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Domestic Violence

Volume 457: debated on Wednesday 7 March 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is a waiting list for offenders sentenced by the courts with a condition of attendance at domestic abuse programmes. (123188)

Since April 2006 every probation area in England and Wales has delivered an accredited Domestic Violence Programme and demand for them is high. Normally offenders are expected to start a domestic violence programme within four weeks of the start of the order. In some areas offenders are waiting longer than this. Every offender waiting to start a programme is under the supervision of an offender manager who is responsible for monitoring and managing the risk posed by the offender and instituting public protection measures if necessary. There is a national target of 1,200 for the number of offenders in the community who successfully complete a domestic violence programme. This target will be exceeded by the end of the financial year—by the end of December there had already been 1,199 completions.