Baroness Gale
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of prosecutions brought for domestic violence.
The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Wallace of Tankerness) (LD)
My Lords, the number of domestic violence cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police reduced in 2012-13. However, the conviction rate for such cases was 74.3%, its highest ever recorded level. The fall in referrals was considered in a report on the police response to domestic abuse published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in March 2014. The Home Secretary will be chairing a national oversight group to monitor delivery against HMIC’s recommendations, improve consistency in charging and ensure that the police make appropriate referrals to the CPS.
Baroness Gale (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. He mentioned that the number of referrals by the police had increased and the number of successful prosecutions had reduced. The recent report from HMIC shows that police forces are failing and that victims of domestic violence have been faced with a lottery. The report concluded that the overall police response to victims of domestic abuse is not good enough. Does the Minister agree that much more needs to be done to ensure that police forces are trained and fully aware of what they need to do to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and women who are murdered at the hands of their partners and ex-partners will receive the correct response from police forces so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice?
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
My Lords, I very much agree with the noble Baroness, who has a long record of campaigning and taking an interest in this issue. Just to clarify, it is the number of successful prosecutions that was at the highest level ever recorded. However, I agree with what she said about the conclusions of the HMIC report—they are very disturbing. That is why the Home Secretary will chair a national oversight group to monitor delivery against the recommendations, which have been accepted. She has already written to the domestic abuse leads in each police force and to the chief constables to make clear the expectation that plans should be produced quickly and emphasise that urgent action should be taken to address HMIC’s concerns. The noble Baroness is absolutely right that domestic violence is wholly unacceptable and is very damaging to the victims. It is only right that we take every step possible to improve the prosecution of it.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister accept that domestic violence is a gravely reprehensible offence which should normally be dealt with by way of condign punishment? Is that not so because of the greater vulnerability of women in terms of physical strength, economic security and particularly the protection of children? Is the Minister satisfied that the advisory sentencing bodies are sufficiently enthused to pass on this message to magistrates and judges and that this is essential if this disgraceful practice is to be effectively contested?
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
My Lords, I echo what the noble Lord said about it being a wholly reprehensible crime. Among the many concerns, I am not aware of the particular question of sentencing. There may well be individual cases where individual sentences are not acceptable. The important challenge for us, particularly in the light of the HMIC report, is to improve policing. It is unfortunate that the report has discovered a cultural issue where:
“Domestic abuse is a priority on paper but, in the majority of forces, not in practice”.
We have to address that issue and tackle it in following up the recommendations of the HMIC report.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill (LD)
My Lords, as my noble and learned friend probably knows, the Joint Committee on Human Rights, on which I serve, is conducting a major inquiry into this general subject. Without being in any way complacent, would he agree, as I think he has already said, that it is a matter of some satisfaction that the former Director of Public Prosecutions, in his 2013 report, found that, for the first time, three out of four violence against women and girls prosecutions have resulted in a conviction; that domestic violence, rape and sexual offence prosecutions have reached their highest conviction rate to date; and that guilty pleas have led to most successful outcomes, avoiding the victims having to face the ordeal of a trial?
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
My Lords, my noble friend rightly points out that the number of guilty pleas has also increased, which is helpful in relieving victims from having to give evidence. Although prosecutions are at their highest level, it is also fair to say, in tribute to the previous Director of Public Prosecutions, that when he saw the reduction in the number of referrals in the reports and information which he was given and published, he immediately convened a round-table conference among the key stakeholders. Six action points were taken forward from that, which my honourable friend the Solicitor-General announced in the other place. I know that it is also the case that the present Director of Public Prosecutions takes this crime very seriously.
Baroness Thornton (Lab)
My Lords, as my noble friend has said, since 2010-11 there has been a 13% increase in reported incidents of domestic violence but fewer cases have been passed to the CPS. If we take that together with the fact that there has been a 31% reduction in funding for refuges for those who are subject to domestic violence, would the Minister agree with Women’s Aid that that means that women and children are more likely to remain in or return to abusive situations? Will the Government’s review make an assessment of how many more women and children are now at risk and will the Government bring forward plans to deal with it?
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
My Lords, an important recommendation from the HMIC report not only looked at the question of policing and the great variations within it across the country but noted that tackling domestic abuse requires organisations in both the statutory services and the voluntary community services to work together to give proper multiagency support to victims of domestic abuse. Again, that is a recommendation that the Home Secretary has accepted. I think it is common ground across the House that we need to be very active in giving effective support to victims of domestic abuse.