Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the availability of domestic abuse services in semi-rural areas.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Every victim of violence against women and girls (VAWG), whether in a city or a rural village, should be able to access the help they need. In the 'Freedom from Violence and Abuse’ Strategy, we committed to developing a new cross-government statement on the commissioning of VAWG services. This statement aims to strengthen the quality of commissioning from local commissioners, and it will support local areas to tailor their provision to their local communities, including rural victims.
Last year (2025/26), the Home Office invested over £6m into specialist helplines to support victims of VAWG and we are expanding our investment into the VAWG helplines this financial year. The helplines are accessible across England and Wales and provide advice and support to victims and assist in signposting and referrals to appropriate local services.
Last year, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) commenced a call for evidence across a network of rural stakeholders to inform our understanding of the availability of support services and effective practice to provide support in rural areas. This research will help to confront the disparities in the provision and inform our future work to address the disparities of provision.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of reported incidents of violence against retail workers employed in home delivery; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of this violence on the well being of those workers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, up 29% on year up to June 2024, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this.
Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job and this government is committed to taking retail crime seriously.
We will introduce a new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers to protect them from violence and abuse. The scope of the legislation is still under consideration and will be confirmed when legislation is brought forward.