To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they have provided for outreach programmes for victims of domestic violence in each year since 2000. [HL421]

As much of government funding is devolved locally we are unable to identify what has been spent on outreach programmes because local areas will decide how best to prioritise their funding based on local needs.

However, one example is that the Government are providing £30 million (between 2007-11) to help safeguard children by supporting the expansion and integration of the NSPCC helpline services and, on 27 November 2008, Ed Balls announced £22 million for family intervention projects and a “think family” approach across England to help more families at risk, allowing all local authorities to deliver intensive family support for the most vulnerable families.

Another example is the Supporting People programme which provides a significant proportion of revenue funding for housing-related support for victims of domestic violence. In 2006-07, spend on services for victims of domestic violence was £61.6 million, compared with £59.3 million in 2005-06.

To ask Her Majesty's Government why children are not included in the definition of domestic violence on the Home Office website, which says that “domestic violence is any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults”. [HL424]

Children are not covered in the current government definition because they are already covered by child protection legislation and procedures. However we do acknowledge the issues raised about widening the definition of domestic violence to include under-18s and consideration of the definition will be covered in our National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan for 2009-10.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of those convicted of domestic violence have subsequently faced charges of domestic violence in relation to a different victim. [HL487]

This information is not collected centrally.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) statutory organisations and (b) specialised voluntary organisations were available in (1) November 1997 and (2) November 2007 for victims of domestic violence. [HL489]

The statutory organisations available for victims of domestic abuse in November 1997 and November 2007 are the police service; the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Offender Management Service (area probation services and HM Prison Service in 1997).

We do not collect information on the number of specialised voluntary organisations available for victims of domestic violence. We do know about the following:

the Department of Health, through Section 64 funding, provides grants to help voluntary organisations whose work supports the Government's health and social care goals. Norfolk Rape Crisis Women's Therapy Centre domestic violence project, FORWARD and the Children's Society family health inclusion have received funding from Section 64;

between 2002 and 2008, the Department of Health has provided 20 streams of funding totalling over £1.95 million to 12 mental health voluntary and community sector organisations providing therapeutic services for victims of abuse. This funding goes towards their central administrative costs and/or innovative projects;

the Department of Health has recently announced £173 million to increase service provision and access to psychological therapies, some of which will help provide services to victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape and child sexual abuse;

under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) local housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for applicants who are eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless, and who fall within a priority need group. The priority need groups include people who are vulnerable as a result of leaving their home because of violence or threats of violence likely to be carried out. This includes domestic violence. There were 354 local housing authorities in England at November 2007;

independent domestic violence advisers (IDVAs) support victims as part of the community response in a specialist domestic violence court (SDVC) system. 104 SDVCs were operating as of October 2008; and

multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) are made up of statutory and voluntary representatives, including the police, children's services, IDVAs, victims support services, health representatives, housing services and probation services. By sharing information, agencies get a better picture of a victim's situations and so develop responses that are tailored to the safety needs of the victims and their children. There are over 100 MARACs in operation.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of cases of domestic violence involves families without children. [HL491]

Information on the proportion of adults who were victims of domestic violence by household type (including households with no children) is routinely published in the annual publication, Crime in England and Wales, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.

Figures for 2007-08 are included in the attached table.

To ask Her Majesty's Government which agencies are responsible for providing support services and outreach for victims of domestic abuse; which agencies are responsible for identifying cases of domestic violence; which of these agencies focus primarily on domestic violence; and which consider domestic violence to be a contributory factor in other matters. [HL492]

There are a number of voluntary sector agencies and organisations, such as Women's Aid, Refuge, Southall Black Sisters, IMKAAN and Victim Support which provide support services and outreach for victims of domestic violence. In addition, there are specialist independent domestic violence advisers (IDVAs) who may be employed by the above organisations or by smaller specialist organisations.

These organisations focus primarily on domestic violence and by their nature identify cases of domestic violence. Further support is also available through witness care units, which are staffed by both police and CPS workers.

There are a wide range of statutory and non-statutory agencies which come into contact with victims of domestic violence and their families. Therefore no one agency is responsible for identifying cases of domestic violence. Both the police and the Crown Prosecution Service identify cases of domestic violence at the earliest opportunity in accordance with their policies and guidance. These agencies do not focus only on domestic violence but are aware of the importance of early identification and intervention in cases of domestic violence.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) working with offenders in custody or in the community will also be alert to the possibility of domestic abuse in case assessments. Women safety workers (WSW) work with victims and current partners of men undertaking the accredited domestic abuse perpetrator programmes in custody and in the community in order to promote the safety of women and children. WSW will facilitate referral of women to local women's support services for support, advice and assistance.

Other statutory agencies also have systems in place to identify cases of domestic violence at an early stage. In relation to health, routine enquiry is now well established in antenatal clinics, in 22 accident and emergency departments and, most recently, has been developed in a pilot of 15 mental health trusts. The early data indicate that the majority of women who are admitted to mental health wards have been the victim of either physical or sexual abuse.

Since 2003, administering authorities have been allocated funding through the Supporting People programme, to support the most vulnerable people in their communities, including victims of domestic violence, through the provision of housing related support.

Voluntary sector organisations such as NSPCC, MIND and Age Concern are also aware of the overlap between domestic violence and their work on children, with disabled people and with older people and take domestic violence into account when formulating their policies.