Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to establish a dedicated unit to investigate historic domestic abuse.
It is the responsibility of the police to investigate allegations of domestic abuse.
HMICFRS’ latest inspection on domestic abuse found that the police response continues to improve, particularly around the first response. Furthermore, police recorded domestic abuse crimes have increased by over 60% in the last three years, demonstrating increased victim confidence to report and better police recording of these crimes. Overall, prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse are both up since 2010 – by 20 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, with 76% of all prosecutions resulting in successful convictions, the highest since 2010.
Our landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill and consultation response published in January includes measures to help the police tackle domestic abuse, including the creation of a Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order and training for police. We will continue to monitor the police response through the Home Secretary chaired National Oversight Group and through HMICFRS inspections.