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<p>Domestic and sexual violence are devastating crimes and are not acceptable <br>within
our society. The Coalition Government's continued approach to tackling <br>such violence
and abuse is set out in our Violence against Women and Girls <br>Action Plan, updated
in March 2014. <br><br>Supporting victims is at the heart of this approach, which
includes giving <br>victims more confidence to report, and it is encouraging that
police recorded <br>crime figures show more victims are having the confidence to come
forward. <br><br>The Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding
from 2010 <br>up to 2015 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support
services, <br>rape crisis centres, the national domestic violence helplines and stalking
<br>helpline. <br><br>Over the spending review period the Home Office funding of £28
million provides <br>for: <br>144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers, 87 dedicated
Independent <br>Sexual Violence Advisers, 54 Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference
<br>Co-ordinators, and funding to Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse <br>to
provide support and advice to MARACs, as well as running a programme <br>of quality
assurance and £1.2 million for three years from 2012 to improve <br>services for young
people suffering sexual violence in major urban areas. <br>£900,000 a year is used
towards the running costs of national helplines for <br>victims of domestic violence
and stalking.<br><br>In 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty's Inspectorate
of <br>Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with
<br>domestic violence and abuse. HMIC's report exposed significant failings. In <br>response
to the Review, the Home Secretary has established a National <br>Oversight Group,
which she is chairing, and on which I sit, to ensure HMIC's <br>recommendations are
acted upon. The Group met for the first time on 10 June. <br><br>The Home Secretary
has also written to chief constables making it clear that <br>every police force must
have an action plan in place by September 2014, to <br>improve their response to domestic
violence and abuse.</p><p> </p>
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