My Lords, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Rosser and Lord Young, my noble friend Lord Woolley and the noble Baroness, Lady Hussein-Ece, for their thorough detailing of this set of amendments and for explaining in detail—I particularly thank the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, for this—the need to get these amendments accepted by our Government. I will speak generally first, and then I will make specific comments about Amendment 108.
I begin with the general point that the statutory definition of domestic violence and abuse must not neglect the reality of this crime, which is that women are the overwhelming majority of victims and survivors and men are the greater number of perpetrators. It really does not matter whether information is being collected right now; the information exists to substantiate this point.
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Like other noble Lords, I do not necessarily have the full confidence that local authorities are always in the best place to define the needs of all those who need them. I hope very much that we will uphold our commitment to the Istanbul convention. I am grateful to the many women who took courage to write to me so powerfully, arguing that this legislation will fail them without the adequate financial support for a comprehensive set of services with sufficiently trained professionals. They should not be sent pillar to post and we should not restrict the provision to refuge-based services.
I believe that all individuals must be assessed to ensure that safe services are provided to the survivors and their children. If they so choose, they should be
able to remain in their own homes and receive the same protection and care. Experts in the field have remained cautious that this much-weighted legislation will not ensure that all survivors, including those without recourse to public funds, have adequate safety and the provisions they need to keep themselves and their children safe.
Amendment 108 for a national oversight group is very welcome. To be able to monitor how local authorities function and the delivery of services is a significant safeguard. National oversight can also provide a national framework to assess needs and an overview of refuges and other accommodations, alongside the other facilities nationally and regionally available.
I should urge caution that we do not create another layer of talking shop and bureaucracy. Therefore, a thorough assessment of the current structure of oversight may be required to maximise scrutiny. If anything, national oversight may be a powerful tool, given that a postcode lottery of services is a reality for many in urgent need. It may ensure that all parties to such oversight aid effective compliance, particularly with adherence to public sector equality duty and equality impact assessments for commissioning and procuring services.
A long-term sustainable package of funding may prevent further violence and deaths. The success of this legislation will inevitably be dependent on whether the Government intend this legislation to be backed up with fully-funded services to scrutinise implementation with a national and local oversight mechanism.