Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the new specific offence of strangulation and suffocation in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and (b) the Home Secretary on providing (i) forensic and (ii) support services to victims who have been strangled in a domestic abuse setting.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The new offence of non-fatal strangulation, in section 70 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, comes into force early next month. There will be media communications to mark the introduction and the Government will continue to highlight the dangers that can result from strangulation and suffocation.
Regarding training, NHS England is also funding a free online training event to occur in late June which is aimed at NHS front line staff including paramedics, GP practices and A&E staff, Domestic Abuse Partnerships, non-Government offices, staff in the statutory domestic abuse and sexual assault sector, the police, prosecutors, social work, judges and magistrates, probation and psychologists. The judiciary, who are independent of Government, will – through the Judicial College – consider whether specific training and/or wider training on domestic abuse is necessary.
Building on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government has made substantial commitments in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, published by the Home Office in March 2022, to better support victims of domestic abuse. Commitments include multi-year funding for victim support services which are crucial for helping victims engage in the criminal justice process. As part of this, the Ministry of Justice is bolstering support for victims by increasing its funding from £150.5m in 2021/22 to £185 million by 2024/25. This will ensure support is available to more victims and includes funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers to over 1,000, and other key services like crisis helplines. The Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan also contains a perpetrator Strategy which sets out clear commitments to prioritise addressing domestic abuse, with the aim of preventing people becoming perpetrators and victims in the first place. Additionally, through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, victims will be given more time to report domestic abuse-related assaults by extending the time limit for prosecutions to six months from a formal report to the police within an overall limit of two years from the offence.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to raise public awareness of (a) the dangers of strangulation, (b) that a person can die after seconds of strangulation, (c) that survivors may have no visible marks yet have serious medical consequences and (d) victims of strangulation are seven times more likely to subsequently be murdered.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The new offence of non-fatal strangulation, in section 70 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, comes into force early next month. There will be media communications to mark the introduction and the Government will continue to highlight the dangers that can result from strangulation and suffocation.
Regarding training, NHS England is also funding a free online training event to occur in late June which is aimed at NHS front line staff including paramedics, GP practices and A&E staff, Domestic Abuse Partnerships, non-Government offices, staff in the statutory domestic abuse and sexual assault sector, the police, prosecutors, social work, judges and magistrates, probation and psychologists. The judiciary, who are independent of Government, will – through the Judicial College – consider whether specific training and/or wider training on domestic abuse is necessary.
Building on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government has made substantial commitments in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, published by the Home Office in March 2022, to better support victims of domestic abuse. Commitments include multi-year funding for victim support services which are crucial for helping victims engage in the criminal justice process. As part of this, the Ministry of Justice is bolstering support for victims by increasing its funding from £150.5m in 2021/22 to £185 million by 2024/25. This will ensure support is available to more victims and includes funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers to over 1,000, and other key services like crisis helplines. The Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan also contains a perpetrator Strategy which sets out clear commitments to prioritise addressing domestic abuse, with the aim of preventing people becoming perpetrators and victims in the first place. Additionally, through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, victims will be given more time to report domestic abuse-related assaults by extending the time limit for prosecutions to six months from a formal report to the police within an overall limit of two years from the offence.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when Section 70 of the Domestic Abuse Act relating to the specific offence of strangulation and suffocation will be enforced.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The new offence of non-fatal strangulation, in section 70 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, comes into force early next month. There will be media communications to mark the introduction and the Government will continue to highlight the dangers that can result from strangulation and suffocation.
Regarding training, NHS England is also funding a free online training event to occur in late June which is aimed at NHS front line staff including paramedics, GP practices and A&E staff, Domestic Abuse Partnerships, non-Government offices, staff in the statutory domestic abuse and sexual assault sector, the police, prosecutors, social work, judges and magistrates, probation and psychologists. The judiciary, who are independent of Government, will – through the Judicial College – consider whether specific training and/or wider training on domestic abuse is necessary.
Building on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government has made substantial commitments in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, published by the Home Office in March 2022, to better support victims of domestic abuse. Commitments include multi-year funding for victim support services which are crucial for helping victims engage in the criminal justice process. As part of this, the Ministry of Justice is bolstering support for victims by increasing its funding from £150.5m in 2021/22 to £185 million by 2024/25. This will ensure support is available to more victims and includes funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers to over 1,000, and other key services like crisis helplines. The Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan also contains a perpetrator Strategy which sets out clear commitments to prioritise addressing domestic abuse, with the aim of preventing people becoming perpetrators and victims in the first place. Additionally, through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, victims will be given more time to report domestic abuse-related assaults by extending the time limit for prosecutions to six months from a formal report to the police within an overall limit of two years from the offence.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the accommodation needs of women on remand who may not have access to housing support under the probation service.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We know women released from prison face significant barriers to securing suitable accommodation and that earlier support, whilst they are on remand, to find accommodation can help.
Women on remand are supported to meet their immediate resettlement needs and prepare for release by probation pre-release staff in prisons. We have committed to supplementing the existing support from probation staff with access to specialist accommodation, finance and debt support for all women on remand or sentenced in custody. We aim to have commenced this additional provision by the summer of this year.
In 2021, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced Housing Specialists in twenty prisons, including four women’s prisons namely HMP Styal, Bronzefield, Peterborough and New Hall. The role of these specialists is to support prisons and probation in their strategic response to reducing homelessness. This includes working in partnership internally across HMPPS and externally with Local Authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners and organisations contracted to provide specialist support, to develop or strengthen accommodation pathways on release from prison. We have committed to increase the number of Housing Specialists to 48 across England and Wales, including across the women’s estate.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to consult on a statutory duty on public bodies to commission specialist community based (a) domestic abuse and (b) sexual violence provision as set out by the Lord Chancellor in a letter to Police and Crime Commissioners dated March 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is committed to using the Victims’ Bill consultation to explore the need for legislation relating to provision of community-based victim support services.
The March letter to Police and Crime Commissioners said that to do this we would consult on “the provision of community-based domestic abuse services”, including considering a “duty”. This commitment was made during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Bill and was extended to cover consultation on sexual violence services within the End-to End Rape Review Action Plan. We will launch the consultation in due course.