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Scottish Parliament Written Question
S6W-26084
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Gibson, Kenneth (Scottish National Party - Cunninghame North)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how women’s aid organisations that are not affiliated with Scottish Women’s Aid are funded, and what criteria are used for any such funding.

Answered by Brown, Siobhian - Minister for Victims and Community Safety

Women’s Aid groups that are not affiliated with Scottish Women’s Aid are funded in the same ways and with the same criteria as affiliated groups.

The main source of funding between 2021 and 2025 is the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) fund, the objectives for which are:

  • Women and children affected by violence are identified (early)
  • Women and children’s safety needs are met
  • Women and children’s wider wellbeing needs are met
  • Fewer people adhere to gender stereotypes
  • People have increased understanding of all forms of VAWG (causes, consequences, and appropriate responses)
  • Power, decision-making and material resources are distributed more equally between men and women.
  • Tolerance of VAWG is reduced and people are more likely to recognise and challenge it
  • Perpetrators are identified early
  • Perpetrators are supported to change their behaviour
  • Perpetrators are sanctioned / held to account
  • Violence against women and girls is reduced / eradicated
  • Negative impacts on women and children who have been affected by violence are reduced / eradicated.

In July 2021 all Women’s Aid groups received funding through the 100 Days (COVID emergency) funding. The objectives of the 100 days (COVID emergency) funding were:

  • To fund additional staff to respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse for support services;
  • To fund improvements to organisations’ IT and digital resource; and
  • To fund additional training to allow services to be augmented so that people could quickly and easily access help.

An additional grant is being provided from April 2024 to all Women’s Aid groups.

A non-affiliated Women’s Aid group (in Fife) is included in the £500,000 Fund to Leave pilot which was launched in October 2023. This will help to reduce the financial burden of leaving an abusive partner by providing up to £1,000 to help to pay for the essentials women and children need, including rent and clothing. Fife, along with Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire were chosen for the pilot as the local authority areas where there are highest number of presentations to local authorities for homelessness assistance by women due to domestic abuse. The fund is being administered by Scottish Women’s Aid for the 4 affiliated groups with the grant being paid direct to Fife Women’s Aid.

Written Statements
Improving the Collection and Transfer of Child Maintenance Payments: Public Consultation - Wed 08 May 2024
Department for Work and Pensions

Mentions:
1: Mel Stride (Con - Central Devon) This was particularly made apparent by discussion around the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse - Speech Link

Scottish Government Publication (Statistics)
Safer Communities Directorate
Justice Directorate

Mar. 26 2024

Source Page: Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland, 2022-23
Document: Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland, 2022-23 (PDF)

Found: Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland, 2022-23

Deposited Papers
Home Office

Nov. 25 2010

Source Page: Call to End Violence against Women and Girls. 29 p.
Document: DEP2010-2086.pdf (PDF)

Found: with years of psychological abuse 1.

Scottish Government Publication (Minutes)
Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate
Justice Directorate

Mar. 08 2024

Source Page: Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board minutes: November 2023
Document: Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board minutes: November 2023 (webpage)

Found: This is deeply problematic for women and children experiencing domestic abuse and leads to systems/institutions

Select Committee
Letter from Laura Farris MP, Minister for Victims and Safeguarding, dated 9 May 2024 relating to the Increase to the fees that qualified legal representatives (QLRs) can claim

Correspondence May. 14 2024

Committee: Justice Committee (Department: Ministry of Justice)

Found: Victims and Safeguarding Sir Robert Neill KC (Hon) MP, Chair Justice Select Committee House of

Bill Documents
23 Jan 2024 - Written evidence
Written evidence submitted by Refuge (CJB58)
Criminal Justice Bill 2023-24

Found: Technology -facilitated domestic abuse – or tech abuse – is an increasingly prevalent form of domestic

Written Question
Domestic Abuse: Family Proceedings
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) barristers, (b) solicitors and (c) CILEX practitioners have registered for work under the Cross Examination Prohibition Scheme in each of the last 12 months.

Answered by Laura Farris

We have assumed that both questions refer to the Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme which was introduced in July 2022 and follows the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.

Barristers, solicitors, and CILEX practitioners can register to undertake work as part of the QLR scheme at GOV.UK: Register to be a qualified legal representative (justice.gov.uk). The statutory guidance sets out the requirement for QLRs to have undertaken advocacy and vulnerable witness training, or to have made a commitment to attend such training within six months of having registered on the court list of qualified legal representatives: Statutory Guidance for the Qualified Legal Representative Scheme. The Government encourages professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts.

As of 27 February 2024, in total, there were 363 QLRs registered for family cases, and 78 QLRs registered for civil cases. We do not hold monthly data on registrations, or central data on how many QLRs have completed or applied for training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The QLR register does not record whether practitioners are barristers, solicitors, or CILEX practitioners. We do not collect data on the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.

Deposited Papers

Apr. 23 2024

Source Page: I. Universal Credit guidance April 2024 [update of previous guidance, deposited Oct 2023, DEP2023-0791]. 204 docs. II. Letter dated 15/04/2023 from Jo Churchill MP to to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding documents for deposit in the House libraries. Incl. file list at Annex 1. 9p.
Document: 056._Domestic_abuse_V26.0.pdf (PDF)

Found: Universal Credit guidance April 2024 [update of previous guidance, deposited Oct 2023, DEP2023-0791].

Written Question
Domestic Abuse: Family Proceedings
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) barristers, (b) solicitors and (c) CILEX practitioners have (i) applied for and (ii) completed training to become a qualified legal representative under the Cross Examination Prohibition Scheme since July 2022; and whether he has made an estimate of the number these individuals that have presented cases under the scheme.

Answered by Laura Farris

We have assumed that both questions refer to the Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme which was introduced in July 2022 and follows the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.

Barristers, solicitors, and CILEX practitioners can register to undertake work as part of the QLR scheme at GOV.UK: Register to be a qualified legal representative (justice.gov.uk). The statutory guidance sets out the requirement for QLRs to have undertaken advocacy and vulnerable witness training, or to have made a commitment to attend such training within six months of having registered on the court list of qualified legal representatives: Statutory Guidance for the Qualified Legal Representative Scheme. The Government encourages professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts.

As of 27 February 2024, in total, there were 363 QLRs registered for family cases, and 78 QLRs registered for civil cases. We do not hold monthly data on registrations, or central data on how many QLRs have completed or applied for training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The QLR register does not record whether practitioners are barristers, solicitors, or CILEX practitioners. We do not collect data on the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.