the common themes of successful approaches, and some of the barriers to success.
Notes to editors
- The Audit Commission is a public corporation set up in 1983 to protect the public purse.
- The Commission appoints auditors to councils, NHS bodies (excluding NHS Foundation trusts), police authorities and other local public services in England, and oversees their work.
- We also help public bodies manage the financial challenges they face by providing authoritative, unbiased, evidence-based analysis and advice.
- In August 2010, the government announced plans to disband the Audit Commission and put in place new arrangements for auditing England's local public bodies.
- The Commission is undertaking a procurement exercise to outsource the work of its in-house Audit Practice. Beginning in 2012/13, the Commission will award contracts of three to five years to private audit firms.
- The government is currently considering responses to its consultation on the ‘future arrangements for local public audit’ that are intended to replace the Audit Commission.
For further information please contact: Louise Neilan, Media Relations Manager. Tel: 020 7166 2132 / Mob: 07766 697 801. Email : l-neilan@audit-commission.gov.uk