Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that family court judges receive training on the new offence of coercive and controlling behaviour created by the Serious Crime Act 2015.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, responsibility for judicial training rests with the Lord Chief Justice and this is exercised through the Judicial College. Accordingly, the independence of the judiciary means that Government Ministers do not intervene with regard to the content of judicial training.

The Judicial College has advised me that the new offence will be incorporated into existing training programmes for the family jurisdiction, particularly the modules that include domestic abuse.