Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of moves to gender-neutral services on support for women victims of domestic violence; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker

Decisions on how best to fund services for victims of domestic violence are
most effectively addressed at a local level based on the needs of local
communities. This includes an assessment of the need for gender-specific
services.

The Home Office has received representations from voluntary sector
organisations raising concerns about local commissioning of generic and
gender-neutral services for victims of domestic violence. The updated Violence
Against Women and Girls Action Plan, published on 8 March 2014, accordingly
makes supporting effective local approaches a priority area. The Plan sets out
clear commitments to:
• deliver a programme of regional engagement to support all local commissioners;
• establish a cross-Government task and finish group to drive good practice in
the commissioning of local services; and,
• part-fund a series of dedicated commissioning masterclasses to support the
women’s sector to engage with the new commissioning landscape.

Progress on supporting effective local approaches to commissioning of services
will be monitored by the Inter-Ministerial Group on Violence Against Women and
Girls, chaired by the Home Secretary.