The provision of services to victims of domestic violence is a local issue; local decision makers are best placed to assess local needs. The majority of services are delivered through local providers who are supported and funded by local bodies, such as local councils and health organisations. As such, the Government do not collect information centrally on the number of services available for victims of domestic violence.
However, the Government do take the issue of domestic violence very seriously and since 1997 have taken significant steps to combat it. The Government have continued to provide funding to help lines to support a range of victims including the national 24 hour free phone help line (0808 2000 247); Men’s Advice Line and Enquiries for male victims (0800 801 0327); Broken Rainbow for LGBT victims (08452 60 44 66); and RESPECT for perpetrators wishing to change their behaviour (0845 122 8609).
In addition, the Specialist Domestic Violence Court (SDVC) programme has continued to expand and the Government are committed to increasing the number of SDVCs to 128 by 2011. Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences are currently operational in over 200 areas, and will be rolled out nationally by 2011. Furthermore, in 2008-09 we provided over £6 million to support the roll-out of Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs).