§ 29. Mrs. BrintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to combat violence against women. [156050]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Government are determined to reduce all crimes of violence including violence against women. We set out our strategy for doing so in "fighting violent crime together: an action plan" which was published in January.
In support of the action plan, we announced on 23 March an extra £3.7 million to fund a further 24 projects addressing violence against women. This funding is on top of the £7 million announced last summer which provides funding for 34 projects as part of our Crime Reduction Programme. These projects are helping to identify what works best in tackling violence against women, including domestic violence.
In addition to the increased funding, our programme against domestic violence includes, within the last year, guidance to agencies dealing with domestic violence, along with specific guidance to health service professionals; a Home Office circular to the police to build on the progress made in addressing domestic violence and reducing repeat victimisation; inclusion of this issue within police Best Value performance indicators; £120 million additional capital funding for a new Safer Communities Supported Housing Fund for specified vulnerable groups, which includes the survivors of domestic violence; and increased funding for Victim Support.
We are also working with the Association of Chief Police Officers on a circular to the police on the effective use of provisions in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 with particular regard to domestic violence and violence against women; we are evaluating probation service domestic violence perpetrator programmes; developing a domestic violence toolkit as part of the 462W programme of toolkits on the crime reduction website; and we shall be including a special module on domestic violence as part of the British Crime Survey 2001.