1. Has Wokingham Borough Council Children’s Services department arranged for its social care staff to attend domestic abuse training on The Safe & Together Model? (As set out in the BASW England: Domestic Abuse Guidance for social workers April 2021).
No

2. If the answer to question 1 is yes, please tell us the number of staff in this department, and by their job title, that have attended this training as of 8th August 2022.
Not applicable

3. If the answer to question 1 is no, please tell us if your children’s services department has arranged for its social care staff to attend domestic abuse training on Women’s Aid Change That Lasts Programme? (As set out in the BASW England: Domestic Abuse Guidance for social workers April 2021).
No

4. If the answer to questions 1 and 3 is no, please tell us if your children’s services department has provided any other specific training to staff to deal with domestic abuse cases?
Yes

5. If the answer to question 4 is yes, please tell me the name of this training, how it was delivered, it’s duration and whether it was mandatory or optional?
We offer a comprehensive programme of training including both mandatory and optional sessions. The detailed training plan responds to workforce learning needs and builds on learning from case reviews, audits, local and national drivers.
Learning is currently provided by elearning, webinars, conferences, virtual sessions and resources see some examples below:
• Domestic Abuse Awareness
• Domestic Abuse and Safety Planning
• Domestic Abuse Supporting Victims/Survivors
• Domestic Abuse and Money Matters: Exploring the links between the escalating cost of living / financial pressures on relationships and mental health
• Domestic Abuse working with perpetrators
• Domestic Abuse: Legal Remedies Available to Victim-Survivors through the Civil Courts
• How Domestic Abuse Impacts and Effects Children & Young People
• Gaining a Better Understanding and Awareness of Domestic Abuse within Black and Minoritised Communities
• LGBT+ Domestic Violence & Abuse e-learning
• Understanding the Additional Challenges and Barriers Faced by Male Victims and Survivors of Domestic Abuse

6. If the answer to question 4 is yes, please also tell us the number of staff in this department, and by their job title, that have attended this training as of 8th August 2022?
Based on system data for elearning, face to face & virtual seminar events attended before 8th August 2022 348 Children’s Services Staff attended in excess of 967 Domestic Abuse related training sessions. This data does not include webinars, conferences and resource learning and is not able to provide information down to individual job titles.

7. If the answer to questions 1 and 3 is no, please tell us if your children’s services department has provided any other specific training to staff on Controlling and Coercive Behaviours (Coercive Control) to deal with domestic abuse cases?
Yes

8. If the answer to question 7 is yes, please tell me the name of this training, how it was delivered, it’s duration and whether it was mandatory or optional?
Both mandatory and optional training courses provide learning around controlling and coercive behaviours it is embedded throughout our domestic abuse training e.g:
• Children’s Safeguarding Universal (Mandatory) - training provides an understanding of the four domains of abuse, alongside local context and local needs, including affluent neglect and its corrosive impact on young people, the concerning issues of exploitation of children both sexually and in a criminal context, domestic abuse, and coercive control as well as contextual safeguarding thereby ensuring that children are safe outside of the family.
• Domestic Abuse Children’s Services Learning Event (optional) - This learning event provides a comprehensive overview of the domestic abuse act 2021 focusing on the implications for Children’s services and provide information to increase understanding of economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour and the impact of culture and intersectionality.

9. Has Wokingham Borough Council Children’s Services department arranged for its social care staff to attend training on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (and the Statutory Guidance July 2022)?
Yes Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is incorporated throughout our domestic abuse training programme no training has been provided at this time on the statutory guidance as this has only just been published.

10. If the answer to question 9 is yes, please tell us the number of staff in this department, and by their job title, that have attended this training as of 8th August 2022.
As the act is interwoven throughout the whole training programme specific data relating just to the Domestic Abuse Act is unavailable.