Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether post separation abuse is a prosecutable offence under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Sections 1 and 2 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 included a strengthened definition of domestic abuse which recognises abuse can take place post separation.
Section 1 sets out that the relationship between an individual being abused and the perpetrator is one where they are ‘personally connected’. Section 2 expands what is meant by ‘personally connected’ and is explicit this includes instances where to people “are, or have been” in various forms of relationship, including marriage, civil partnerships, and intimate personal relationships.
The Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance, issued by the Home Secretary under Section 84 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, includes specific references to post-separation abuse, acknowledging “abuse can continue or intensify when a relationship has ended.”
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Afghanistan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme in meeting its aims; and what steps she is taking in continuing to support that scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme commenced on 6 January 2022, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
Eligible individuals can be referred onto the Scheme in one of three ways, as set out in the policy statement. In line with this statement, the Home Office remains committed to achieving the objectives set out for the ACRS.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement
We started to resettle families under Pathway One of the ACRS at the start of the year. In light of the success of our evacuation efforts, we expect to exceed our initial aim of resettling 5,000 through the Scheme in the first year.
We are working at pace to prepare to receive the first referrals under Pathways 2 and 3 as soon as we can, so individuals affected by the events in Afghanistan can safely arrive in the UK and start to rebuild their lives.
We will publish ACRS resettlement figures in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, allowing transparent progress-monitoring.