Purpose

Without the restructure the following issues
will not be addressed and this will have a detrimental impact on
the employees and the victims of domestic abuse service that are
supported by this service:
Issues to be resolved by the restructure:
The Council’s domestic abuse service has changed dramatically
over the years, but the structure and way of working has, in the
main, remained the same. Over the years a number of issues have
developed that require immediate attention:
? A lack of continuity of care for victims as risk fluctuates
? Difference in salary grades between different workers creates
conflict between workers
? The Domestic Abuse Caseworker, IDVA, Survivor Liaison Service and
DA hub operate as
separate services rather than one service
? Different processes and paperwork for each service
? Remote working (brought about during Covid 19) has hindered
communication between workers and managers
? Caseloads are different for each service area
? Management styles differ
? A backlog in processing hub referrals
? A 6-8 week waiting list for a domestic abuse caseworker
? Caseloads for IDVAs are double the SafeLives recommendation
? Staff sickness is higher than the target with work stress being
one of the main causes
? Staff morale is low
? Data collection and analysis requires improvement
? Case supervision is inconsistent across the service
? There is currently no capacity for case file audits

Content

1) To agree the restructure of the
council’s domestic abuse service and the additional financial
implications.
The restructure will involve an additional cost of £3,561 per
caseworker, to take eight Domestic Abuse Caseworkers from the top
of grade 7 to the bottom of grade 8 as they transition to
become Independent Domestic Violence Advocates, as part of the
domestic abuse service restructure.
This will be an additional annual cost of £28,326. Plus, an
additional manager for the service at Grade 9 scp 30 £47,615
(all costs are inclusive of oncosts but based on 2023 pay
scales).
Total additional cost = £76,103. There are also additional
training costs at approximately £15,000 that will be incurred
over the next two years.