DOMESTIC abuse in St Helens is a “social and cultural problem”, a senior councillor has said as it was revealed almost 3,000 crimes were reported last year.

At full council this week, a motion was passed that called for a number of actions around addressing domestic abuse in St Helens.

After passing the motion, which was submitted by Labour’s Jeanie Bell, the council will write to the Home Secretary to demand additional funding to support essential housing provision for victims of domestic abuse.

READ > New St Helens town centre 'chugger' policy approved

This comes after Cllr Bell, cabinet member for community safety, raised funding concerns last month around government proposals to support victims of domestic abuse in accommodation-based services in England, which would place a statutory responsibility on the local authority.

Speaking on Wednesday, Cllr Bell said while she welcomes the proposals, “urgent investment” in housing, policing, public health and all public services that support victims of domestic abuse is needed.

Cllr Bell revealed there were 2,921 domestic abuse crimes reported in St Helens in 2018-19 – but warned the actual number of crimes is much higher.

She said the majority of victims in St Helens are women and highlighted the recent murders of Rachel Evans and Samantha Gosney.

Cllr Bell said: “There’s been an increase in domestic abuse homicides in St Helens, we’ve seen it in the press locally and we know the figures are high.

“But how much of that is being kept within four walls and within our communities?

“It’s widely understood that official crime statistics, they show you reported crime, but they do not show you the dark figure of crime, that which is not reported.

“And domestic abuse is one of the main culprits of that because people are frightened of coming forward.

“If we’re ever going to tackle what I think is a social and cultural problem of domestic abuse is St Helens, we need to be open and start talking about it very loudly.

“We need to start teaching our children about safe and appropriate relationship behaviour and we need to support victims and families and friends and neighbours to come forward.”

St Helens Star:

Cllr Jeanie Bell, cabinet member for community safety

Labour’s Nova Charlton, who is the chairman of the council’s children and young people’s services overview and scrutiny panel, shared some statistics with members to highlight the “catastrophic effect” domestic abuse has on children.

She revealed there are now 505 children and young people in the care of St Helens Council.

Of that number, 40 per cent of all children currently cared for had domestic abuse as an identified risk factor at their initial assessment.

She said domestic violence within the household was one of the most common risk factors identified for children in need during 2017-18.

In St Helens, 57 per cent of assessments completed in the same period for children in need had domestic violence as a risk factor identified, which is higher than the national average of 51 per cent.

Cllr Charlton said: “These figures are alarming and highlight that domestic violence has a catastrophic effect on the lives of people.

“I support Cllr Bell’s motion and I hope, going forward, the work carried out by the council and its partners will have a positive impact on the lives of all the people living in our borough.”

Conservative councillor Linda Mussell said domestic abuse is a “complex issue”, adding work needs to be done to break the cycle of abuse.

She said the rise in abuse being reported is partly down to more victims coming forward and police officers being “more sympathetic” to reports of abuse.

Liberal Democrat councillor Geoff Pearl added that there needs to be more support for victims.

The motion, which received cross-party support, called on the council to work towards delivering a comprehensive, “whole council” domestic abuse strategy.

READ > St Helens Council declares climate emergency - but Greens say it isn't enough

This new strategy would replace the current one, which was approved in February 2018 and was intended to run until 2023.

Cllr Bell said: “Understanding domestic abuse and how it impacts individuals, families and communities – because it is a whole community problem – is crucial to ensuring that St Helens provides a good quality and effective service provision right the way across our borough.

“A coordinated community approach to tackling domestic abuse that involves strategic and operation multi-agency intervention is essential in reducing abuse in the borough and preventing the harm it causes.”