Agenda item

At the request of the Panel at its previous meeting, the Panel received a presentation from the Council’s Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead, who provided an overview of White Ribbon and the requirements for White Ribbon accreditation.

Members were advised that the White Ribbon was an international prevention campaign focussed on engaging men and boys to challenge attitudes, behaviours and systems that underpinned violence against women and girls.  The presentation outlined the preventive and intersectional ethos of the White Ribbon, emphasising cultural change, allyship and shared responsibility in addressing harmful gender norms and expressions of masculinity.

The Panel heard that White Ribbon accreditation would demonstrate the Council’s commitment to preventing violence against women and girls through transformational culture change across its workforce, systems and communities and would support alignment with the government’s VAWG strategy.  Members were advised that accreditation required the development and delivery of a three-year action plan, supported by senior leadership, a steering group and a network of trained ambassadors and champions.

The steps required prior to application were outlined, including the appointment of a lead contact and strategic lead, establishment of a steering group and registration of ambassadors and champions.  It was stated that the Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead or the Domestic Abuse Coordinator would act as the lead contact for the accreditation process, and that the Chief Executive had recently expressed an interest in acting as the Strategic Lead.

Members were informed that White Ribbon provided a local authority action plan template covering strategic leadership, engaging men and boys, changing culture and raising awareness and that accreditation was intended to be a long-term commitment rather than a one-off exercise.  Members were also advised that, subject to White Ribbon’s approval of the local authority’s action plan, accreditation would be awarded for a three-year period, the associated accreditation fee of £995 was also noted.

A member queried whether Middlesbrough Council had previously held White Ribbon accreditation.  It was advised that the local authority had previously been accredited for a three-year period; however, the accreditation had lapsed due to capacity issues, including staff sickness, and the authority had not reapplied within the required timescales.  The member further queried how progress had been measured previously.  It was noted that evaluation arrangements had been limited and could have been stronger, and that consideration would be given to developing clearer key performance indicators as part of any new action plan submitted.

A member asked how many neighbouring local authorities currently held White Ribbon accreditation.  The Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead advised that there were none locally and undertook to provide members with a list of accredited local authorities.  The member further queried the relatively low uptake of accreditation, and it was suggested that this was likely linked to capacity constraints as not all local authorities had a dedicated Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead.  It was noted that Middlesbrough now had an opportunity to progress this work further with a Domestic Abuse Coordinator in post.

A member commented that it was important for this work to “become the norm” and to be positively received by young men, including within schools, rather than being perceived as punitive.  Reference was made to the need to promote positive role models and challenge harmful influences. 

In response, the Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead advised that during the Council’s previous period of White Ribbon accreditation, players from Middlesbrough Football Club had worn the White Ribbon during football matches, which had been a highly visible and impactful way of promoting the message and engaging men and boys.  It was suggested that similar role model approaches, alongside trusted professionals such as teachers and youth workers, could again support cultural change.

This led to a discussion on education and prevention, including the role of schools and the potential use of welfare leads to support this agenda.  It was agreed that further evidence should be sought at a future meeting from Children’s Services, potentially at Director level, to provide an overview of current work with schools aligned to the national Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, including engagement with school welfare leads.

Members also discussed White Ribbon Day on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  While acknowledging the value of awareness-raising activity on the day itself, members emphasised the importance of full White Ribbon accreditation to ensure a sustained commitment to prevention and culture change, rather than reliance on a single annual event.

During the discussion, members expressed strong support for the Council becoming White Ribbon accredited.  It was noted that members viewed accreditation as an important step in demonstrating organisational leadership on the prevention of violence against women and girls and in supporting wider cultural change.  Members therefore requested that work to progress White Ribbon accreditation be taken forward.

Agreed that:

•         The information provided on White Ribbon accreditation be noted.

•         Officers proceed with the necessary steps to applying for accreditation.

•         Further evidence be sought from Children’s Services on work with schools relating to healthy relationships, education and prevention, in line with the national Violence Against Women and Girls strategy.