Decision details

Doncaster Council submitted a bid to the Ministry of Justice via the Office of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for a full time Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) Domestic Abuse worker. The new role will work in partnership with the existing and highly successful Domestic Abuse Hub and alongside the Council's Health Protection Engagement Coordinators. The worker would have a reduced caseload in order to spend quality time proactively developing community links and building trust between GRT women, but may also include male victims and other support services.
Doncaster is the permanent home to the UK’s largest Gypsy Traveller populations, who make up one of our largest ethnic minority groups. Estimates range greatly from around 590 (2011 Census) to other local estimates of over 4000 people. These estimates equate to between 0.2% and 1.3% of the total population.
A study estimated that between 60% to 80% of women from travelling communities experience domestic abuse during their lives, compared to 25% of the female population generally. Despite this very high percentage, we are aware that our DA services in Doncaster have not received any referrals from victims, who have been identified as being part of the GRT community. We
know from local experience and the barriers highlighted in the Traveller Movement's recent Good Practice Guide that GRT victims find it hard and show reluctance to access DA support or the support we offer, which may not be culturally competent or tailored to support their needs.
The new role, working across Rotherham and Doncaster, would support approximately 15 victims at any one time, but also develop a specific GRT support group and provide cultural advice to partner agencies to improve the recording of ethnicity, so that we can better understand the prevalence of domestic abuse within the GRT community and improve our first responses. The worker would also work closely with the Council’s DA Survivor Liaison Service to ensure that the voice and experiences of GRT women are heard throughout the partnership and we explore further opportunities for consultation and collaboration.
We will also seek to work with the Traveller Movement and use their services to provide specialist training to all domestic abuse workers in Doncaster. By establishing improved links between the GRT and partner agencies, we aim to improve cultural awareness amongst professionals. Throughout the duration of the funding, we seek to gain additional evidence to sustain the service, or ensure proportionate representation within the mainstreamed domestic abuse services and multi-agency arrangements.
Doncaster will be responsible for recruiting the new role and the three year funding (outlined below) will cover salary and on costs for one worker to work across Doncaster and Rotherham and associated travel costs. Built into the first year of funding will be the costs of specialist GRT training, which will be sourced from the Traveller Movement.

See attached Officer Decision Record for information regarding costings for the post.

To accept the Ministry of Justice grant to fund a specialist Gypsy Roma Traveller Domestic Abuse worker from 2022-2025, to work across Doncaster and Rotherham.

Option 1: Do Nothing
This is not viewed as a viable option, as without the required approval to use grant funding in this way; we may risk non-compliance with financial regulations. Should we not take up the option to utilise this funding, it would mean that we are unable to adequately support this underserved minority group. Within the DA Strategy, intersectionality remains one of our areas of greatest improvement and it is an equality, diversity and inclusion priority for the Council.