Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on rates of re-offending of programmes aimed at perpetrators of domestic violence who are serving prison sentences.

Tackling domestic violence and abuse is a key priority for this Government. The programme for men convicted of domestic violence replaces and builds on the success of two programmes that achieved a 13 per cent reduction in overall reoffending of participants. The current programme is designed in line with the latest international evidence of the most effective way to tackle reoffending in domestic violence cases, and has been accredited by a panel of independent, international experts. An evaluation of its effectiveness is planned.