Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has completed its review of service provision of June 2022 to determine whether forensic and medical interventions for non-fatal strangulation which occur in domestic abuse should form part of the core offer for sexual assault referral centres or should be cared for elsewhere.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Sexual Assault Referral Centre’s (SARC) Service Specification, as reviewed and updated in June 2023, now reflects the offence of non-fatal strangulation (NFS). The specification states: Appropriate medical and forensic interventional support is provided to all service users presenting with sexual assault and/or sexual abuse where the presenting need also indicates non-fatal strangulation. It is widely acknowledged that many victims of sexual assault will have also experienced domestic abuse.
For cases of non-fatal strangulation not associated with sexual assault, victims’ immediate healthcare needs can be treated in other acute healthcare settings such as emergency departments. The Institute for Addressing Strangulation recently published guidelines for clinical management of non-fatal strangulation in acute and emergency care services.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of the Ask for ANI domestic abuse scheme in 2023.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office allocated £243,662 in the financial year 2022/23 and £168,449 in the financial year 2023/24 to Hestia Housing for the delivery of the Ask for ANI scheme.
In the financial year 2022/23, we also allocated £45,323 to develop an e-learning module and accompanying communications assets to complement the launch of the Ask for ANI in Jobcentre and Jobs and Benefits Offices pilot sites.
The Home Office has also commissioned an independent evaluation to understand how the scheme has been implemented across the Jobcentre and Jobs and Benefits Offices pilot sites. This evaluation is yet to be concluded but has so far cost £116,087.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department’s Ask for ANI scheme cost in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office allocated £243,662 in the financial year 2022/23 and £168,449 in the financial year 2023/24 to Hestia Housing for the delivery of the Ask for ANI scheme.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 8 June 2022 to Question 11698 on Domestic Abuse: Sexual Assault Referral Centres, whether NHS England has completed its review of service provision to determine whether forensic and medical interventions for non-fatal strangulation should form part of the core offer for sexual assault referral centres.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) Service Specification as reviewed and updated in June 2023 now reflects the offence of non-fatal strangulation. The specification states ‘Appropriate medical and forensic interventional support is provided to all service users presenting with sexual assault and/or sexual abuse where the presenting need also indicates non-fatal strangulation.’ It also references the Institute for Addressing Strangulation guidelines. From April 2024, all SARCs will collect data on incidences of non-fatal strangulation where it is part of a sexual assault/rape and thus has necessitated attendance at a SARC.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many females were placed in youth offending estates intended for males in 2022-2023; and how many females are detained in youth offending estates intended for males as of 23 May 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
In 2022-23 no females were held in spaces intended as male-only, which remained the case on 23 May 2023.
Girls committed into custody will be located in Secure Children's Homes, Oakhill Secure Training Centre, or Wetherby Young Offenders Institution, depending on their specific circumstances. All are mixed-gender settings, and girls may mix with boys in education and other activities, where appropriate. Youth Custody Service staff are trained to work with girls in a gender-responsive way, and regimes, services, activities, and interventions are tailored to meet their individual needs.
Where girls are placed into units which previously housed boys only, significant work is done to refurbish and ensure the environment is appropriate.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on research into the health impacts of noise arising from building sites; what statutory provisions are in place to set a maximum noise level; and whether existing provisions take into account the proximity of existing homes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Control of Pollution Act 1974 enables local authorities to serve a notice imposing requirements on construction or demolition works, including the hours during which the works may be carried out. Generally, local authorities require construction work to be carried out between the hours of 8am and 6pm on Monday-Friday, and 8am-1pm on Saturdays, with no working on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
We do not consider it appropriate to specify permitted hours for construction works in national law. Local authorities are the main enforcers of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and decisions around managing noise are best taken by them using their knowledge of the specific context.
The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) outlines that noise needs to be considered when development may create additional noise, or would be sensitive to the prevailing acoustic environment. The PPG details how noise, including during construction, should be considered during both plan making and decision making. The National Planning Policy Framework also states that planning policies and decisions should mitigate and reduce to a minimum potential adverse impacts resulting from noise from new development – and avoid noise giving rise to significant adverse impacts on health and the quality of life.
Defra has convened the Interdepartmental Group for Costs and Benefits (Noise subject group) to review the available evidence relating to the health effects from environmental noise exposure. This includes construction noise, and the group has published two reviews on this subject which are available at:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32357581/ and
It is not possible to have a single objective noise-based measure which would apply to all situations without giving rise to unintended consequences. This is because effect levels are likely to be different for different noise sources, different people and at different times. We therefore consider it best to allow local authorities some flexibility to make decisions using their specific knowledge of the local context.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, deon what date statutory provisions governing the permitted hours for construction work came into effect; and for what reasons the setting of permitted hours is delegated to individual local authorities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Control of Pollution Act 1974 enables local authorities to serve a notice imposing requirements on construction or demolition works, including the hours during which the works may be carried out. Generally, local authorities require construction work to be carried out between the hours of 8am and 6pm on Monday-Friday, and 8am-1pm on Saturdays, with no working on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
We do not consider it appropriate to specify permitted hours for construction works in national law. Local authorities are the main enforcers of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and decisions around managing noise are best taken by them using their knowledge of the specific context.
The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) outlines that noise needs to be considered when development may create additional noise, or would be sensitive to the prevailing acoustic environment. The PPG details how noise, including during construction, should be considered during both plan making and decision making. The National Planning Policy Framework also states that planning policies and decisions should mitigate and reduce to a minimum potential adverse impacts resulting from noise from new development – and avoid noise giving rise to significant adverse impacts on health and the quality of life.
Defra has convened the Interdepartmental Group for Costs and Benefits (Noise subject group) to review the available evidence relating to the health effects from environmental noise exposure. This includes construction noise, and the group has published two reviews on this subject which are available at:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32357581/ and
It is not possible to have a single objective noise-based measure which would apply to all situations without giving rise to unintended consequences. This is because effect levels are likely to be different for different noise sources, different people and at different times. We therefore consider it best to allow local authorities some flexibility to make decisions using their specific knowledge of the local context.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will meet (a) the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley and (b) representatives of Women's Aid to discuss the use of (i) Nationwide Tracing Services Ltd and (ii) other specialist people-tracing firms by perpetrators of domestic abuse to track down victims staying at confidential refuges.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The safety of women and girls across the country is a key Government priority. We are taking a range of steps to tackle perpetrators and prevent re-offending to protect all victims. For example, the Home Office recently concluded a £36 million competition to increase the availably of interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators.
Police can also put in place measures to protect victims of domestic abuse or stalking, including pre-charge bail conditions, and applying for protective orders, such as Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) or Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). In the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government legislated for a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, which will go even further in protecting victims from all forms of domestic abuse. Courts will be able to impose conditions such as electronic monitoring and attendance on a behaviour change programme, alongside mandatory notification requirements to protect the victim. The new notice and order will be piloted from Spring 2024 in three police force areas and with the British Transport Police.
It is critical for the safety of victims that women's refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation can keep their locations secret.
I would welcome a meeting with the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley and representatives of Women's Aid to discuss this issue.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to prevent (a) Nationwide Tracing Services Ltd and (b) other specialist people-tracing firms from offering services that enable perpetrators of domestic abuse to track down victims staying at confidential refuges.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The safety of women and girls across the country is a key Government priority. We are taking a range of steps to tackle perpetrators and prevent re-offending to protect all victims. For example, the Home Office recently concluded a £36 million competition to increase the availably of interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators.
Police can also put in place measures to protect victims of domestic abuse or stalking, including pre-charge bail conditions, and applying for protective orders, such as Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) or Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). In the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government legislated for a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, which will go even further in protecting victims from all forms of domestic abuse. Courts will be able to impose conditions such as electronic monitoring and attendance on a behaviour change programme, alongside mandatory notification requirements to protect the victim. The new notice and order will be piloted from Spring 2024 in three police force areas and with the British Transport Police.
It is critical for the safety of victims that women's refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation can keep their locations secret.
I would welcome a meeting with the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley and representatives of Women's Aid to discuss this issue.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to recommendation eight of HM Inspectorate of Probation's report entitled The use of electronic monitoring as a tool for the Probation Service in reducing reoffending and managing risk, published in January 2022, in how many and what proportion of probation cases HM Prison and Probation Service conducted domestic abuse and safeguarding checks before recommending a sentence or release on electronically monitored curfew in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not held for the period specified. HM Prison and Probation Service mandated that enquiries to police and children’s services should be made in all cases where there is a recommendation for an electronically monitored curfew from April 2022 (in addition to those cases where they were already required).