Consultation (Hansard, 12 February 2004)

§ Fiona Mactaggart

Government are committed to ensuring that all relevant stakeholders are identified and involved in consultation exercises. Our records show that paper or electronic copies of "Safety and Justice" were sent to the following organisations:

Action for Prisoners' Families
Age Concern
Al Khoei Foundation
Alcohol Concern
Area Child Protection Committees
Asian Family Counselling
Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Directors for Social Services
Association of District Judges
Association of Magisterial Officers
Association of Police Authorities
Audit Commission
Baha'i Community of the UK
Baptist Union of Great Britain
Bar Council
Barnardo's
Big Issue Foundation
Black Association of Women Step Out
Black Community Development Project
Board of Deputies of British Jews
British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine
British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
British Association of Social Workers
British Association of Women Police
British Humanist Association
British Medical Association
British Youth Council
Buddhist Society
Burton, Dr. Mandy
Cardiff Women's Safety Unit
Centre for Policy Studies
Chairs of Probation Boards
Charity Commission
Chief Constables
Chief Probation Officers
Childline
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
Children's Society
Chinese Information Advice Service
Christian Scientists
Church of England General Synod
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Commission for Racial Equality
Community and District Nurses Association
Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association
Confederation of British Industry
Council of Christians and Jews
Council of Churches for Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Council of Circuit Judges
Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches
Courts Service of Northern Ireland
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and, through them, local domestic violence projects
Crime Concern
Crime Reduction Initiatives Head Office
Crisis
Crown Court Resident Judges
Crown Prosecution Service
Department of Health undertook to inform the Chief Executive of every NHS Trust and Primary Care Trust about "Safety and Justice"
Directors and Home Office Directors of the Government Offices for England
Disability Rights Commission
Domestic Violence Intervention Project
Employers' Forum on Age
Employers' Forum on Disability
Equal Opportunities Commission
Escape Family Support
Ethnic Minorities Advice Bureau
Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of West England
Families Need Fathers
Family Rights Group
Family Welfare Association
Fathers Direct
Fawcett Society
Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism
Free Church Federal Council
General Medical Council
General Teaching Council
Greater London Domestic Violence Project
Halt Domestic Violence
Hemat Gryffe Women's Aid
Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Hindu Council of the United Kingdom
Homeless Link
House of Commons and House of Lords Vote Office and Library
Housing Corporation
Howard League
Imkaan
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Inner Cities Religious Council
Institute for Public Policy Research
Institute of Jainology
Institute of Legal Executives
Inter Faith Network for the UK
Islamic Cultural Centre and the London Central Mosque Trust Ltd.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Justice
Justice Department, Scotland
Justices' Chief Executives
Justices' Clerks' Society
Kelly, Professor Liz
Kidscape
Law Society
Leeds Inter-Agency Project/Leeds Crisis Centre
Legal Services Commission
Lesbian and Gay Police Association
Liberty
Lilith Project
Local Government Association
Lord Chancellor's Domestic Violence Advisory Group
Lord Chief Justice
Lucy Faithful Foundation
Magistrates' Association
Mankind Initiative
Marriage Care
Mencap (England)
Mencap (Wales)
Methodist Church
Metropolitan Police Service Black Police Association
Mothers' Union
Muslim Council of Britain
NACRO
NACRO Cymru
National Assembly of Wales
National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux
National Association of Head Teachers
National Children's Bureau
National College for Schools Leadership
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
National Council of Hindu Temples
National Council of Women of Great Britain
National Domestic Violence Health Practitioners Forum
National Domestic Violence Health Research Forum
National Family and Parenting Institute
National Housing Federation
National Probation Directorate
National Secular Society
NCH
Neighbourhood Watch
Network of Sikh Organisations
Newspaper Society
North Surrey Domestic Violence Forum
Northern Ireland Women's Aid
NSPCC
Nursing and Midwifery Council
Parentline Plus
Parole Board
Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group
Penal Affairs Consortium
Police Authorities
Police Federation
Police Superintendents' Association
President of the Family Division
Presiding Judges
Rainbow Forum
Rape Crisis Federation
Rastafarian Society
Refuge
Refugee Council
Relate
Religious Society of Friends
Respect
Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales
Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Midwives
Royal College of Nursing
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Sahileya
Save the Children
Scottish Women's Aid
Senior District Judge
Sentencing Guidelines Council
Seventh Day Adventist Church
Shakti Women's Aid
Sheffield Combined Court Centre
Shelter
Sikh Cultural Centre of Great Britain
Society of Black Lawyers
Society of Editors
Solicitors' Family Law Association
Soroptimist International of GB and Ireland
South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre
Southall Black Sisters
St. Mungo's
Standing Together Against Domestic Violence
Stanko, Professor Elizabeth
Suzy Lamplugh Trust
Three Faiths Forum
Trades Union Congress
Union of Muslim Organisations
Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations
Unison
United Kingdom Men's Movement
United Reform Church
Victim Support
Victim's Voice
Welsh Women's Aid
Womankind
Women's Aid Federation of England
Women's National Commission
Women's Institute
Working with Women
World Zoroastrian Society

Many of the above organisations, either on their own initiative or at the prior request of the Home Office, forwarded additional copies across their own distribution networks. A number of copies were also sent to private individuals, while others were distributed at the consultation workshops the Home Office held with domestic violence victims.

1708W

English and Welsh language versions of "Safety and Justice" were also available from the Home Office website. In addition, the Home Office produced—and made available in both paper and electronic format—a summary leaflet, which was also translated into Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Welsh.

The Home Office received a total of 470 responses to "Safety and Justice". A list of all the organisations that responded can be found in Annex A of the "Summary of Responses to 'Safety and Justice: The Government's Proposals on Domestic Violence'", copies of which are available in the House Library and at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crimpol/crimreduc/domviolence/publist.html.

A consultation document "Funding Community Groups" was published on 3 May 2001, and just under 7,000 copies were sent to interested groups in the voluntary and community sector, other Government Departments and local authorities. The document was also posted on the Home Office website making it more widely available. The consultation period was from 3 May to 23 July 2001, which included 27 consultation events around the country with a speaker from the Active Community Unit. A total of 235 written responses were received.

Many groups held their own meetings with local partners and contributed a joint response. 172 were received from respondents representing several organisations and 63 from individual organisations. Therefore, the total number of responses of 235 is representative of a much larger unknown number of organisations and individuals.