Operational efficiency Case study
Paid leave for domestic
abuse victims
South Ayrshire Council is the first local authority in the UK to offer
an additional 10 days’ paid leave to domestic abuse survivors,
alongside a raft of other case-by-case support. THIRZA TOOES reports
The organisation
South Ayrshire Council is a Scottish local
authority responsible for providing services to
around 112,700 constituents. Labour and the
Scottish National Party control the council,
although 12 of the 28 members are
Conservatives. It is divided into four main
service areas (resources, governance and
organisation; economy, neighbourhood and
environment; educational services; and health
and social care), each led by an executive
director with a number of department heads
under them. The council has 5,116 employees.
The problem
According to the Office for National Statistics
7.9% of women and 4.2% of men experienced
domestic abuse in 2018 in the UK. That’s
1,300,000 women and 685,000 men.
In Scotland the police recorded 59,541
incidents in 2017 to 2018, 82% of which had a
female victim. In South Ayrshire alone there
were 1,027 incidents recorded that year. And
actually all of these statistics could be higher, as
not all victims will report violence or even be
aware of what constitutes abuse.
Scotland is leading the way in tackling this
issue though. Its parliament passed the
Domestic Abuse Act in February 2018 by 118
votes to one (the opposing MSP, Margaret
Mitchell, later said she had pressed the wrong
button during the vote). The Act covers not
only physical violence but emotional and
psychological abuse, including coercive and
controlling behaviour for the first time, and
came into force in April 2019.
To back up the legislation the government
rolled out a national public awareness
campaign and gave £825,000 to Police Scotland
to train 14,000 staff, with online training also
available to all of the force’s 22,000 staff.
Assistant chief constable Gillian MacDonald
said: “This new offence is groundbreaking.
For the first time it will allow us to investigate
and report the full circumstances of an
abusive relationship.
“In preparation for the change in law our
officers and staff have received further training
on the dynamics of power and control in
abusive relationships to help recognise the
signs, identify investigative opportunities and
to tackle the myths and misconceptions of
abuse that still exist.”
Legislation in England and Wales is lagging
behind though. A Domestic Abuse Bill that
would force councils to provide shelter for
victims was put to the House of Commons in
July but halted when prime minister Boris
Johnson prorogued parliament. It’s now on its
second reading.
Themethod
Amid all this political activity at a national
level, South Ayrshire Council had been quietly
implementing internal support of its own.
Inspired by paid domestic abuse leave
legislation in New Zealand, councillor Laura
Brennan-Whitefield put forward a motion in
December 2018 to introduce something similar.
Because South Ayrshire was the first UK
council to offer this, there was nothing like it in
The policy and guidance for managers was The Safe Leave and other related support South Ayrshire
Council was
inspired by
legislation in
New Zealand
E-learning content is available to all council staff 46 HR November 2019 hrmagazine.co.uk
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