Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of current charging thresholds for domestic abuse-related common assault offences on the ability of the police to bring timely charges.

We remain committed to supporting the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police in exploring how expanding police-led charging decisions for specific domestic abuse cases can improve outcomes for domestic abuse victims and survivors.

The Home Office has been working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the CPS to expand police charging authority to include certain domestic abuse (DA) flagged offences, aligning with the ambitions of the Government’s Manifesto Commitments.

As set out in the recent Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, the Government will work with the CPS and police to strengthen access to justice for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. This includes reviewing the time limits for charging domestic abuse-related summary offences and considering whether greater flexibility could help reduce the number of timed-out cases.