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1289115

registered interest
date	23/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the whether current statutory safeguarding provisions adequately (1) assist young victims of intimate partner violence, and (2) deal with perpetrators of intimate partner violence.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL13560
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>(i) Young Victims</p><p>We recently published an updated version of ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018’. The guidance specifically references teenage relationship abuse as part of the statutory definition of domestic abuse. It also outlines the ‘assessment of risk outside the home’ which ensures that practitioners are alert to the risk of abuse for young people within their own intimate relationships.</p><p>Further to this, the draft guidance that will accompany the Domestic Abuse bill covers abuse in teenage relationships. The guidance has been seen in draft by a wide range of sector representatives, who have provided feedback. The guidance is being finalised ahead of a formal consultation period in the spring.</p><p>(ii) Perpetrators</p><p>The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (“CJA 2003”) provides for the establishment of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (“MAPPA”) in each of the 42 criminal justice areas in England and Wales. These are designed to protect the public, including previous victims of crime, from serious harm by sexual and violent offenders. They require the local criminal justice agencies and other bodies dealing with offenders to work together in partnership in dealing with these offenders.</p><p>MAPPA guidance states that under the Children Act 2004, the Responsible Authority and DTC agencies have a statutory duty to make arrangements for ensuring that ‘their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children’ and that ‘children should not be treated by MAPPA as ‘mini-adults’’.</p><p>The draft Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance which is due to be published following royal assent of the Bill also includes young people who perpetrate abuse.</p><p>Young people perpetrating abuse in their relationships must be supported in an appropriate way that places emphasis on tackling the drivers of their behaviour. Court and responding agencies must take into account youth justice guidelines when responding to cases of teenage relationship abuse, avoid unnecessarily criminalising young people, and identify appropriate interventions to address behaviours that might constitute or lead to abuse. Relevant youth justice guidelines include:</p><ul><li>Case management guidance for Youth Offending Teams</li><li>Standards for children in the Youth Justice System</li><li>Crown Prosecution Service guidance on youth offenders</li><li>Sentencing Council guidelines on sentencing children and young people</li></ul> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 09/03/2021 16:42:18 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1286919

registered interest
date	19/02/2021
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the interim charging protocol introduced in March 2020 for cases relating to domestic violence, (a) when it will cease to operate and (b) what assessment has been made of the efficiency of the protocol.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	154649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2021 answer text <p>The Crown Prosecution Service (‘CPS’) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (‘NPCC’) introduced an interim charging protocol in response to the Coronavirus pandemic on 1 April 2020 to identify and prioritise the highest risk cases. This includes those that involve domestic abuse.</p><p> </p><p>The Charging Board, chaired jointly by the CPS and the NPCC, oversees and monitors arrangements for charging at a national level, including the interim charging protocol. Local police forces and CPS Areas (including CPS Direct that covers charging outside usual working hours) monitor local arrangements for charging through local Prosecution Team Performance Management meetings.</p><p> </p><p>The interim charging protocol continues to operate and is the subject of ongoing discussion between the CPS and the police. No end date has been set.</p> answering member constituency Northampton North answering member printed Michael Ellis question first answered 24/02/2021 14:00:56 answering member 4116 label Biography information for Sir Michael Ellis
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1280547

registered interest
date	26/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that school staff receive training on (a) parental alienation and (b) male domestic violence; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making that training mandatory.
tabling member constituency	Loughborough
tabling member printed	Jane Hunt
uin	143937
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2021 answer text <p>Whilst parental alienation is not an explicit element of training within educational safeguarding practice, all schools and colleges must have regard to statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). KCSIE sets out that all staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training and that all staff should read Part one of KCSIE as part of their induction process. Part one provides all staff with information regarding abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, exploitation and domestic violence. KCSIE is clear all staff should be in a position to identify abuse and neglect and should act immediately if they have any concerns about a child. The detail of the safeguarding training that staff receive is rightly a matter for individual schools who will base this on an assessment of the needs of their staff and their pupils.</p><p>The Teachers’ standards set the minimum requirements for teachers’ practice and conduct and make clear that all teachers must have ‘regard for the need to safeguard pupils' wellbeing’.</p><p>The department’s National Professional Qualifications for school leaders includes training for leaders on safeguarding. These qualifications have recently been revised to ensure that safeguarding is a core aspect.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 03/02/2021 17:47:46 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4839 label Biography information for Jane Hunt

1270807

registered interest
date	14/12/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Her Majesty’s Inspector of Probation’s 2019/2020 Annual Report: inspections of probation services, published in December 2020, if he will publish an action plan in response to the finding that checks with the local police domestic abuse team at the point of initial assessment are not being done in over a third of cases.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	128916
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2020 answer text <p>As with previous years there are no plans for HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to publish an action plan in response to Her Majesty’s Inspector of Probation’s (HMIP) latest Annual Report, given no specific recommendations are made like they are in Inspection Reports.</p><p> </p><p>However, Contract Management Teams continue to work closely with Community Rehabilitation Companies to ensure that any areas of improvement that have been identified by HMIP form part of an agreed internal action plan, which is monitored closely as part of contract management processes. Similarly, HM Prison and Probation Service continue to monitor National Probation Service Divisions’ progress against suggested areas of improvement or recommendations provided by HMIP.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 22/12/2020 14:58:51 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1271049

registered interest
date	14/12/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of domestic abuse convictions related to controlling and coercive behaviour in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019 and (d) 2020.
tabling member constituency	Newport East
tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
uin	128905
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold data centrally on how many domestic abuse convictions relate to coercive and controlling behaviour. Offences involving domestic abuse can take various forms and are prosecuted under the offence in law that best reflects their nature and circumstances, for example, harassment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, a public order offence. These offences can take the form of domestic abuse or non-domestic abuse and data collected centrally from courts does not distinguish between the two. The data on domestic abuse offences could only be identified by manually searching case records at disproportionate cost.</p><p>However, the Ministry of Justice regularly publishes information on all prosecutions and convictions for offences related to controlling and coercive behaviour, as defined by section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, in the ‘Principal Offence Proceedings and Outcomes by Home Office Offence Code 2013 to 2019’ data tool, available here:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx</a></p><p>The number of convictions can be identified for each year from 2016 to 2019. Data from 2020 will be published in May 2021.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 17/12/2020 15:42:03 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1271050

registered interest
date	14/12/2020
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to support the criminal justice system's ability to prosecute perpetrators of coercive and controlling behaviour.
tabling member constituency	Newport East
tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
uin	128906
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2020 answer text <p>This Government and the Crown Prosecution Service take cases of domestic abuse extremely seriously.</p><p> </p><p>Since the introduction of the Serious Crime Act 2015, which created an offence of coercive and controlling behaviour, the number of domestic abuse prosecutions have increased.</p><p> </p><p>The CPS has developed an ambitious twelve-month programme of work to help narrow the disparity between domestic abuse reporting and criminal justice outcomes, including, sharing best practice and revising guidance to support effective case handling of coercive and controlling behaviour crimes.</p><p> </p><p>It is essential that perpetrators, victims and their families know and understand that the criminal justice system remains open and is prioritising cases with high risk domestic abuse victims.</p> answering member constituency Northampton North answering member printed Michael Ellis question first answered 22/12/2020 10:22:36 answering member 4116 label Biography information for Sir Michael Ellis
tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1246667

registered interest
date	26/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the outcome of the Coercive or Controlling Behaviour Offence—Review of Effectiveness before the Second Reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill; and if not, when they plan to publish it.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL9547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>Coercive or controlling behaviour is an insidious crime with far reaching impacts for victims. That is why it has been explicitly included in the definition of domestic abuse in the Domestic Abuse Bill.</p><p>The Government is committed to ensuring that abuse in all its forms is properly identified and effectively tackled. We are, therefore, carefully considering the review of the coercive or controlling behaviour offence. It remains our intention to publish the review in time to inform the Lords’ stages of the Domestic Abuse Bill.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 09/11/2020 16:47:59 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1244352

registered interest
date	19/10/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of potential barriers to justice encountered by survivors of domestic violence since the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to improve access to justice for that group.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	105531
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2020 answer text <p>Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), legal aid remains available for private family matters where there is evidence of domestic abuse or child abuse. The Post-Implementation Review of LASPO (PIR), published in February 2019, considered the impact of LASPO on victims of domestic abuse. In the Legal Support Action Plan, published alongside the PIR, we announced a review of the legal aid means tests, including a commitment to specifically considering the impact of the means test on victims of domestic abuse. This review will report in Spring 2021, at which point we will publish a full consultation paper setting out our future policy proposals in this area.</p><p>The government is absolutely clear that victims of domestic abuse must have access to the help that they need. The Government’s report ‘Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases’ published on 19 June 2019 further outlines an unwavering commitment to ensure domestic abuse survivors are better protected. This report acted as a springboard for further actions we are taking to protect and support domestic abuse victims and their children. The Domestic Abuse Bill has allowed us to enable the immediate changes called for in the report, creating a statutory definition of domestic abuse working to ensure that victims are protected and supported.</p><p>We recognise that victims of domestic abuse may need legal aid quickly in emergency situations, so there is already an eligibility cap waiver in place, which means that an applicant for a protective injunction may be eligible for legal aid even if they have income or capital above the thresholds in the means test, though they may have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs. In addition, we are providing £800,000 funding to the FLOWS project, run by RCJ Advice, who provide free legal support to victims of domestic abuse who wish to apply for an injunction from the courts.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 105532 question first answered 22/10/2020 16:20:48 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1244353

registered interest
date	19/10/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 has caused an unintended bias in access to justice in favour of the abuser rather than the victim.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	105532
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2020 answer text <p>Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), legal aid remains available for private family matters where there is evidence of domestic abuse or child abuse. The Post-Implementation Review of LASPO (PIR), published in February 2019, considered the impact of LASPO on victims of domestic abuse. In the Legal Support Action Plan, published alongside the PIR, we announced a review of the legal aid means tests, including a commitment to specifically considering the impact of the means test on victims of domestic abuse. This review will report in Spring 2021, at which point we will publish a full consultation paper setting out our future policy proposals in this area.</p><p>The government is absolutely clear that victims of domestic abuse must have access to the help that they need. The Government’s report ‘Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases’ published on 19 June 2019 further outlines an unwavering commitment to ensure domestic abuse survivors are better protected. This report acted as a springboard for further actions we are taking to protect and support domestic abuse victims and their children. The Domestic Abuse Bill has allowed us to enable the immediate changes called for in the report, creating a statutory definition of domestic abuse working to ensure that victims are protected and supported.</p><p>We recognise that victims of domestic abuse may need legal aid quickly in emergency situations, so there is already an eligibility cap waiver in place, which means that an applicant for a protective injunction may be eligible for legal aid even if they have income or capital above the thresholds in the means test, though they may have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs. In addition, we are providing £800,000 funding to the FLOWS project, run by RCJ Advice, who provide free legal support to victims of domestic abuse who wish to apply for an injunction from the courts.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 105531 question first answered 22/10/2020 16:20:48 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1226461

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, with reference to his oral contribution at Attorney General Questions on 9 July 2020, Official Report, Column 1110, if he will publish the framework for the CPS's interim charging protocol for cases of domestic violence.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	76848
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2020 answer text <p>It is essential that perpetrators, victims and their families know and understand that the criminal justice system remains open and operational during the covid-19 outbreak. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is working closely with colleagues across the Criminal Justice System to ensure that these offences continue to be brought to justice.</p><p> </p><p>The interim charging protocol <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/coronavirus-interim-cps-charging-protocol-between-national-police-chiefs-council-and" target="_blank">‘Coronavirus: Interim CPS Charging Protocol between the National Police Chiefs' Council and Crown Prosecution Service’</a> was published on 31st March 2020. The interim protocol sets out how charging for all cases including domestic abuse should be managed by the police and the CPS.</p><p> </p><p>The interim protocol specifies that priority must be given to the most serious cases to make sure dangerous offenders are dealt with quickly. The protocol aims to prioritise and focus demand so we are only putting the most serious cases into the courts system immediately. All non-custody domestic abuse cases have been categorised as Category B - High Priority cases. The CPS is committed to working closely with criminal justice partners and the third sector to ensure that victims and witnesses remain at the heart of the process.</p> answering member constituency Fareham answering member printed Suella Braverman question first answered 29/07/2020 11:25:50 answering member 4475 label Biography information for Suella Braverman
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves