Asked by: Chris Webb (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have published our transformative VAWG Strategy, which sets out an ambitious cross-government vision and concrete commitments to halve VAWG in a decade. I chair a cross-government ministerial Board with Minister Davies-Jones to oversee the implementation of these commitments. We have already delivered a pilot for the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in five forces and £13.1 million of funding for the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to improve the policing response to these crimes. We have also appointed Richard Wright KC to lead the Stalking Legislation Review ensuring the criminal law on stalking is fit for purpose.Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities follow best practice in commissioning domestic abuse services, including recognising the potential role of specialist community-based organisations.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to support victims of domestic abuse. This is part of the government’s wider mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade as set out in the Freedom from Violence and Abuse strategy published on 18 December.
Since 2021, local authorities in England have a statutory duty to assess local need and commission safe accommodation-based support for victims and their children. To support delivery of this duty, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided local authorities in England £160 million in 2025/26, a £30 million uplift from the previous year, and £499 million funding will be allocated to local authorities over the next three years.
Statutory guidance to local authorities is available on gov.uk here providing further details on how the duty should be delivered.
MHCLG continues to work closely with local authorities, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and sector partners to promote best practice, support delivery and drive continuous improvement in the commissioning of safe accommodation services.
Ensuring victims receive the right and timely support is also central to the Government’s mission. The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years, and together with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) has published guidance here to help local commissioners in their role of supporting victims of all crime, including domestic abuse, focusing on sharing best practice and effective collaboration.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the timely processing of domestic abuse cases in courts; and what additional resources have been allocated to minimise case backlogs.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst judges already prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, including domestic abuse, we know that victims who cases are heard at the Crown Court are waiting too long for justice.
That is why this Government commissioned Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. After considering the recommendations made in Part 1 of this report, we have announced our intention to take forward a bold package of structural reforms, designed to improve timeliness in the Crown Court and speed up justice for all victims, including victims of domestic abuse. This financial year we also funded 111,250 Crown Court sitting days – an all-time high.
We have also published our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy - ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse’ - setting out the Government’s approach to tackling domestic abuse and other offences perpetrated against women and girls. We are already acting by:
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to appropriate health and mental health support for families affected by violent behaviour from children in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst no such specific assessment has been made, we recognise that healthcare is often the first, and sometimes only, point of contact for victims of violence and abuse. Integrated care boards should commission services in response to locally identified need, which could include access to trauma-informed care for families affected by violence.
We have already taken significant steps to stabilise and improve access to National Health Service mental health services, but there is much more to do. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. As part of this we will accelerate the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams to reach full national coverage by 2029 and will expand NHS Talking Therapies so that 915,000 people complete a course of treatment by March 2029, with improved effectiveness and quality of services.
All NHS staff must complete safeguarding training which includes a focus on violence and abuse. The training is being strengthened for launch in late 2026. This will reinforce to staff their safeguarding responsibilities and support them in identifying and responding to victims and perpetrators of violence and abuse.
In addition, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Statutory Guidance provides information for frontline professionals on the presentation of violent behaviour by a child towards parents and caregivers. In addition, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 provides guidance on the multi-agency response to support and safeguard children, including those who are violent.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle stalking in Gloucester constituency.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims living in fear just going about their daily lives. This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims. Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner is a recipient of the Home Office’s Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. Through this funding, they are working to improve the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) and support the work of the stalking clinic, to support the policing response to stalking. More broadly, the VAWG Strategy published on 18 December set out clear action to tackle stalking, including the appointment of Richard Wright KC to lead the Stalking Legislation Review ensuring the criminal law on stalking is fit for purpose, and progressing work to develop national standards for stalking perpetrator programmes, which seek to engage with perpetrators to address the behaviours that are leading to stalking offences with a view to prevention, safeguarding victims and reducing re-offending. A commitment was also made to strengthen the use of SPOs. This includes setting up SPO intensification sites in select forces which aim to drive up use of SPOs and provide opportunities to test innovative approaches to enforce conditions and monitor breaches, which could be adopted nationwide.Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of legislative reform for victims of (a) domestic and (b) economic abuse to exit joint mortgages safely and promptly; and what discussions she has had with the (i) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (ii) Financial Conduct Authority on the introduction of guidance for the financial industry on this matter.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government recognises the devastating impact economic abuse can have on victims. ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025, outlined a package of commitments to tackle economic abuse. This included a commitment from His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) to work with key stakeholders, including industry and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to explore how joint mortgages are used as a tool of abuse and how victims and survivors can be better supported. This commitment was also included in HMT’s recent Financial Inclusion Strategy.
The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls met with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury as both strategies were developed, and remains committed to working closely with her HMT counterparts as they deliver on this agenda.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is in place to ensure that reports of violence by children towards parents or carers lead to appropriate safeguarding and support in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Prevention and early intervention with children and young people are fundamental to the government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade – including improving the response to child to parent or caregiver abuse.
‘The Domestic Abuse Act 2021: statutory guidance’ provides advice for frontline professionals and families to identify child to parent and caregiver abuse. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023’ provides guidance on the multi-agency response to support and safeguard children, including those using harm.
Since 2023 the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner has received Home Office funding to support their Steps to Change Hub via the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. Funding supports delivery of Young People Using Violence and Abuse, a youth‑focused programme offering one‑to‑one support for young people who use violence or abusive behaviour towards family members, carers, siblings, or intimate partners.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the scope and time frame is of their review into the UK’s reservation on Article 59 of the Istanbul Convention; when consideration of this matter first began; why the review has been delayed; and whether the outcomes of the review will be made public.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, and we’ve made it our mission to halve it in a decade. We are deploying the full power of the state through our VAWG Strategy, which was published on 18th December 2025
The government has signed the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in, demonstrating to women in the UK and to our partners overseas our commitment to tackling violence against women and girls. Many members who have ratified the convention have also made reservations on specific articles of the convention. We are currently reviewing our policies that support migrant victims of domestic abuse. This includes considering whether it is appropriate to maintain, partially lift or remove our reservation on Article 59. While the review is ongoing, we are unable to provide any further details.
The reservation does not mean migrant victims are unsupported. We have introduced several policy changes to better support migrant victims of domestic abuse. This includes expanding immediate settlement provisions to cover cases of transnational marriage abandonment and broadening the eligibility for periods of leave independent of the abuser under the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC). We have also implemented the Support for Migrant Victims scheme which helps migrant victims of domestic abuse with No Recourse to Public Funds. The scheme is delivered by Southall Black Sisters and their delivery partners, and provides support for migrant victims of domestic abuse, including accommodation, subsistence, counselling and immigration support. Our total investment for 2025/26 is £2.4m.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support local authorities in providing permanent housing for victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statutory guidance strongly encourages local authorities to give priority for social housing to victims and their families who have escaped abuse and are being accommodated in a refuge or temporary accommodation.
Local authorities are also encouraged to give additional priority to people who are homeless and require urgent rehousing as a result of domestic abuse.
The government has also taken action to remove barriers for victims of domestic abuse to access social housing. Regulations, which came into force on 10 July 2025, mean that victims of domestic abuse moving as a result of that abuse will no longer need to meet a local connection or residency test in order to access social housing.
We also intend to work with partners to update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and effectively support vulnerable households, such as those with victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to ensure the effectiveness of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders; and how this will be monitored.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) are currently live in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs (Croydon, Bromley and Sutton), Cleveland, North Wales, and with the British Transport Police. These orders combine the strongest elements of the existing protective order regime into a single comprehensive, flexible tool. DAPOs can impose notification requirements, electronic monitoring and attendance to a behaviour change programme. Breach of a DAPO is a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment.
To assess their effectiveness, we have commissioned an independent evaluation of DAPOs to assess how they are working in practice. During this pilot phase, we are closely monitoring the police and courts’ performance as part of the ongoing evaluation. We will use the evaluation findings to help inform the wider rollout of DAPOs and help ensure DAPOs provide effective protection for victims.
Since their launch, more than 1,000 DAPOs have been issued across England and Wales, strengthening protections for victims of all forms of domestic abuse. As set out in the government’s new VAWG Strategy, we are committed to rolling out DAPOs nationally across England and Wales.