Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How Theresa May could demonstrate her commitment to tackling domestic abuse

Could domestic abuse be the latest policy area to fall foul of the government’s inability to get anything done? It certainly seemed so yesterday when Theresa May told MPs at PMQs that the planned Domestic Violence Bill would not be published in draft form in the next few weeks, as ministers had previously suggested, but that there would be a consultation first. I say in the Sun today that this means we won’t see even the draft legislation until the autumn, and so the full bill will come still later.

On one level, announcing a full public consultation on the new legislation before going to a draft bill before legislating for real is a very admirable thing to do. Governments can really botch policy when they rush legislation on complex issues through Parliament without first working out what it is that they want to do, and then finding out how they can actually do it. The Home Office insists that they had always intended to consult on the legislation first anyway, and that they have made this clear throughout: though ministers haven’t been very clear on that front: Sarah Newton told the Domestic Abuse All-Party Parliamentary Group last year that there would be draft legislation this spring. I understand that this is actually because the consultation was supposed to be in the autumn, and indeed has already been written, but Brexit has taken up so much time and energy that despite the Home Office’s commitment, the timetable has slipped massively.

Anyway, of greater importance than the timing is what’s happening alongside the Bill, which will totally undermine its work. The Communities and Local Government department is currently consulting on changes to the funding model for refuges, which campaigners warn would mean many of them would have to close and women find themselves either turned away, or housed in deeply unsuitable and insecure bed and breakfast accommodation.

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