HC Deb 19 April 2004 vol 420 cc33-4W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support is available for children who have been victims of domestic violence. [164379]

Margaret Hodge

Local authorities with social service responsibilities have a statutory general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area who are in need by providing a range of services appropriate to meeting those needs. The definition of such needs covers children who face the likelihood that their health or development might be impaired without such services, regardless of their cause, or whether or not they reside with their family. Children who have been the victims of domestic violence may be assessed by local authorities as being children in need.

It is the responsibility of the local social service department to assess such children according to the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000), and to decide which needs exist and how or whether they should be addressed, including through the provision of services.

More generally, through Section 64, Health Services and Public Health Act 1968, the Department supports the Women's Aid Federation of England, through a core grant (80,000 in 2004–05), and in relation to its helpline (£49,000 in 2004–05).