Closed consultation

Domestic abuse protection notices and protection orders: consultation on draft statutory guidance for the police

Updated 5 March 2024

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

About this consultation

This consultation seeks the views of the following:

• operational policing colleagues
• frontline professionals across the domestic abuse (DA) sector
• DA services
• prosecutors of DA
• services local to the DAPN / DAPO pilot sites

Duration

This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 11:59pm on 16 April 2024.

Enquiries, complaints or comments 

If you have any complaints or comments about the consultation process you should contact the Home Office by email or at the address below. Further paper copies of this consultation can be obtained from this address.

Alternative format versions of this publication can also be requested by email. 

Publication of response 

A paper summarising the responses to this consultation will be published in due course.

Representative groups 

Representative groups are asked to give a summary of the people and organisations they represent when they respond. 

Confidentiality

Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). 

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Home Office. 

The Home Office will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances, this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

British Sign Language users

If you want to enquire about submitting a British Sign Language video consultation response, email dapndapo.pilot@homeoffice.gov.uk.

How to respond

You can respond online.

Or you can email your response to dapndapo.pilot@homeoffice.gov.uk

You can also post your response to:

DAPN and DAPO statutory guidance consultation
Home Office 
5th Floor Fry Building 
2 Marsham Street 
London 
SW1P 4DF

Ministerial foreword

The Crime Survey for year ending March 2023 estimated that 2.1 million adults aged 16 and over in England and Wales were known to have experienced domestic abuse in the previous year. Protecting the public is a top priority for this government and that is why we are taking action to tackle domestic abuse and confront these awful crimes.

Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 continues to bolster our response to domestic abuse on every level by defining the range of conduct that is criminalised, strengthening the protections that are available for victims and ensuring perpetrators feel the full force of the law.

One of the most innovative measures legislated for in the Domestic Abuse Act is the provision for a new domestic abuse protection notice (DAPN) and domestic abuse protection order (DAPO). The new cross-jurisdictional order brings together the strongest elements of existing orders to protect victims and provide flexible, longer-term protection through a single comprehensive arrangement. It will be piloted for an expected two years.

The DAPN and DAPO will provide protection from all forms of domestic abuse and will allow courts to impose a range of requirements. This includes attendance on perpetrator behaviour change programmes, electronic monitoring (“tagging”) and mandatory notification to the police by perpetrators of name and address changes. Unlike current protective orders (such as the current Domestic Violence Protection Order) the DAPO will not have a minimum or maximum duration, which allows victims to obtain the protection they require for as long as needed, and breach of any requirement will be a criminal offence.

We recognise that providing the right information to all operational partners is essential to the success of the DAPN and DAPO. This consultation demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that the police have detailed guidance to aid them in the implementation of the DAPN and DAPO.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to this consultation. This is exceptionally important work and essential to ensuring the success of the pilot, which I look forward to launching from Spring 2024.  

Laura Farris MP

Minister for Victims and Safeguarding

Consultation description

In the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (DA Act), the government legislated for a new civil domestic abuse protection notice (DAPN) to provide immediate protection following a domestic abuse incident and a new civil Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO) to provide flexible, longer-term protection for victims. 

The DAPN and DAPO provide protection from all forms of domestic abuse as defined in Section 1 of the DA Act, not just from physical violence or the threat of physical violence. This may include, sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, and psychological or emotional abuse.  

The new notice and order will be piloted for an anticipated two-year period from Spring 2024 and independently evaluated ahead of an expected national roll-out.

Aim of this consultation

This consultation details the policy positions and operational processes for police-led applications for a DAPN and DAPO. It seeks views on whether the DAPN and DAPO statutory guidance for police is clear and comprehensive The questions invite input into the sections that are considered to cover the most technical policy details of the DAPN and DAPO, however, questions also cover the guidance as a whole to invite broader reflections.

Please note that this statutory guidance covers the police-led DAPN and DAPO application route in detail only, and does not therefore provide details on all application routes to obtaining a DAPO, such as victim and third party led applications.  Separate, non-statutory guidance will be developed for the courts, victims, and third-party applicants.

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