Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there is a requirement for the victims of domestic abuse to be informed when the perpetrator of their abuse is released early under the home detention curfew scheme.

Offenders currently serving a sentence for a domestic abuse offence are extremely unlikely to be released on home detention curfew (HDC). Since June 2023, offenders serving current sentences for specified domestic abuse offences are presumed unsuitable for HDC. This means they will only be considered for release under the scheme where there are highly specific and exceptional circumstances.

More broadly, victims of specified sexual and violent offences, where the prison sentence is 12 months or more, have a statutory entitlement to the Probation Victim Contact Scheme (VCS). Victims will be updated with key stages in the sentence, including when an offender due to be released on HDC, and have the statutory right to request licence conditions on release, such as a no contact condition and an exclusion zone.

Also, we have recently introduced a victim notification scheme (VNS) for victims of stalking and harassment where the offences are non-qualifying for the VCS. Victims will be informed of the offender’s release which is more likely to be at their normal automatic release date given the presumption against release on HDC, and will be offered the chance to request licence conditions. The VNS was piloted in a few probation regions but is now being rolled out nationally with the expectation that it will be live in all areas in England and Wales by the spring.