PA MediaThe Residence Workplace’s response to the “critical and rising drawback” of violence towards ladies and ladies (VAWG) has been ineffective, the UK’s spending watchdog has mentioned.
In a report revealed on Friday, the Nationwide Audit Workplace (NAO) mentioned the division had “not led an efficient whole-system response” to the rising incidence of rape and sexual assault recorded by police.
Its efforts because the lead on the federal government’s response to VAWG have to date “not improved outcomes” for victims, the report discovered.
A Residence Workplace spokesperson mentioned the report had seemed on the earlier authorities’s “failure to ship systemic change”, and that Labour was “delivering a step-change within the authorities’s response”.
The report famous that three separate methods geared toward lowering VAWG have been revealed since 2010, when the Conservative social gathering started its 14 years in energy.
However the NAO mentioned its personal evaluation of Workplace for Nationwide Statistics information confirmed the proportion of girls aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales to have suffered a sexual assault was estimated to be 4.3% in 2023-24, up from 3.4% in 2009-10.
It mentioned incidents of rape and sexual assault recorded by police had elevated virtually fourfold throughout the identical interval, from 34,000 to 123,000 – however cautioned that this may very well be partially defined by improved recording of those crimes.
The NAO additionally discovered “little proof” that the Residence Workplace had improved on earlier methods, whereas the division and the broader authorities had “a poor understanding of what works to forestall and sort out VAWG”.
The report added that as a part of the 2021 technique, a minimum of £4.2m had been spent on analysis into stopping VAWG, however the tasks it funded have been “but to supply insights to tell any future interventions”.
The report famous that “low cost price and lengthy wait occasions” contributed to a substantial variety of rape victims dropping out earlier than circumstances reached a conviction.
In the meantime, solely a minority of home abuse circumstances recorded by police led to expenses, the NAO mentioned.
In 2021, underneath the earlier Conservative authorities, the division created a devoted crew to steer VAWG technique.
The NAO mentioned the Residence Workplace “discovered it difficult to get buy-in from different authorities departments” and had a “restricted understanding” of the extent of assets dedicated to addressing VAWG throughout authorities.
Its devoted crew didn’t meet till a yr after the launch, the NAO discovered, and had solely met 4 occasions in whole.
The Residence Workplace “doesn’t know what impact the federal government’s work is having on VAWG”, the report mentioned.
The NAO mentioned: “Authorities’s efforts to sort out violence towards ladies and ladies haven’t but improved outcomes for the victims of those crimes.
“The dearth of an efficient, cross-government strategy and a restricted understanding of what works to assist scale back these crimes, means the Residence Workplace can’t be assured that authorities is doing one of the best it may to maintain ladies and ladies secure.”
Whereas in opposition, Labour pledged to halve VAWG in a decade.
The report mentioned the brand new authorities had set an “formidable goal”, however that to fulfill it the Residence Workplace would wish to “lead a coordinated, whole-system response that addresses the causes of VAWG”.
Andrea Simon, director of the Finish Violence In opposition to Girls Coalition, mentioned: “The dearth of consideration to prevention is deplorable, particularly as we all know VAWG is considerably under-reported.”
However she added that the technique’s “price” couldn’t “be decided solely on a value-for-money foundation”.
“The harms of VAWG are so vital and far-reaching that the societal significance of addressing it have to be recognised,” Ms Simon mentioned.
Abigail Ampofo, interim CEO of Refuge, mentioned the report’s findings “come as no shock”.
“We all know all too properly VAWG is horrifically frequent,” she added.
“And but, confidence within the justice system is at an all-time low, and every single day survivors proceed to be failed, which is having devastating and at occasions, deadly penalties.”
