The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many women living in council housing have requested a change of tenancy because of violence in the last 12 months; and what proportion of those women were given a direct transfer within one month.
Brandon Lewis
We do not hold the information requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what account her Department will take of women (a) with mental health needs, (b) who are homeless, (c) who are living in poverty and (d) who have other complex needs in its Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
Karen Bradley
The Government will shortly publish an updated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy which will set out how we will support all victims of VAWG, including those with mental health needs, those who are homeless or living in poverty and those who have other complex needs, by doing more to prevent these crimes from happening, intervening earlier, and continuing to improve the protection for victims and to bring offenders to justice.
The Government has already committed £40m for domestic abuse services including refuges between 2016 and 2020, provided a £2m grant to Women’s Aid and SafeLives to support a new domestic abuse early intervention project, protected funding of over £6.4m to 86 female Rape Support Centres for 2016/17, and committed to a further year of funding to support the local provision of 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers for 2016/17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to strengthen its data collection strategy to help combat human trafficking.
Karen Bradley
We are strengthening data collection on human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery in several ways. In the Modern Slavery Act we introduced a duty on named public authorities to notify the Home Office every time they have reasonable grounds to believe they have encountered a victim of modern slavery.
These notifications can be anonymous so that data is collected even if the potential victim does not want to engage with the authorities. We are reviewing the National Referral Mechanism form, so that it better captures key data about potential victims and perpetrators. Polaris and Unseen UK are working with other NGOs and law enforcement to launch an enhanced modern slavery helpline later this year which will capture more data and help to shine a light on the scale and nature of this appalling crime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 14 of the document Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation, published by the Government in March 2015, when her Department plans to consider an extension of the offence of wilful neglect.
Karen Bradley
As the honourable Member for Rotherham will recall, during the passage of the Serious Crime Bill in the last session of Parliament, the previous Government made a commitment to undertake a public consultation on the options for reporting child abuse and to lay a report before Parliament on the outcome of the consultation within 18 months of Royal Assent of the Serious Crime Act (i.e. by September 2016). This commitment was extended in March 2015, under the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Report, to consult on options for imposing sanctions for deliberate or reckless failures to take appropriate action in relation to child abuse or neglect, where it is a professional responsibility to do so.
The Government will launch its consultation exercise in Spring 2016, to run for twelve weeks and will then consider carefully the need for any further statutory measures in the light of responses. This will enable the Government to lay proposals before Parliament by September 2016, as it has committed to do.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of child deaths (a) by people who have been found guilty of and (b) related to domestic violence.
Caroline Dinenage
The family courts take the issue of domestic violence extremely seriously. The Child Arrangement Programme and Practice Direction 12J set out a strong and clear framework where domestic violence is alleged and all judges receive specific training on this framework.
In prisons the National Offenders Management Service accredited programmes are a proven way of tackling intimate partner violence and reducing reoffending in custody and the community. All programmes are based on the latest theory base and are regularly updated to make sure they continue to be as effective as possible. Provision of these services is widely available and provides an effective response to the causes of intimate partner violence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 37 of the document Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation, published by the Government in March 2015, what progress her Department has made on the establishment of a national task force of specialist professionals to support local authorities where child sexual exploitation is a particular concern.
Karen Bradley
The Government’s ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ report launched in March 2015 announced the establishment of a new national taskforce to help local areas faced with significant concerns relating to high volumes of child sexual exploitation.
We are currently finalising the way the taskforce, to be known as the Child Sexual Exploitation Response Unit, will work. The Response Unit will be launched in the Spring.
The Response Unit will provide help to local areas experiencing particular issues and/or high volumes of child sexual exploitation cases by offering a range of support including advice from expert practitioners who have first-hand experience of tackling child sexual exploitation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic violence refuges which have closed as a result of lack of funding in each of the last five years.
Mr Marcus Jones
Domestic Abuse is a devastating crime. That is why we are determined to ensure that victims get the help they need when they need it. In last year’s Spending Review we secured new £40 million funding to support victims of domestic abuse.
It is for local areas to assess their needs for domestic abuse services and to make decisions on the provision of safe accommodation, including refuges and support for victims of domestic abuse.
In the new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy published on the 8 March, we set out our ambition to improve services for women suffering from domestic abuse, commiting to a new Statement of Expectations to set out for the first time what we expect from local areas.
To support this, we are launching a new two year fund for refuges and other forms of accommodation-based support and to help local areas take the steps they need to meet the National Statement.
The new funding builds on the £3.5 million funding to support victims of domestic abuse and is on top of the £10 million funding to stop refuges closing and strengthen the provision of safe accommodation in the last spending review period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of convictions for carrying out female genital mutilation.
Karen Bradley
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse.
The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced a number of measures to break down potential barriers to prosecution, including:
• a new mandatory reporting duty which requires specified professionals to report known cases of FGM in under 18s to the police; • extending extra-territorial jurisdiction over offences of FGM committed abroad; • providing lifelong anonymity for victims of FGM; • introducing FGM Protection Orders which can be used to protect girls at risk; and • creating a new offence of failing to protect a girl from the risk of FGM.
To help ensure the police have the guidance they need to tackle FGM effectively, in March 2015 the College of Policing published Authorised Professional Practice on FGM and this was updated in September 2015. In addition, lead FGM prosecutors have been appointed for each Crown Prosecution Service area and have agreed joint FGM investigation and prosecution protocols with their local police forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what definition her Department uses for BAME.
Mike Penning
The Government has traditionally used a mix of terms to describe the groups we are working with on race equality: Black and Minority Ethnic (BME); Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), also ethnic minority and minority ethnic.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the Government’s funding for community projects to tackle female genital mutilation has been spent.
Karen Bradley
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.
In 2014/15, the Government provided over £380,000 to community organisations through the Home Office’s FGM Community Engagement Initiative and the Department for Communities and Local Government’s FGM and forced marriage prevention projects.
The 29 projects all included prevention work with a focus on building the confidence of women and communities to speak out against these practices and raising awareness of the serious consequences they can have.
Evaluations show that over 25,000 people were reached and feedback from participants demonstrates increased awareness of the context, manifestation and harm caused by FGM and forced marriage.