New National Audit Office Report: ‘efforts by the Home Office have not led to improved outcomes for victims’.
The incumbent government have stated it is committed to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade as a part of its safer streets mission. The Home Office is said to lead this mission. The National Audit Office, the UK’s independent public spending watchdog, have published a report titled, Tackling Violence against Women and Girls, a ‘a value for money’ on the 31st of January of this year. The report examined the Home Office’s leadership of the 2021 “Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls” Strategy, and the 2022 “Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan”, to identify lessons to support the delivery of the government’s stated ambition to halve violence against women and girls.
In this report, the National Audit Office remarked that the Home Office’s response to the “serious and growing problem” of VAWG has been ineffective.
Gareth Davies, the head of the National Audit Office, said:
“Government's efforts to tackle violence against women and girls have not yet improved outcomes for the victims of these crimes. The lack of an effective, cross-government approach and a limited understanding of what works to help reduce these crimes, means the Home Office cannot be confident that government is doing the best it can to keep women and girls safe.
“The new government has set an ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. A well-informed and effectively implemented cross-government response is needed, that addresses both the causes and the consequences of these crimes.”
The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, in response to this report also stated:
“The government has set an ambitious target of halving violence against women and girls within the next decade. This vision is welcome, commendable, and necessary – but as this report makes clear, there remains a critical lack of understanding about what truly works.
We know we cannot simply police our way out of this crisis; an effective strategy will require co-ordinated action across all sectors, with a shared vision underpinned by strong leadership from the centre. Departments must sing from the same hymn sheet and pull in the same direction. That much is clear.
To improve safety for women and girls, we must listen to victims and those who support them. Too many victims do not engage with the justice system—and too often, we fail to understand why.
Support services remain a lifeline, offering vital help in recovery and the support to pursue justice—if victims choose to do so. These services do what the justice system often cannot: they rebuild lives, restore agency, and provide a path forward.
And yet, they are now facing funding cuts just as the burden of National Insurance contributions is set to rise. If we are to achieve the ambition of halving violence against women and girls within a decade, we cannot afford false-starts. Which is why the recent news of planned funding cuts is not only concerning but also short-sighted.”
As one of the labour government’s ‘missions’, they have therefore committed to half VAWG in order to fulfil their ‘safer streets’ mission. Meeting this ambition will be of no small feat and will require rigorous and comprehensive cross-government leadership from the Home Office. It is suggested that we keep victims at the heart of practice and keep working towards a solution that empowers and safeguards victims.
New Law to Offer Better Protection for Domestic Abuse Victims
Despite the critical report, there are new promising announcements made regarding VAWG. Victims of domestic abuse, from the 3rd of February, will be better protected as part of a new law which is ensuring more abusers face tougher management from police and probation. This will mean offenders convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour, and sentenced to 12 months or longer, will now be automatically manged under multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA).
These are a set of arrangements through which the Police, Probation and Prison Services work together in a multi-agency partnership to manage risks posed by offenders who are violent, who there for sexual and terrorist offences. Research suggests that reoffending rates for individuals managed under MAPPA, are less than half of the national average. The one-year reoffending rate for MAPPA is 22.2% while the national overall one-year reoffending rates, range between 30.0% and 31.3% during a similar timeframe.[1]
As a result, this means agencies are now legally required to cooperate to better manage the risks posed by these serious offenders, recognising the significant harm this can cause. It will put controlling or coercive behaviour on a par with other offences under the domestic abuse umbrella, including threats to kill, attempted strangulation and stalking.
Minister for Prisons and Probation, Lord James Timpson said in response:
“Domestic abuse creates fear and isolation, and I will do everything in my power to tackle it and ensure women and girls feel safe in their homes.
“This new approach will put controlling or coercive behaviour on a par with physical violence and will help prevent these despicable crimes.”
Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Philips said:
“Domestic abuse devastates lives and affects more than two million people every year.
“For the first time, under this change to the law, coercive or controlling behaviour is being placed where it belongs – on a par with serious violent offending. This is an important step to recognise the harm caused by all forms of domestic abuse, ensure the most harmful offenders are managed in the right way, and ultimately keep victims safe.
“This Government will crack on with our work to deliver a system that protects victims, supports their journey to justice and holds perpetrators to account – part of our mission under the Plan for Change to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.”
These changes in the law, will apply to offenders who are sentenced to at least 12 months’ imprisonment, including suspended sentences, or being given a hospital order for an offence of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.
This was introduced by the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, being signed into law after Justice Minister Lord Timpson signed a ‘statutory instrument’ early this year.
Keeping our communities safe, means keeping women and girls safe. We will continue to aim help contribute as much as possible to this conversation and will keep informed as to all developments.
Further information mentioned in this insight piece is available here:
Read the National Audit Office Report
Read the Tackling violence against women and girls strategy (2021)
Read the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan (2022)
[1] https://www.aru.ac.uk/international-policing-and-public-protection-research-institute/research/national-mappa-research
