Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of technology-facilitated abuse incidents reported to the police in each of the last five years.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not hold data on technology-facilitated abuse incidents recorded by police forces in England and Wales.

The rapid development of technology has provided additional spaces for technology facilitated abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) to be perpetrated and has equipped perpetrators with new ways to harass, intimidate, stalk and coerce women and girls. We will set out plans to address technology-facilitated VAWG, in our forthcoming Strategy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and its delivery plan will include (a) funding and (b) measures to address technology-facilitated domestic abuse.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all of its forms, including abuse facilitated by technology, is a top priority for this government, with an unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. The rapid development of technology has provided additional spaces for VAWG and equipped perpetrators with new ways to harass, intimidate, stalk and coerce women and girls. We will set out plans to address technology-facilitated VAWG in our forthcoming Strategy.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 11th June, we are working through the details of funding for tackling VAWG over the Spending Review period of 2026-2029. We will provide further details on funding when departmental budget allocations have been finalised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have undergone specialist technology-facilitated domestic abuse training in each of the last five years.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The College of Policing is the responsible body for setting standards, developing curriculum and monitoring training delivery within policing, including the technology-facilitated domestic abuse training within Operation Modify.

In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening training on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) for policing to ensure that all officers have the right skills to investigate all VAWG offences, including technology-facilitated abuse.

In response to this, the Home Office has invested £13.1 million this year to launch the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP). This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to deliver a robust package of training improvements across public protection crime types, including technology-facilitated abuse.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department has committed to providing specialist support services for survivors of technology-facilitated abuse and online violence against women and girls.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade.

The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.

I have committed two years of grant funding to the 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales. They commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types, including victims of technology-facilitated abuse and online violence against women and girls. The funding from the Ministry of Justice includes ‘core’ funding, which is for PCCs to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need, as well as funding that is ring-fenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse services.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) variables and (b) indicators are included in the Fair Funding 2.0 formula; how is each factor weighted; and if he will publish the full methodology underpinning Fair Funding 2.0.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer you to the government response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 The Fair Funding Review 2.0 - GOV.UK published on 20 November. The government will use relative need formulas (RNFs) to assess how much ‘need’ each local authority has in comparison to others for specific services. These formulas are a key part of how local authorities' funding allocations are calculated and, for the first time since 2013-14, they are being updated. This is something the sector has long called for and will enable the government to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. The formulas are designed to reflect the extent to which local characteristics are likely to influence demand for services. Each RNF is constructed using consistent principles, drawing on data such as demographic indicators and applying statistical techniques to weight variables according to their influence on service demand. The government will include technical annexes for each formula at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, which is due for publication this month.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds data on the distribution of young people of A-level-studying age across different neighbourhoods in Knowsley.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The information requested is not held centrally by the department.

The Office for National Statistics produce annual population estimates for England at lower level geographies, broken down by age, and will likely hold the relevant information.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on the potential merits of ringfencing funding received from fines levied on tech platforms by Ofcom under the Online Safety Act to fund specialist violence against women and girls support services, specifically for ‘by and for’ led services.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Under the Online Safety Act, any fines collected by Ofcom must be paid into the Consolidated Fund and any subsequent allocation of funds would then be a matter for HM Treasury. It is worth noting that fine income is inherently unpredictable and therefore may not be an appropriate or sustainable way to directly fund initiatives.