Lord Sheikh:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to increase the amount of community services for victims of domestic violence.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): On 25 November, the Government launched Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls: A Strategy. In relation to service provision, the Government have committed to ensuring that violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, is mainstreamed into the joint strategic needs assessment process, enabling the identification of joint or aligned commissioning strategies in response to local needs.

While central government have a role in the provision of some services, the main responsibility for local services rests with local statutory partners who administer the bulk of budgets and the now devolved commissioning responsibilities.

We will continue to invest in specific domestic violence services such as national helplines, multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) and independent domestic violence advisers (IDVAs).