Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to consult on a statutory duty on public bodies to commission specialist community based (a) domestic abuse and (b) sexual violence provision as set out by the Lord Chancellor in a letter to Police and Crime Commissioners dated March 2021.
The Government is committed to using the Victims’ Bill consultation to explore the need for legislation relating to provision of community-based victim support services.
The March letter to Police and Crime Commissioners said that to do this we would consult on “the provision of community-based domestic abuse services”, including considering a “duty”. This commitment was made during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Bill and was extended to cover consultation on sexual violence services within the End-to End Rape Review Action Plan. We will launch the consultation in due course.