Specialist Domestic Abuse Services

Provision of support into safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse and their children, and community outreach for victims of domestic abuse and their children. There have been a number of significant changes in the national landscape regarding domestic abuse, including the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (hereafter the Act 2021). Part 4 of the Act 2021 introduced statutory duties for Tier One Local Authorities in England through the provision of domestic abuse support in safe accommodation. The Act 2021 also recognised, for the first time, children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will introduce a duty to collaborate for relevant authorities within a Police area to take a collaborative approach to local commissioning of support services for victims (including child victims under 18 years of age) of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and serious violence. The significance of the changing landscape requires a different approach to the future commissioning of services for people who are victims of domestic abuse; ensuring that the Local Authority embeds the response to statutory duties introduced.