Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of (1) the work of the charity Hourglass, and (2) its helpline for older people.

This government recognises that, although 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.

When tackling domestic abuse, we also 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) are vital in providing the tailored support that victims and survivors of domestic abuse need.

We work closely with and fund organisations providing this support, including Hourglass, which supports elder victims of abuse, including domestic abuse.

Since 2018, the Home Office has funded Hourglass to enhance their helpline, provide casework support, and train specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. As with all our funded programmes, we hold regular monitoring meetings with Hourglass to understand the impact of this funding. In 2021/22, Hourglass supported over 3,000 cases.