Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to monitor breaches of exclusion zones relating to (a) domestic abuse and (b) other violent crimes.

This Government is committed to protecting all victims and tackling domestic abuse and violent crime.

To gain protection from domestic abuse, police can apply for a Domestic Violence Protection Order, victims can apply for a Non-Molestation Order and criminal courts can impose a Restraining Order on acquittal or conviction of a criminal offence. In cases of violent crime, police forces can apply to the court for a Criminal Behaviour Order, Gang Injunction, or Knife Crime Prevention Order which can also impose exclusion zones. Additionally, in community sentences, the court can impose electronically monitored exclusion zones. Responding to breaches is an operational matter for the police to decide upon.

The introduction of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, will help to strengthen the evidence base for pursuing and prosecuting breach of an exclusion zone in cases of domestic abuse. The new order will be piloted from next year in Gwent, Greater Manchester, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley, and the British Transport Police (Domestic abusers face crackdown in raft of new measures - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).

For offenders on licence, breach of exclusion zones could result in recall by probation and arrest and return to custody by the police. Later this year, the Ministry of Justice will begin a project to test the effectiveness of electronic monitoring of additional licence conditions, including exclusion zones, for domestic abuse perpetrators released on licence.