Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure police officers are effectively trained to handle cases of domestic abuse and sexual violence in Hull North.

Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls is a priority for this government. We expect police to treat all victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence with the sensitivity and compassion they deserve.

In July 2021, the Government published an ambitious cross-Government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy. The strategy set out actions to prioritise prevention, help support survivors, strengthen the pursuit of perpetrators and create a stronger system, with an ultimate long-term objective of reducing the prevalence of these crimes.

In driving delivery of our commitments set out in the strategy, we have supported the introduction of a new full-time National Policing Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls, DCC Maggie Blyth. We have also announced that we will be adding violence against women and girls to the Strategic Policing Requirement, meaning it will be set out as a national threat for forces to respond to alongside other threats such as terrorism, serious and organised crime and child sexual abuse.

To strengthen the police response to domestic abuse nationally and as part of our commitment in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, we have committed up to £3.3m to support the development and further rollout of the Domestic Abuse Matters training.

As part of this commitment, we are funding the development of a new module of the training that is targeted at officers investigating domestic abuse offences to enable further improvement in police responses to domestic abuse incidents. Humberside Police, which covers Hull North, have undertaken the Domestic Abuse Matters training, and we are grateful to them for prioritising this important training in their force.