My Lords, first, I will make a brief response to my noble friend Lady Stedman-Scott. One of the things which struck me very much when I was preparing for this debate was the final page of the HMIC report into domestic abuse, which contains some of the statistics. It lists that in the 12-month period to 31 August 2013, the period which was reviewed, 1.01 million calls for assistance were as a result of domestic abuse. There were 269,700 crimes of domestic abuse. This figure goes to the heart of what my noble friend was saying: there were 57,900 individuals at high risk of serious harm or murder. On average, every 30 seconds, someone contacts the police for assistance with domestic abuse.
I think that those statistics show the importance of the issue which the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, has brought before the House this evening. I am sure that we are all very grateful to him for doing so, and also to the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith. I am glad to have this opportunity. I entirely agree with the sentiment behind Amendment 49. Domestic violence and abuse are unquestionably serious crimes and must be treated as such. It is an appalling violation of the trust that those in intimate relationships place in each other. Last year, an estimated 1.9 million people were abused at the hands of those with whom they were closest.
The Government recognise that domestic abuse has not always been treated as the serious crime that it undoubtedly is. That is why, in September last year, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct an all-force review of domestic abuse. HMIC published its findings in March and highlighted serious failings in the police response to these issues, which my noble friend Lady Hamwee touched on under the heading of “It’s a domestic” in terms of giving the seriousness to calls for help in this way that they would in any other circumstance in any other public place when somebody is under threat.
Moreover, the Home Secretary has initiated a number of other measures to improve the police responses to domestic abuse. This includes the establishment of a new National Oversight Group, which she chairs. While further legislation may have its place, new laws cannot be a substitute for the vital work of driving improvements in the response from the criminal justice agencies themselves.
In addition to the important operational improvements, the Government want to ensure that front-line agencies have the tools they need to provide the best possible protection for victims. In March, we announced a national rollout of the domestic violence protection orders, to which, again, a number of noble Lords have referred, that can prevent the perpetrator from having contact with the victim for up to 28 days, and the domestic violence disclosure scheme, which enables the police to disclose to the public information about previous violent offending by a new or existing partner. This, I felt, went to the heart of the issue raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, when she raised that harrowing case study of Laura and the inability to take action. Clearly, this was something where the domestic violence protection orders may not be the solution but they are certainly an indication of a recognition of the problem.
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In March last year we changed the non-statutory definition of domestic abuse to capture non-violent controlling behaviour because we recognise that abuse is not always physical, as a number of noble Lords have mentioned. Between 20 August and 15 October we ran a public consultation to gather views on whether the law needs to be strengthened to provide the best possible protection to victims and to keep pace with these developments. Violent behaviour was deliberately left out of the scope of the consultation. Violence perpetrated by one person against another clearly already falls within the range of existing criminal offences and is successfully prosecuted under the existing criminal law. Non-violent behaviour which is coercive or controlling in nature can be harder to recognise, but it can be equally damaging to its victims.
We have listened carefully to the front-line professionals, women’s groups and others, who tell us that stalking and harassment legislation, which could afford protection for victims through the criminal and civil courts, is applied inconsistently in cases involving intimate relationships. We are keen to explore whether more needs to be done to protect victims of abuse. However, legislation on this difficult and sensitive topic needs to be approached judiciously, as a number of noble Lords recognised. We have carried out a public consultation because the views of victims should be at the heart of any development of the criminal law on this important issue, as my noble friend Lady Stedman-Scott said. We want to see more perpetrators brought to justice. We do not want victims to be deterred from reporting by a legal framework or a criminal justice system that does not work for them.
I can assure the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, and the whole House that we are considering the more than 700 responses to the recent consultation as a matter of
urgency. This will necessarily take time and, of course, it would be wrong for us to pre-judge the outcome of the consultation at this stage. That being the case, I think it unrealistic to expect an announcement on the outcome of the consultation before the Bill leaves this House. However, I have no doubt that this issue will be picked up again in the other place, not least because Elfyn Llwyd, the colleague of the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, will be meeting the Home Secretary later this week. I pay tribute to the noble Lord and his colleague for the work that they have done on highlighting this important issue. Of course, should an amendment on this issue be made in the House of Commons, it would need to come back to this House for consideration.
Amendment 49C, standing in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, and the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, would place an obligation on the Government to hold a consultation on various other domestic violence provisions. As I have outlined to the House, the Government are pursuing a range of measures to improve protection for victims of domestic abuse, stalking and all forms of violence against women and girls. This includes improving the police response to managing perpetrators of these serious crimes. I am sure noble Lords will agree that we must be careful not to legislate unnecessarily. Often the goal of managing the perpetrators of stalking and domestic abuse effectively can be met through operational improvements. The Home Secretary’s work to drive delivery against the inspectorate’s recommendations is critical. The national oversight group which she chairs is focused on delivering immediate and tangible improvements in the response received by victims who are brave enough to come forward. The work of the group includes a review by the College of Policing of what works in tackling domestic abuse perpetrators and helping them to break the cycle. In itself, this work will result in significant improvements in the handling of offenders without the need for fresh consultations or legislation.
Regarding the specific proposals put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, it is important to note that convicted stalkers and domestic abusers will already be captured by the police national computer. We are focused on improving data held on domestic abuse and making better use of existing databases rather than risking fragmenting systems by creating new databases or registers for each and every offence.
On the question of positive obligations, I also remain unconvinced that further legislation is required at this stage. The House will be aware that criminal behaviour orders, introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, can be issued by any criminal court against an offender who is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to another person. These orders can include positive requirements to get the offender to address the underlying causes of their behaviour. The orders can be applied to perpetrators of any criminal offence, including domestic abuse, stalking and harassment. Given those flexible provisions, we do not see the need to create another civil order.
Finally, domestic violence protection orders are a new and highly effective tool for the police to provide immediate protection to victims of domestic abuse. I welcome the support for them from the noble Baroness
and other noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. The national rollout of these orders began only in March this year. The Home Office will be carrying out a full review of implementation in coming months, which will inform any future action. We will continue to work with our partners to keep these and a range of other options for protecting victims and managing perpetrators under review. Legislation requiring us to consult is unnecessary. The Government do not need to be compelled to consider improvements in tackling violence against women and girls. It is one of our top priorities.
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for initiating this timely debate and ask him to withdraw his amendment in the knowledge that we will announce the outcome of the consultation on strengthening the law on domestic abuse as soon as possible, so that it can inform further debates on the Bill as it passes through the House of Commons.