PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Refuges (20 April 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to prevent (a) Nationwide Tracing Services Ltd and (b) other specialist people-tracing firms from offering services that enable perpetrators of domestic abuse to track down victims staying at confidential refuges.

Asked by:
Jess Phillips (Labour)

The safety of women and girls across the country is a key Government priority. We are taking a range of steps to tackle perpetrators and prevent re-offending to protect all victims. For example, the Home Office recently concluded a £36 million competition to increase the availably of interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators.

Police can also put in place measures to protect victims of domestic abuse or stalking, including pre-charge bail conditions, and applying for protective orders, such as Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) or Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). In the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government legislated for a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, which will go even further in protecting victims from all forms of domestic abuse. Courts will be able to impose conditions such as electronic monitoring and attendance on a behaviour change programme, alongside mandatory notification requirements to protect the victim. The new notice and order will be piloted from Spring 2024 in three police force areas and with the British Transport Police.

It is critical for the safety of victims that women's refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation can keep their locations secret.

I would welcome a meeting with the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley and representatives of Women's Aid to discuss this issue.

Answered by:
Felicity Buchan (Conservative)
28 April 2023