Case studies

Summary Springfield Park is in an area of Cheltenham that ranks high in the tables of deprivation. Far from being the community asset it was designed to be, fears about personal safety and anti-social behaviour meant the park was shunned by local residents. Cheltenham Borough Council turned to the local community for a solution.

The London Borough of Lambeth has incorporated FGM into their wider work on violence against women and girls, working with colleagues in partner organisations for a multi-agency approach to tackling the issue.

The 10 boroughs in the Greater Manchester area have coordinated their approach towards FGM to ensure that there is a consistent approach across Greater Manchester to tackling FGM.

Councillor Gingell, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services, raised the issue of FGM at a full council meeting in December 2013. A Full Council Motion (Appendix A) was introduced to condemn the practice, which was unanimously supported.

Overview Bristol has created a "Bristol Model" for tackling FGM, focused on community engagement and empowerment, strong partnership working and developing the right services and resources to tackle the issue at a local level.

The borough identified the need to work with at risk communities to increase reporting for support (voluntary or statutory support) and the need for greater understanding among professionals in supporting FGM victims.

Birmingham City Council and its partners have concentrated on mainstreaming Prevent across all relevant service areas and, in particular, in schools and has appointed a schools resilience adviser to help them address the Prevent agenda.

Under the previous Prevent regime Bristol established a successful partnership with the Muslim community called Building the Bridge. It is now redeveloping that scheme so it has a wider focus including setting up advisory groups to engage women and young people and tackle far-right extremism.

Calderdale Council has worked with taxi drivers to maximise the reach of its Prevent work.  It has been able to recruit dedicated staff, including a Prevent coordinator. The focus for the future will be working with women and schools.

Cornwall has put a big emphasis on helping tackle dangerous internet use. It has used an EU project to help parents keep their IT-savvy children safe. Prevent training is also being rolled out to groups such as local Scouts to ensure its impact is felt far-and-wide.