Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that the (a) quality and (b) accessibility of support services to victims of (i) sexual and (ii) domestic abuse are not adversely impacted by the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has increased victims’ funding from 24/25 to 25/26, including providing support for specialist services. In May 2025, the Home Office announced an additional £19.9m investment in the 2025/2026 financial year to provide vital support to victims of VAWG as well as other projects across the country that help prevent these crimes.
This includes over £6 million for national helplines supporting victims of domestic abuse, 'honour'-based abuse, revenge porn and stalking. This is in addition to £2.5m on prevention and early intervention to help stop VAWG happening in the first place, to identify what works to prevent VAWG and improve multi-agency working.
The upcoming VAWG Strategy will be published later this year and will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on the Government’s VAWG ambition.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on funding allocated to national Violence Against Women and Girls (a) helplines and (b) charities supporting victims in 2025-26.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In May 2025, the Home Office announced a £19.9m investment in the 2025/2026 financial year to provide vital support to victims of VAWG as well as other projects across the country that help prevent these crimes.
This includes over £6 million for national helplines supporting victims of domestic abuse, 'honour'-based abuse, revenge porn and stalking. This is in addition to £2.5m on prevention and early intervention to help stop VAWG happening in the first place, to identify what works to prevent VAWG and improve multi-agency working.
The upcoming VAWG Strategy will be published later this year and will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on the Government’s VAWG ambition.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the budget for victim and witness support services will be lower in 2025-26 than 2024-25.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice remains committed to supporting victims and witnesses of crime. For the 2025–26 financial year, the Department has protected funding levels for ringfenced sexual violence and domestic abuse support, maintaining them at the same level as in 2024–25.
There has been a small reduction to the core budget allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), who are responsible for commissioning local victim support services based on assessed need. This decision was taken in the context of a challenging fiscal environment left behind by the previous Government.
The Department continues to work closely with PCCs and sector partners to support the delivery of high-quality services.