The Home Office has rejected a proposal to allocate government funds for reviews into domestic abuse-related deaths.
Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner, said it was “deeply concerning” that local authorities in England and Wales would not receive direct resources to help them carry out domestic homicide reviews (DHRs) and urged officials to be “braver and bolder” in their decision making.
The government said it was unable to provide “specific guidance” on how local authority funding should be spent but added that it recognised improvements to the review process were needed.
DHRs are multi-agency investigations in England and Wales that take place when someone aged 16 or over dies after apparent abuse, violence or neglect by a partner, relative or household member.
They are designed to ensure that public bodies learn lessons from tragedies to protect future victims. They operate separately from any related criminal proceedings and cannot assign legal blame for a death.
Jacobs said: “When someone loses their life to domestic abuse, we should be doing all we can to learn from this tragedy and ensure it never happens again.
“The lack of dedicated funding to ensure councils can conduct these potentially life-saving reviews is deeply concerning, particularly when councils are telling me they will struggle to commission them if further resource isn’t found.”
Jacobs, who conducted a report into DHRs for the government in 2024, said some councils warned they might have to stop carrying out the reviews because of increasing financial pressure. Estimates from her office and the Local Government Association suggest each review costs about £10,000.
DHRs were introduced in 2011. Their scope was widened in 2016 to include suicides related to domestic abuse, an issue the Guardian has highlighted in a recent series of stories. The number of domestic abuse suicides has exceeded homicides for three years in a row.
Jacobs had called for dedicated funding for chairs, expert panel members, support for families, management costs and the sharing of lessons learned as councils struggle to fund a growing number of investigations.
She added: “In the last few weeks, this government has been accused of delivering incremental change for victims and survivors of abuse. If it wants to achieve its mission and be a world leader in tackling violence against women and girls, it must be braver and bolder in its decisions.
“Ministers must reconsider this response and make dedicated funding available to ensure DHRs can be effectively conducted. This will not just deliver genuine improvements for people subject to domestic abuse, it will ultimately save lives.
“I want to once again thank the areas that, in spite of funding challenges, gave their time, expertise and commitment to piloting the oversight mechanism.”
In response to Jacobs’ report, Learning from Loss, the government said it “acknowledges the concerns raised regarding the financial and resourcing challenges involved in undertaking DHRs”.
But it added: “Funding for DHRs is provided through the local government funding settlement and unfortunately, the Home Office is unable to provide specific guidance on how funding should be allocated locally.
“However, the new statutory guidance has been drafted to increase efficiencies and reduce delays in the overarching process.
“For example, a new toolkit, with templates, process maps, checklists, draft letters and key contacts will be included to help guide those undertaking reviews and ensure consistent and high-quality outputs.”
Labour committed to halving violence against women and girls in its 2024 manifesto and has described the issue as a “national emergency”.
Jacobs said she was “pleased to see the government reaffirm its commitment to deliver a digital oversight tool” but expressed frustration that there was no detail on funding or a timetable for its introduction.
The government said further detail on the platform would be “announced in due course”. It added that it would work to implement its own recommendations on DHRs, which Jacobs had also suggested.
It said: “The Home Office has introduced a new process as part of the wider programme of DHR reform, through which the sharing and implementation of national recommendations will be monitored across government departments by the Home Office DHR secretariat.”
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In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
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