Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of victims of domestic abuse experiencing financial abuse while using the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is assessing how it can provide statistics on domestic abuse now the application fee exemption statistics are no longer published. The Department's Chief Statistician will oversee the development of these statistics to make sure they meet the Code of Practice for Statistics.
The Department takes the issue of domestic abuse extremely seriously and the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) offers an accessible, safe, and secure service for all parents. All CMS caseworkers receive training on how to identify the different types of abuse, including financial abuse and how they can appropriately support and signpost victims and survivors.
The CMS reviews its domestic abuse training regularly to ensure caseworkers are equipped to support parents in vulnerable situations and the Department will continue to meet stakeholders regularly to maintain an open dialogue on how to improve the service.
There are several secure ways to receive maintenance directly without having to divulge sensitive personal details, including for victims of domestic abuse and other vulnerable parents. The CMS can help arrange for payments to be made to bank accounts that cannot be traced to a physical location which helps to protect the parent’s location. The CMS does not put parents directly in touch with each other, nor does it share their current location via correspondence.
A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster and explore how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving royal assent in July 2023.
The consultation has been extended to the 30 September 2024 to ensure full stakeholder engagement can take place.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making actual bodily harm an excluded offence under SDS40 when being served concurrently with sexual or domestic abuse offences.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Offenders’ eligibility for Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS40) is determined by each specific sentence. Release provisions for different sentence types and length are fixed by law. This change has amended the automatic release point for standard determinate sentences that are not excluded. This means that by law, an offender serving multiple sentences could have a mixture of some sentences that are eligible for the 40% release point and others that are not. Someone serving a sentence for an excluded offence will not see their custodial time for that sentence reduced.
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is excluded where the sentence is four years or more. Other offences have also been excluded from the change, including sex offences irrespective of sentence length; other serious violent offences with a sentence of four years or more; specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length (including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation); as well as offences concerning national security.
Offenders who are eligible for release at the 40% point are subject to a robust risk assessment to manage them safely in the community. This will include checks with partners from other agencies, such as the police. Once released, offenders will be subject to the same set of strict licence conditions that would apply had they been release at a 50% automatic release point, for example to prohibit the offender from having contact with named persons, such as the victim or victim’s family, or to impose exclusion zones to prevent the offender from going to specified places.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will extend the Domestic Violence Easement available to survivors claiming (a) Job Seekers’ Allowance and (b) Universal Credit to disabled survivors who (i) claim Employment Support Allowance and (ii) are in the Support Group for Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants in the Support Group for legacy Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and for those with Limited Capability for Work and Work-related Activity (LCWRA) in New Style Employment Support Allowance (NS ESA) or Universal Credit have no work-related requirements imposed on them.
Where a legacy ESA or NS ESA claimant in the work-related activity group (WRAG) has recently been a victim of domestic abuse, any work-related requirements are paused for a period of 13 consecutive weeks from when the claimant notifies the department. This is the same as the compulsory easements prescribed in Universal Credit legislation where work coaches must switch off work availability and work search requirements for the prescribed length of time. The work coach will decide if the break can be extended beyond 13 weeks in extreme circumstances.
The arrangements are described here Help available from the Department for Work and Pensions for people who are victims of domestic violence and abuse - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
To keep our easement policies clear, fair, and effective in supporting vulnerable claimants, we keep the conditionality and sanctions policies and processes under continuous review.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will introduce statutory paid leave for survivors of domestic abuse.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not have any plans to introduce a specific paid leave entitlement at this time. However, depending on the nature of the individual’s employment, survivors may be able to access a range of leave entitlements allowing them to take time off from work when they need it.
Being at work is often important for victims, and there is practical support employers can offer which can make a real difference, such as signposting, financial assistance and supporting safety in and around the workplace.
Sep. 13 2024
Source Page: Immigration Rules archive: 6 June 2024 to 9 September 2024Found: Victim of domestic abuse Section DVILR: Indefinite leave to remain (settlement) as a victim of domestic
Sep. 13 2024
Source Page: Immigration Rules archive: 16 May 2024 to 5 June 2024Found: Victim of domestic abuse Section DVILR: Indefinite leave to remain (settlement) as a victim of domestic
Sep. 13 2024
Source Page: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): clarification of inherent obligationsFound: children experiencing disadvantages, particularly problem alcohol or drug use amongst family members, domestic
Sep. 13 2024
Source Page: Statistics for prosecutions and convictions under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018: FOI releaseFound: Statistics for prosecutions and convictions under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018: FOI release
Sep. 13 2024
Source Page: Student Mental Health Action PlanFound: Equally, p ostgraduate research students whether domestic, from the rest of the UK, or from across
Mentions:
1: Baroness Helic (Con - Life peer) in gathering forensic evidence, preserving it and supporting various judicial mechanisms, including domestic - Speech Link
2: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer) are assisting with the mechanism in place for recording information on violence against women, sexual abuse - Speech Link
3: Lord Kerr of Kinlochard (XB - Life peer) They did not and do not result from invasion, non-domestic terrorism or economic warfare; they are home-grown - Speech Link
4: Lord Loomba (XB - Life peer) women, single mothers and widows are invariably at the bottom of the pile, destitute and vulnerable to abuse - Speech Link
5: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (XB - Life peer) longer afford to play the 20th century game of dividing people into “mortal enemies” and “friends whose abuse - Speech Link