Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps is she taking to (a) standardise the use of the domestic violence disclosure scheme across police forces and (b) remove discrepancies in how likely forces are to pass on information.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure System also known as ‘Clare’s Law’ enables police to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse about their partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive or violent offending.

As part of the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 we are putting the guidance on which the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme is based into statute. This will place a duty on all police forces to apply the guidance unless there is good reason not to, and will strengthen the visibility and consistent operation of the scheme across England and Wales.