Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with police forces on improving investigations into cases involving coercive and controlling behaviour.

The statutory definition of domestic abuse, contained within the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, explicitly recognises coercive controlling behaviour (CCB) as a form of domestic abuse.

The government is committed to ensuring policing has the right skills and training to respond robustly to crimes of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including CCB. Whilst the Domestic Abuse Matters training programme covers CCB extensively and has now been delivered to over 80% of police forces in England and Wales we know that more needs to be done to transform the police response.

In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening and standardising officer training, at all levels, to ensure that our police have the right skills and training to respond appropriately and compassionately to victims of VAWG, in every force. That’s why we have announced £13.1 million funding to establish the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP), this includes an uplift of £2m to improve police training. The NCVPP is developing a comprehensive training package, grounded in academic research and behaviour change science, to ensure that all frontline officers are equipped to manage investigations, and that senior leaders are able to advance stronger safeguarding arrangements for victims of all VAWG crimes, including CCB.