Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support (a) Hourglass and (b) other charities that provide advice to older victims of domestic abuse.

We know that domestic abuse affects a wide and disparate group and that a “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate to support all victims. Whilst anyone can suffer from domestic abuse, for older victims, abuse may be more hidden and disguised, or compounded by other age-related factors such as ill health.

We understand the importance of specialist and ‘by and for’ services (specialist services that are designed and delivered by and for the users and communities they aim to serve) in providing the tailored support that victims and survivors of domestic abuse need. We work closely with and fund organisations providing this vital support, including the charity Hourglass. In 2021/22, the Home Office provided Hourglass over £200,000 to support their work in enhancing their helpline, providing casework support, and training specialist IDVAs. For 2022/23, we have provided pro-rata funding for an extended 8 months.

In July 2022, we published our Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance which will support frontline services in identifying and responding to domestic abuse, including recognising unique barriers and experiences that some victims, including with protected characteristics or complex needs, may face.

The guidance follows on from the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and our Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, published in March 2022, which invests over £230 million of new funding to tackle domestic abuse, with over £140 million to support victims. This includes over £47 million in ringfenced funding for victims’ services.

Our Domestic Abuse Plan also commits to, where possible, offering multi-year awards to funding to organisations supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse to support smaller organisations, including ‘by and for’ services, to offer a stable service to victims and survivors. The VAWG National Statement of Expectations, and Commissioning Toolkit, published alongside the Plan, supports commissioners to increase provision of ‘by and for’ and specialist services.