Domestic Abuse

(asked on 8th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend the Ask for ANI Scheme to people who are housebound due to the covid-19 pandemic so that (a) people at risk can speak to pharmacy delivery workers to access domestic abuse support and (b) the necessary training can be provided to those delivering from pharmacies to people’s homes.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 16th February 2021

Home should be a safe place but for those confined with an abuser it is clearly not, that is why the ‘Ask for ANI’ codeword scheme is so important.

There are currently more than 2,600 pharmacies participating in the codeword scheme nationwide. Since its launch a few weeks ago, we have seen the scheme been used by a range of victims. We maintain an ongoing sign-up process, and are seeing more pharmacies sign-up each week.

Evaluation of the codeword scheme has begun, and we expect early findings in the Spring. Using the evidence collected we will explore options for further expansion of the scheme into other settings.

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