Halton Borough Council is working with charity Safelives to review domestic abuse services, support and provision in the borough, and your views are wanted to support this work.

SafeLives is a UK-wide charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse for everyone.  They work with organisations across the UK to transform the response to domestic abuse.

Halton’s vision is for everyone to be able to recognise domestic abuse, take responsibility and work together to tackle it. No one should live in fear – Halton aims to create safer homes, safer communities and a safer society benefitting all residents and reducing fear and harm.

At the heart of everything has to be the voices of local people, consulting with and learning from the experiences of local victims/ survivors and children is key to developing plans and services that are fit for purpose.

Halton recognises the importance of authentic service user voices in local service delivery, and is committed to improving existing arrangements to ensure that services are responsive to the needs of our local communities.

Safelives have produced two surveys to gather feedback – one for the general public and one for survivors of domestic abuse. Data from the surveys will be referenced in subsequent reports. The surveys will not ask for information which can easily identify individuals, and responses will be grouped to keep your answers from being connected back to anybody.

The aim of the survivors’ survey is for you to relate your experiences of all types of services, such as the council, social services, police or specialist domestic abuse services.  The feedback will be used to support the development and improvement of local services and to form future decision-making.

The public survey asks about your understanding of the term ‘domestic abuse’ as well as your awareness of support options in your area. Sharing your thoughts will enable understanding of what this term means to different groups of people, and where people would go for support if they need it. This survey will ask whether you or someone you know has experienced domestic abuse and whether you/they got support. You will not be asked about what happened.

The links to the surveys are here:

Public survey: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/Public_Halton

Survivor survey: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/Survivor_Halton