Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce family court waiting times for domestic abuse victims seeking to divorce abusive partners.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In April 2022, the Government implemented the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (“DDSA”) 2020. The DDSA provides a minimum period of 26 weeks to obtain a divorce, and benefits victims of domestic abuse by making it no longer possible for abusive respondents to exercise control by ‘defending’ a divorce and prolonging proceedings. The DDSA did not provide an exemption for domestic abuse victims from the 26-week minimum period because to do so would require a victim to set out allegations, risking further abuse by a perpetrator.
The Government is working with the Family Procedure Rule Committee to consider whether a pilot can be established to test a new, fast-track procedure for contested financial cases on divorce under a certain value threshold. The pilot will aim to provide swifter outcomes for litigants, including victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of funding for local domestic abuse (a) services, (b) counselling and (c) advocacy support.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Ministry of Justice is quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25. £154 million of funding has been committed per annum across this Spending Review period, totalling a minimum of £460 million over three years (2022/23 to 2024/25 inclusive). This is up from £41 million in 2009/10. This multi-year funding allows victim support services, and those commissioning them, to build resilience into services and ensure consistency in the support that victims receive.
Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced new statutory duties on local authorities to ensure that all victims, including their children, have access to support within safe accommodation when they need it. This includes counselling and advocacy support.
Since 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has committed over £507 million, including £129.7 million in 2024/25, to councils across England to fund this duty. Funding from April 2025 will be determined at the next Spending Review.
This is a locally led duty. Each council must work closely with their Local Partnership Board to assess the needs of victims locally and commission the right safe accommodation support services needed to meet the identified need.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help support the mental health of victims while they wait for rape trials.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Supporting victims of sexual violence and abuse is an absolute priority for this government.
We have taken a number of steps to support the mental health of victims while they wait for rape trials.
In December 2022, the Ministry of Justice launched the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line to provide victims and survivors access to vital help and information whenever they need it.
In August 2023, we launched the recommissioned Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, providing £26 million to over 60 specialist support services.
The Government is also quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10. This includes additional ringfenced funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) to around 1,000 by 2024/25 - a significant increase on the number of ISVAs and IDVAs.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to provide funding to Women's Aid in the next three financial years.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a government priority. Our strategies aim to transform the whole of society’s response to these crimes with actions to prevent abuse, support victims and ensure more perpetrators are bought to justice.
The Home Office has provided funding to Women’s Aid of up to £1.34m until March 2025 to deliver the Flexible Fund. This fund will help hundreds of domestic abuse victims next year who will receive lifeline payments to help escape tormenting and often life-threatening abuse, providing the chance to rebuild their lives. We are also investing £753k into Women’s Aid next year to improve the awareness of domestic abuse amongst young people.
Funding beyond March 2025 is subject to future budgets which will be set through the next Spending Review process.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what staff networks there are in her Department.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following staff-led support networks currently operate in the Department:
- EnABLE, a disability and long-term conditions network;
- Autism Network;
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Network;
- Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Network;
- Race Equality Matters Network;
- Prism, an LGBT+ network;
- Women’s Network;
- Parents’ Network;
- Age Diversity Network;
- Carers’ Network;
- Care Leavers’ Network;
- Social Mobility Network;
- Men’s Health Network;
- Christian Network;
- Jewish Network;
- Muslim Network;
- Hinduism and Sikhism Group;
- Humanists Network;
- Diversity and Inclusion Analytical Network;
- Domestic Abuse Support Group;
- Working Through Cancer Network; and
- Mental Health First Aid.
The following networks support and promote professional development and operational delivery:
- International Network;
- Flexible Working Network;
- Green Network;
- Social Workers Network;
- Health Science and Engineering Network;
- IT User Engagement Group;
- Clinicians’ Network;
- Nutritionist Network;
- Perspectives Network;
- History Network;
- Culture and Engagement Champions Network;
- Active Travel Network;
- International Network;
- First Aid Network;
- Administrative Officer and Executive Officer Network;
- Personal Assistant Network;
- Senior Executive Officer and Higher Executive Officer Network;
- G6 and G7 Network; and
- Direct Appointment Scheme Network.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will remove the reservation on Article 59 of the Istanbul Convention.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The reservation on Article 59 will be kept in place at this time but kept under review as the policies which address support for migrant victims of domestic abuse develop.
We continue to be committed to supporting migrant victims of domestic abuse. This includes the recently expanded Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession, the immediate settlement provisions under Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse and the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that providers of NHS services are protecting the whereabouts of domestic abuse victims from perpetrators.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are security and legislative protections in place to protect patient data, and ensure data is used across the health and social care system in a safe, secure, and legal way. This includes data protection rules which prevent National Health Service employees from disclosing addresses of victims of domestic abuse.
Each organisation’s terms and conditions of employment include strict guidelines on how staff handle and protect patients’ information. Staff must also be regularly trained in information governance responsibilities. Professional bodies such as the General Medical Council also set out standards which their members must meet.
General practices have two options if they are worried that having access to their record might cause harm to a patient or another individual. They can either redact specific items on the record, or disable patient access entirely.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has completed its review of service provision of June 2022 to determine whether forensic and medical interventions for non-fatal strangulation which occur in domestic abuse should form part of the core offer for sexual assault referral centres or should be cared for elsewhere.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Sexual Assault Referral Centre’s (SARC) Service Specification, as reviewed and updated in June 2023, now reflects the offence of non-fatal strangulation (NFS). The specification states: Appropriate medical and forensic interventional support is provided to all service users presenting with sexual assault and/or sexual abuse where the presenting need also indicates non-fatal strangulation. It is widely acknowledged that many victims of sexual assault will have also experienced domestic abuse.
For cases of non-fatal strangulation not associated with sexual assault, victims’ immediate healthcare needs can be treated in other acute healthcare settings such as emergency departments. The Institute for Addressing Strangulation recently published guidelines for clinical management of non-fatal strangulation in acute and emergency care services.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Tackling violence against women and girls strategy, published on 21 July 2021, what progress his Department has made on ensuring support is provided to survivors of gender-based violence.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We have completed or closed over half of all cross-government commitments in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy (2021) and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan (2022).
This includes:
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions for domestic abuse there have been in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions for criminal offences covering the period requested. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained in the following published tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.
However, it is not possible to separately identify convictions for ‘domestic abuse’ because the information held centrally is related to the offence in law for which a defendant is convicted for. Domestic abuse related offences can be prosecuted under a wide range of legally defined offences. This information may be held on court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.