Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) Greater Manchester Police and (b) other police forces are adequately resourced to manage the increased demand on services resulting from the implementation of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.

In November, we launched Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) in select areas including Greater Manchester. These orders are the first to introduce a robust range of restrictions for perpetrators such as the ability to impose electronic tagging and attendance on behaviour change programmes.

In the short time since these orders have launched, we have seen them being used to protect a range of domestic abuse victims including those experiencing coercive and controlling behaviour, which could not be done previously. I am also very pleased to hear how forces like Greater Manchester Police are dealing with breaches swiftly and that custodial sentences have been obtained in some cases.

The Home Office has commissioned an evaluation on the rollout of DAPOs to understand how they are working in practice. The evaluation will include an assessment of how police are resourcing DAPOs. Early findings will be used to help inform our plans for national rollout.