§ Margaret MoranTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure the provision of facilities and services for victims of domestic abuse in remote rural areas. [97754]
§ Alun MichaelPolicy responsibility for domestic violence, including provision of services for victims, lies outside my Department. However, the Government are committed to "rural-proofing" all their policies. The Department and the Countryside Agency work with other Government Departments to ensure that rural aspects of policies are addressed and to improve service delivery in rural areas.
The Countryside Agency is working on two pilot initiatives. One is with Crime Concern and their local partners to quantify the nature and extent of domestic violence in rural Wiltshire and to implement innovative methods of early intervention, and the other with Save the Children UK to examine the impact of domestic violence on rural children in the West Midlands region.