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RESTRICTED – POLICYRESTRICTED – POLICYDRAFTDRAFT
National DomesticNational Domestic Violence DeliveryViolence Delivery PlanPlan
Annual Progress ReportAnnual Progress Report 2006/072006/07
March 2007March 2007
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MINISTERIAL FOREWORD
This year has seen more dedicated action against domestic violence andeffective action has been taken at all levels of the delivery chain.As with last year, the centre piece of the National Delivery Plan for DomesticViolence has been the continued expansion of the Specialist Domestic ViolenceCourt (SDVC) Programme and its multi-agency component approach to puttingvictims at the heart of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) which is continuing toproduce significant improvements and criminal justice outcomes.The launch of the expanded SDVC Programme at 10 Downing Street inSeptember 2006, together with the National SDVC Steering Group beingnominated in the top three Westminster and Whitehall Awards for “Joined UpGovernment” acknowledged the recognition that has been given by governmentto the significance of this work.This approach requires continued action by single agencies such as the police,CPS, courts and probation and the targets set in 2005 will be pursued withgreater vigour.Emerging from the SDVC Programme has been the Multi-Agency RiskAssessment Conferences (MARAC) and the role of the Independent DomesticViolence Advisor (IDVA). These initiatives, we believe, should be the centralfocus in the coming years, with the continued development of SDVCs. Throughthe MARAC and the IDVA we will continue to produce better CJS outcomes butalso protect victims from serious injury or even homicide as well as bringingperpetrators to justice. We aim to develop further IDVAS and MARACsindependent from, as well as linked to, SDVCs.That is why on the 5
th
March, the Home Secretary announced a further £1.85million to roll out MARACs across the country.
Embargoed:
This will besupplemented by a further 3 year package of £9m to enable IDVAs to beemployed as caseworkers to support the MARAC.This is a significant leap forward in providing a comprehensive set of interventions to ensure victim safety and better manage perpetrators.
The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
When the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims (DVCV) Act 2004 receivedroyal assent in November 2004 it was agreed that sections of the Act would berolled out in stages, as and when resources became available. In December 2006, the Prime Minister announced that the outstanding sections would beintroduced from 1
st
July 2007. This will complete the suite of measures aimed atproviding better legal protection for victims and their children.
Homicide Reviews
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Section 9 of the DVCV Act creates a statutory basis for establishing andconducting domestic violence Homicide Reviews of the circumstances in whichthe death of an adult has or appears to have resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by: a person to whom they were related to; or had been in an intimaterelationship with, or was a member of the same household.We have undergone an extensive consultation on the nature and scope of Homicide Reviews and the final guidance will be issued as soon as it has beencleared across government departments and governance arrangements havebeen set.
The Coordinated Community Response
In last year’s report we identified the Specialist Domestic Violence Court modelas the catalyst for a more coordinated approach to domestic violence. Buildingon the experience of the SDVC Programme and what we know from UK andother international research, the Domestic Violence Virtual Unit have beenworking on developing and refining this model to see how this could work to besteffect in practice. The current model was designed for those partnerships whichmay have a range of complementary services but do not have an SDVC.The consultation process proved to be helpful and informative and alongsidethis report a link has been established which shows both the Co-ordinatedCommunity Response PowerPoint presentation about the landscape that localpartnerships need to create, and the risk assessment and managementprocesses required to manage cases effectively.We believe this model is the best way forward to ensure that limited localresources are targeted at the most vulnerable victims using the available publicprotection frameworks as the pivotal mechanisms.
Merging inter-personal violence work streams
There has been a case made for closer working between governmentprogrammes particularly in the areas of domestic and sexual violence as theyare so closely linked by victim and perpetrator profiles. In the coming year wewill see a greater collaboration between the domestic violence and the sexualviolence action plans which will help local partnerships deliver through localpartnerships.. Although there are distinct differences associated with each of thecrime types, there is much in common with the victim support and criminal justice approaches which makes it sensible to merge the programmes.Already in 2006/07 we have developed a joint accredited training programme for IDVAs and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) to allow local activitythrough Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) to be coordinated.The Sexual Violence Action Plan for 2007/08 will be published in March 2007but guidance for local partnerships has already been issued in June 2006 asksthem to develop a
Coordinated 
 
 
Community Response
to include sexual
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