News story

Stalkers and domestic abusers to be targeted as millions invested in new intervention projects

Up to £39 million has been allocated to 50 projects across England and Wales to protect victims from domestic abuse and stalking.

• From: Home Office
• Published: 11 May 2023

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

Police forces across England and Wales will weed out domestic abuse and stalking behaviour with a raft of new intervention measures supported by government.

Backed by up to £39 million, 50 projects will be rolled out over the next 2 years, supporting initiatives to stop abusers from repeatedly targeting victims and terrorising vulnerable people.

Many domestic abusers are repeat offenders with 83% of male offenders repeating their offences within a 6-month period. This makes intervening to stop their pattern of behaviour paramount to protect victims.

One project, in the West Midlands, is ensuring that domestic abusers and people who display stalking behaviours are closely monitored and given early psychological intervention to change their behaviour before it gets worse.

Gloucestershire Constabulary is training more frontline officers to spot signs of domestic abuse and intervene with perpetrators.

Several forces, including Lancashire, Avon and Somerset and the Metropolitan Police Service are rolling out the Drive Project, which focuses on the most serious offenders to prevent them from abusing again, working with partner agencies such as social services to challenge perpetrators to change their abusive behaviour. This works by putting barriers in place to prevent abuse and ensuring perpetrators experience the full consequences if they continue to be violent and abusive.

Evaluation from the Drive Project, which has been running for 7 years, has shown an 82% reduction in physical abuse and 75% reduction in harassment and stalking.

Safeguarding Minister, Sarah Dines said:

Domestic abuse and stalking are vile crimes which cause victims to feel terror in their own homes and communities, where they should feel their safest.

It is unacceptable and this government is determined to protect people from this horrific abuse.

We know that intervention schemes like these are a crucial means of protecting victims, which is why we are investing millions in helping police identify abusive behaviour and stop it from escalating or happening again.

West Mid Assistant Chief Constable Andy Hill said:

Tackling domestic abuse and stalking are important priorities for West Midlands Police and we recognise that early intervention can prevent further incidents of these devastating crimes. The work we are carrying out is designed to stop stalking behaviours as early as possible to prevent further suffering of the victim and avoid stalkers becoming entrenched in their behaviour and escalating to more serious stalking and worse.

This funding will enable us to continue the domestic abuse stalking programme - EASI (Early Awareness Stalking Intervention) - to support stalking awareness and training throughout the West Midlands as well as introducing a multi-agency stalking triage process. This enables us to act when stalking is first reported to us to deliver rehabilitative treatment for stalkers, which aims to improve survivor safety.

We will also be introducing a custody intervention programme where all prisoners through our custody blocks will be spoken to by a St Giles Trust charity worker to help prevent further offending. Importantly we will also contact the victim to offer support and ensure they are safeguarded.

The government has already awarded over £41 million to Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales to fund similar projects since 2020.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Domestic Abuse, Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, said:

The funding by the Home Office will help to bring more support to victims of the terrible crimes committed by domestic abusers.

Policing continues to work with partners, stakeholders and other agencies to help support victims and bring offenders to justice, but we cannot do this alone. Funding is vital to enable this to happen and we welcome this round. We will always work together with the Home Office to ensure this funding continues to increase, so victims get the support the deserve.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, said:

Preventing and tackling domestic abuse and stalking is a top priority in my Police and Crime Plan. That is because these crimes have a catastrophic and devastating impact on victims.

The prevention of crime is always better than having to deal with the consequences of crime. That is why, here in the West Midlands, we have been successfully delivering an Early Awareness Stalking Intervention project. We are pleased to have been awarded additional funding to enable us to continue to deliver the project.

By intervening early, to challenge and change stalking behaviour and hold perpetrators to account, we can prevent further harm for the victim or future victims and break the cycle of abuse, as well as ensuring help and support for victims and survivors who have experienced this dreadful crime.

Other projects to receive funding include:

• behaviour change interventions in Kent, including healthy relationships and compulsive obsessive behaviour interventions, they aim to support 184 perpetrators a year, supported by up to £1,638,597 of funding
• the ‘stalking intervention’ project in Essex which seeks to change behaviour and reduce risk for victims and survivors of stalking, which will be supported by up to £1,687,170 of funding
• Cheshire Police are providing interventions for adult perpetrators and young people displaying harmful behaviours to facilitate behaviour change within a whole family setting

Jo Todd, Chief Executive of Respect, said:

We welcome the announcement of Home Office perpetrator funding as the roll out of the perpetrator pillar of the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan gets under way.

We believe every perpetrator should be held to account and stopped from causing further harm and are keen to see provision for high quality perpetrator responses in every local area.

This funding is just the start of what’s needed.  Respect and our members are keen to see a longer-term cross-departmental strategy from government, that locates perpetrator interventions as part of a whole system approach to ending domestic abuse for good – with funding proportionate to the size of the problem.

This funding builds on the government’s measures to help tackle domestic abuse announced in February, which go further than ever before in protecting women and children from violence by implementing tougher measures on the most dangerous domestic abuse offenders.

These include:

• ensuring that offenders convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour and sentenced to 12 months or more will be managed in the same way as the most dangerous physically violent offenders, and recorded on the Violent and Sex Offender Register

• requiring police forces in England and Wales to treat violence against women and girls as a national threat

• committing to develop a new digital tool which will use police data to identify the most dangerous perpetrators

We have also introduced statutory guidance on Clare’s Law making it quicker for an individual to access information on a partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive or violent offending.

Full breakdown of successful bids

Successful applicants	Project descriptions	Indicative funding
Avon and Somerset	The Drive Project - a response to domestic abuse that aims to reduce the number of child and adult victims of domestic abuse by disrupting and changing perpetrator behaviour.	£ 1,230,500.00
Cheshire	Provides a multi-agency, whole-system approach to Domestic Abuse perpetrators using an existing evidence base around early interventions in enhance custody DA support combined with an early intervention model to reduce the risk of harm and offending.	£ 2,920,500.00
	Provides interventions for adult perpetrators and young people displaying harmful behaviours to facilitate behaviour change within a whole family setting.
	The PCC for Cheshire working collaboratively with CJS partners seeks to address the distinct/serious harms caused by stalking perpetrators and improve outcomes for victims.
Derbyshire	1. The Changes Programme is a RESPECT accredited voluntary programme for perpetrators of Standard/Medium harm domestic abuse. 2. This programme will deliver a High Harm (risk) support service to perpetrators and associated victims and their families. It has its foundations in Respect accreditation and the organisation is Safe Lives and CafCASS accredited.	£ 1,389,150.00
Essex	Essex DA perpetrator intervention programme to break the cycle of abuse.	£ 1,687,170.00
Gloucestershire	1. Domestic Abuse Training for frontline professionals - To provide front line professionals in a range of professional settings with the skills to identify and safely challenge perpetrator behaviour and refer onto specialist services. 2. Training for police - To provide 50 Police Officers from Gloucestershire Constabularies Professional Standards Department and Criminal Investigations Department. 3. An evidence based early intervention targeting DA offenders (may start later in the funding period). 4. Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme (DVPP) - To increase existing capacity in PRG (offering DVPP) to ensure greater reach across Gloucestershire and increase the number of perpetrators receiving a behavioural change intervention. In particular, further, investment will support engagement with rural communities, ensuring ease of access for the whole county. 5. MATAC - The MATAC Co-ordinator will ensure full implementation of the MATAC approach, which aims to identify and target DA (and VAWG) offenders who pose the most harm to our communities, to reduce reoffending and to safeguard adults and children at risk.	£ 762, 033.00
Greater Manchester	Development of an early awareness raising intervention targeting domestic abuse offender (may start later in the funding period).	£ 1,959,000.00
	GMCA will sponsor the 10 local authority areas in Greater Manchester to commission their own Adult Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Interventions.
Gwent	1. To commission and provide an early intervention service for Domestic Abuse perpetrators in line with DA Perpetrator Standards. 2. To fully establish a Multi-Agency Case Management Approach to addressing and minimising the harm caused by high risk Perpetrators.	£ 1,163,116.00
Hampshire	A multi-agency stalking partnership (MASP) delivering innovative perpetrator intervention, victim/survivor advocacy and support and workforce development across the criminal justice system.	£ 1,011,761.00
Hertfordshire	Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire DA perpetrator Referral and Triage Hub providing access to a range of behavioural change interventions from early response to intensive case management.	£ 2,000,000.00
Humberside	Safe Places: Addressing Substance Use IPV - Substance use is a known risk factor for intimate partner violence (IPV), yet most perpetrator interventions do not address substance use. This approach brings key stakeholders together from both the domestic violence and substance use sectors to develop an evidence-based intervention to address both substance use and IPV.	£ 988,259.00
Kent	A collaborative approach to domestic abuse (DA) and stalking perpetrators which is aligned to improving the safety of victims and children.	£ 1,638,597.00
Lancashire	1. The DRIVE project works with high-risk high-harm domestic abuse perpetrators and aims to reduce the number of child and adult victims of domestic abuse by disrupting and changing perpetrator behaviour. 2. An early awareness raising intervention targeting domestic abuse offenders (may start later in the funding period).	£ 870,000.00
Leicestershire	To provide a service across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to engage with perpetrators of domestic violence and seek to support them in changing their behaviours as well as support their victims.	£ 741,942.00
Merseyside	Work to support victims and prevent violence and abuse in those who harm (may not start until later in funding period).	£ 813,261.00
MOPAC	Expansion of the Drive Project across London to reduce abuse and serial perpetration from high-harm-high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators and increase safety and improved outcomes for associated victims.	£ 5,192,870.00
	RISE will deliver an intersectional family and community approach to tackling domestic abuse (DA) in 10 London boroughs, focusing on integrated victim safety support, 1:1 perpetrator delivery, adult-to-parent familial DA intervention, LGBTQI+ delivery and outreach work.
	Prevent and Change (PAC) aims to ensure that the whole system is better geared towards managing perpetrators in partnership with communities across South London, to increase the safety and wellbeing of victims and associated children, and to prevent new and/or further victimisation and harm.
Norfolk	This Norfolk pilot project will deliver the Respect Young Peoples Programme (RYPP) for families where children/adolescents are abusive or violent towards their parents/carers, known as CAPVA in partnership with; Norfolk Youth Justice Service (NYJS), Norfolk Children’s Service (NCS), Police, Norfolk Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (NIDAS), managed by Leeway, Brave Futures and the OPCCN, thereby offering support and enhanced safeguarding to any associated victims and children.	£ 625,000.00
Northumbria	1. An early awareness raising intervention targeting offenders (may start later in the funding period). 2. Make a Change (MAC) is an early intervention and behaviour change intervention alongside a whole systems response through expert support to perpetrators and victims; workforce development; and community outreach. 3. Northumbria Hub & Spoke Pilot (H&S) provides support, stabilisation & behaviour change for high risk, high harm serial domestic abuse perpetrators using intensive case management and multi-agency collaboration; alongside associated support for adult and child victims.	£ 1,048,915.00
Nottinghamshire	1. An early awareness raising intervention targeting offenders (may start later in the funding period). 2. Deliver and evaluate a range of voluntary perpetrator programmes in Notts to reduce adult domestic abuse offending.	£ 656,248.00
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Managing the risk of domestic abuse perpetrators and stalkers. This project will deliver evidence-based early response and behaviour change domestic abuse perpetrator interventions, a Multi-Agency Stalking Intervention Programme and comprehensive support for victims.	£ 786,138.00
South Yorkshire	1. An early awareness raising intervention targeting offenders (may start later in the funding period). 2. Multi Agency Tasking and Co-ordination (MATAC). 3. Target Hardening (TH) Equipment for Victims of Domestic Abuse (DA).	£ 659,069.00
Suffolk	Suffolk’s DA Perpetrator Programme - Working in partnership to support victims and prevent violence and abuse by fostering behaviour change in those who harm.	£ 652,014.00
Surrey	A Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Hub will actively encourage a collaborative and co-ordinated trauma-informed approach, utilising expert interventions for perpetrators as well as integrated support for survivors and services for children and adolescents who use violence/abuse in their relationships.	£ 1,989,613.00
Sussex	1. To embed, enhance and expand a High Harm Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme supported by a multi-agency team offering a flexible therapeutic behaviour change approach, combined with supportive casework for perpetrators and victims. 2. To further embed and enhance the Sussex Partnership response to investigating and managing stalking offenders, by improving support for the Stalking Clinic and supporting the increased demand in applications for and management of Stalking Protection Orders.	£ 1,348,183.00
Thames Valley Office	Tackle prolific perpetrators of medium and high harm abuse, reduce re-offending and increase safety for existing victims and those at risk, through the delivery of the Drive intervention.	£ 2,809,737.00
	Compulsive and Obsessive Behaviour Intervention (COBI) to tackle stalking, reduce re-offending and increase public safety.
Warwickshire	Warwickshire DA Perpetrator Programme (W-DAPP) – one overarching programme consisting of a menu of separate, psychologically underpinned, behavioural change interventions; delivered from a trauma informed, therapeutic perspective; with a parallel offer of bespoke specialist support and therapeutic counselling for connected victims.	£ 600,000.00
West Mercia	A West Mercia Wide All Risk level DA Perpetrator Programme provided by one service provider which triages and assesses service users into the appropriate level programme as they are referred.	£ 1,222,398.00
West Midlands	Early Awareness Stalking Intervention (EASI) Project extension & expansion - Delivering early, brief psychological intervention for ex-partner stalking perpetrators to encourage behavioural change and reduce reoffending, whilst providing specialist support for victim-survivors.	£ 2,799,100.00
	1. Provide early intervention to domestic abuse (DA) perpetrators in custody through a reachable/teachable moment, with an integrated Victim Support Service. 2. Academic evaluation of the above early intervention to domestic abuse (DA) perpetrators in custody through a reachable/teachable moment, with an integrated Victim Support Service. 3. OPCC Policy Assistant who will work alongside the Policy lead to ensure the effective implementation, oversight and delivery of all West Midlands DA perpetrator interventions.

Published 11 May 2023