Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent independent (a) domestic and (b) sexual violence advisers have been funded by his Department in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Justice has committed to ringfenced funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors (ISVAs/IDVAs) by 300 to over 1000 by 2024/25 - a 43% increase on the number of ISVAs and IDVAs over the next three years. This builds on the funding provided in 20/21 and 21/22 to recruit c700 ISVA and IDVA posts. We are distributing this ringfenced funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to recruit ISVAs and IDVAs in their local areas. Recruitment for the additional 300 posts commenced in May 2022, and we are currently working closely with PCCs to track progress of this recruitment. In addition to this funding, PCCs also have discretion to use core victim support grant funding for additional ISVAs and IDVAs, based on their assessment of local need.

The MoJ has information on ISVAs and IDVAs funded from 20/21, which is when the specific ringfenced funding was introduced.

In addition, the Department has committed to supporting ISVAs and IDVAs through measures published in the draft Victims Bill. The Bill will introduce a definition of IDVA and ISVA roles, a power for the Secretary of State to issue statutory guidance on these roles, and a duty on agencies and those who work with victims to have due regard to the guidance.