ALL THE LATEST UPDATES FROM THE DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY PUBLIC PROTECTION PARTNERSHIP
Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Partnership is a multi-agency group responsible for the oversight development and delivery of services to the most vulnerable children and adults who are at risk of or experiencing harm.
If you have a question relating to any of the content you read today, please reach-out to the team using one of the contact methods at the end of the newsletter.
The 5th edition of the DGPPP newsletter features a special spotlight article on Safer Gambling Week #SGWeek21
 MARAC EXCHANGE WITH FRANCE
What is MARAC?
Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Partnership have been involved in the sharing of best practice, internationally. The exchange between DG Violence Against Women and Girls Subcommittee and the University of the West of Scotland took place to examine how we develop our Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) processes, and how these processes connect with current practice in France.
‘Domestic Abuse Reform in France’ – John Sturgeon (University of the West of Scotland)
Introduction
In the last ten years almost 1400 French women have been killed by their partner or ex-partner. Following pressure from the press, feminist organisations, and from the wider public France has introduced a number of significant reforms. With help from the DG Violence Against Women and Girls Subcommittee, I gave an overview of Scots law and practice to two of the working groups.
Forces for change
The forces for change came in different forms but a detailed enquiry by a team of journalists from the newspaper “Le Monde” into each of the 128 murders committed by a partner or ex-partner in 2018 proved to be decisive in turning intention into action.
The reporting of “Le Monde”
The journalists painstakingly reconstructed each murder, revealing to the French public the familiar patterns of psychological domination, threat of violence, violence, and murder. Le Monde also exposed the police, the prosecuting authorities, and the Courts, and called them to account for failing to investigate, prosecute, and use legal means of protection that had been at their disposal for many years.
“The Enquiry”
Responding to the public pressure generated by “Le Monde” and a host of other bodies the French Government held an enquiry that took place between 3 September and 25 November 2019. The 11 working groups presented their findings on 11 October to which the Government responded on 26 November announcing 30 measures for reform.
The Measures in outline
- Awareness raising on domestic abuse in schools.
- Public awareness raising of the national “3919 helpline” for victims of domestic abuse.
- Police awareness training, the introduction of a standardised risk assessment tool, and the extension of legal powers during investigation.
- Improving the care of victims at police stations.
- Increasing availability and use of emergency telephones and geo-localisation bracelets.
- Introducing the concept of coercive control into law.
- The suicide of a victim becoming an aggravating factor in sentencing.
- Amending the strict laws of professional confidentiality to allow medical staff to report suspected abuse.
- Suspending the rights of parents regarding their children and future obligations of children to their surviving parent in the case of domestic murder.
- Extending the provision of emergency accommodation and family contact centres.
- The creation of a special legal process that will allow for assessment of accused persons.
Conclusion
Prime minister Edouard Philippe said, when announcing the government measures that “it is the perspective of a whole society that has to change”. This is something that we are aware of in our own country. When giving evidence to the working group chairs for legal measures and children, I was aware both of how much we have achieved in Scotland and how much more remains to be done.
As I write, the collective “Feminicides par compagnons ou ex » have announced the murder of Karine Ducastel by her ex-husband. She leaves behind two children aged 22 and 17. Her death is the 90th so far this year in France.
CLICK HERE TO READ JOHN STURGEON’S FULL ARTICLE
SAFE AND TOGETHER IN DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY
A successful bid was made to the Scottish Government’s Delivering Equally Safe Fund, and this will allow the Safe and Together approach to be introduced in Dumfries and Galloway.
The Safe and Together (S&T) model is recognised internationally and is used in several Scottish local authorities. The introduction of the S&T model will involve training staff working in with families (mainly Social Work) to further develop their domestic abuse competence. It links well with the principles of Signs of Safety encouraging exploration of the strengths of the non-abusing parent and working with perpetrators of domestic abuse in families where there is domestic abuse.
It is expected that training and awareness sessions will start early 2022. Watch this space for further updates
For further information on Safe and Together, including access to excellent free training and resources go to: Free Resources - Safe & Together Institute (safeandtogetherinstitute.com)
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THAT GUY CAMPAIGN
THAT GUY is a new campaign from Police Scotland that aims to reduce rape, serious sexual assault, and harassment by having frank conversations with men about male sexual entitlement. You can follow the campaign on:
The hashtag for the campaign is #DontBeThatGuy
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HERBERT PROTOCOL
The Herbert Protocol Campaign is being promoted again in Dumfries and Galloway to correspond with the changing of the clock and darker nights.
Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Partnership want to help keep vulnerable people with dementia or a learning disability as safe as possible, so we're showing our support for Police Scotland's national implementation of the Herbert Protocol.
You can download a protocol form on their website: http://ow.ly/bRpD50GbdF1
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COMPULSIVE HOARDING PRESENTATION
D&GPPP recognise that hoarding is an indicator of self-neglect, and this requires us to work collaboratively to develop multiagency solutions to protect individuals at risk of harm.
Please find Dr Fionnuala Edgar’s Compulsive Hoarding presentation, featured on the D&GPPP website. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
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 THE PROMISE - ADULT HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE.
The Promise Adult Health and Social Care Report Briefing Summary:
- Scotland must meet the needs of its adults to ensure their children grow up loved, safe and respected and realise their full potential.
- There must more support for families, based in the communities where they live.
- Scotland must not penalise parents experiencing domestic abuse- children and families’ needs are best met through an effective multi-agency, holistic response to domestic abuse that incorporates a child-friendly, non-victim blaming and trauma informed approach that holds perpetrators to account.
- Scotland must take a more flexible, whole family approach to supporting parents with problematic substance use.
- Young adults with care experience, parents and carers and must be able to access mental health support at all stages of their lives.
- Parents with learning disabilities must be given the right support, working with their assets to build on their capabilities as parents.
- There must be a significant, ongoing and persistent commitment to ending poverty and mitigating its impacts for Scotland’s children, families and communities.
- Care experienced young people must continue to be supported into adulthood.
NATIONAL GUIDANCE FOR CHILD PROTECTION IN SCOTLAND 2021
The Scottish Government have published the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021.
Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Committee wholeheartedly welcome the ambition and aspiration of the revised guidance. The revision of this crucial resource reaffirms Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Partnership’s commitment to ensuring children and young people grow up loved, safe and respected. We recognise this requires a consistent approach to care and protection, through the development of multiagency child protection processes, procedures, and learning. The revised guidance is an important step in realising this goal.
Dumfries and Galloway Public Protection Committee will be taking forward a local implementation plan with key leads across the partnership, and we will provide regular updates on the implementation process. This work will begin from October 2021 and run for a period of 18 months – 2 years.
MORE INFO ON THE CHILD PROTECTION NATIONAL GUIDANCE
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CHAIRING AND REVIEWING TEAM
The Chairing and Reviewing Team was reformed on 1st April 2021 and are part of Children Services for Dumfries and Galloway located within the Centralised Services. The team are again independent of the Children and Families locality teams.
The team has had staff changes and from 6th September 2021 the staff team will consist of four full time and one part time Senior Social Worker Chairing and Reviewing Child Protection Case Conferences. With the team reforming this has been an opportunity to think about the work we do and from 16th August 2021.
- The team will again chair all Child Protection Case Conferences.
- Mosaic has been updated.
- The identified chair will be added to a child’s case record under professional relationships.
- Requests have been added to Mosaic to support allocation and workload
There are other areas we are beginning to think about which are:
- Developing a service plan which details; our vision, what can be expected from the team and what we would expect from others
- Keeping vs changing the team’s name and job titles
- What the range of quality assurance activities we currently complete including case auditing
- How we further develop the specialist consultancy and advice to staff and other agencies
- Producing an annual report of our service achievements and areas that could get better
- The meetings our team chair
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The Promise, implementing forthcoming changes in child protection procedures, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child bill (UNCRC) and how this is all incorporated in our work.
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This is an exciting time for the team to be reforming and to support best practice, rigour and outstanding care and safety planning for Dumfries and Galloway’s children.
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 DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY ADVOCACY SERVICE - NHS ATTEND ANYWHERE VIDEO CALL
Dumfries and Galloway Advocacy Service can now offer a video call appointment as an alternative to a face-to-face appointment.
Video calling is as convenient as a phone call, with the added value of face-to-face communication. Instead of travelling to your appointment you enter our online office waiting area and your advocate is notified when you arrive and will join you when ready. There is no need to create an account and no information you enter is stored.
You access the appointment from a link that your advocate will send you via email or text message, it is up to you. All you need is a good connection to the internet (if you can watch a video online (e.g., YouTube) you can make a video call).
You can use the latest versions of either Chrome, Safari or Edge web browser on a desktop, laptop, android tablet, or smartphone (you can download any of these browsers if you do not have one, via your own web browser on your desktop or laptop – if using your tablet or smartphone go to ‘Google Play Store’ or ‘Apple Store’ and download). You will also need a web-camera, speakers, and microphone (which are already built into laptops, tablets, or mobile devices).
The video call is secure, and your privacy is protected. You have your own private video room that only authorised advocates can enter. The video is free (except for your internet usage).
Smartphone and tablet users – If you can, connect to a home or work Wi-Fi network to avoid using your mobile data allowance.
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If you have any issues or questions, please contact our office on 01387 247237 or email us at info@dgadvocacy.co.uk.
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FIRE AND SMOKE ALARMS - CHANGES TO THE LAW
Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire alarms by February 2022. These can be either mains-wired or tamper-proof battery alarms.
Being interlinked means if one alarm goes off, they all go off. You may not always hear the alarm closest to the fire, especially if you’re somewhere else in the house. An interlinked system will alert you immediately.
Please see information for home owners, tenants (private), tenants (public sector and council) and fire safety for new build homes at: Make sure your home is fire safe - mygov.scot
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SAFER GAMBLING WEEK 1-7 NOVEMBER 2021
Safer Gambling Week 2021 runs from 1st - 7th November. It is a campaign led by the gambling industry that aims to create a conversation with customers, staff and the wider public about safer gambling, driving awareness of:
- how to gamble more safely;
- the tools that are available to help people gamble safely all year round;
- sources of more advice and support.
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The whole of the UK and Irish gambling industry – amusement arcades, bingo clubs, bookmakers, casinos and online – has come together to support #SGWeek21.
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In Scotland, many people participate or are engaged in some form of gambling without any harm. However, for some people and their families gambling harm is a very serious issue with wide ranging consequences e.g., debt/bankruptcy, loss of employment, family breakdown, crime, loss of housing/homelessness, physical and mental health issues as well as ultimately suicide. There are around 30,000 problem gamblers in Scotland with a further 180,000 individuals classified as being at-risk of problem gambling (2015 data from the Scottish Health Survey).
Problem gambling does not just affect an individual. It is estimated that for every problem gambler at least six other family members, friends and work colleagues are also directly affected. Young people are also particularly affected by gambling harm caused by their parents or from their own gambling.
Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, problem gambling may have become even more prevalent in Scotland’s local communities as a hidden issue. This is due to the fact that more people are now engaged in online gambling according to the Gambling Commission.
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In September 2021, D&G colleagues attended Glasgow City Councils and Public Health Scotland’s virtual gambling harm summit this brought together people with lived experience of gambling harms, practitioners, and policy makers to share knowledge and insights in tackling the harm from gambling. We heard that gambling harm is a public health emergency and researchers estimate that 1 – 4 of those who engage in gambling can experience harm, this has been further highlighted and exacerbated by Covid-19 and lockdown.
Recordings of the main sessions from both days can be found at the Gambling Summit Landing Page here: Gambling Summit Landing Page
Materials referred to during workshops also available on the Gambling Summit Landing Page.
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SUICIDE PREVENTION - SAMARITANS
Samaritans vision is for a Scotland where fewer lives are lost to suicide and where everyone can get the right help and support when they need it most.
The Dumfries branch of Samaritans is one of 19 branches across Scotland, offering a range of services, the main one of which is taking calls and responding to emails from across the UK on the free national helpline which is available to anyone who is struggling 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – 116 123.
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One caller said “Calling Samaritans gave me back my voice. It gave me the space I needed to talk”.
Ann Stephenson took up the voluntary post of Director of the Dumfries branch on 1 April this year. She said:
“We have had a very busy time since I became Director. Our offices on Loreburn St were no longer fit for purpose and so after making a business case we moved to Hestan House on the Crichton Estate on 8 October. This has given all our volunteers a new impetus to continue and expand our important work in Dumfries and Galloway, not just taking calls, but resuming our outreach services, post covid, including our joint work with Network Rail. Our work with Dumfries Prison, in partnership with the Scottish Prison Service, has already resumed, training and supporting prisoners to become listeners so they can directly support inmates who are struggling. As we move forward and expand our volunteer base, we hope to expand our work still further. We particularly want to work with communities at a local level to support suicide prevention and promote mental and emotional well-being”.
She added: “Being a member of the D&G Suicide Prevention Group is also very important to me. Collaborative working is essential, and I feel I can bring some of our national work to the table too”.
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Some of Samaritans national policy priorities include:
Samaritans has also conducted research to understand how coronavirus affected people who access their services. Their detailed analysis can be found in their full report “One year on: how the coronavirus pandemic has affected wellbeing and suicidality”.
Samaritans Small Talk Saves Lives campaign shows how all of us can make a difference. The campaign reminds us that, by trusting our instincts, if something doesn’t feel right, a little small talk and a simple question, such as “Hello, what’s the time?” can be all it takes to interrupt someone’s suicidal thoughts and help set them on the journey to recovery.
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Although many in need of support reach out to Samaritans, we know it can sometimes be difficult for people to talk about feelings and pick up the phone. A new Samaritans Self-Help app has been created to provide a type of support that can be used without having to discuss feelings with someone else. It helps people learn safe, memorable techniques for coping with things that are troubling them. It can also help someone make a plan to stay safe in a crisis and keep track of things they can do away from the app to help them feel better.
Information on all the work highlighted above and much more can be found on the Samaritans website – www.samaritans.org
Ann Stephenson can be contacted by email on: Dumfries.director@samaritans.org
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LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
We hope that many of you managed to attend recent L&D events such as: Purple Alert Workshop, Legal Services Workshop, and Missing People Workshop.
All the workshop events have received really positive feedback so far, so make sure to look out for up-coming learning opportunities through publicprotection@dumgal.gov.uk
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CONTACT
Thank you very much for reading this issue of the DGPPP Newsletter.
💬 If you would like to leave any feedback or contribute to the next Newsletter, please contact publicprotection@dumgal.gov.uk
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Visit our DGPPP website for resources and latest Public Protection updates.
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