The Home Office has rejected a proposal to allocate government funds for reviews into domestic abuse-related deaths, drawing sharp criticism from the domestic abuse commissioner.
Commissioner Expresses Deep Concern
Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner, stated that it is "deeply concerning" that local authorities in England and Wales will not receive direct resources to help them carry out domestic homicide reviews (DHRs). She urged officials to be "braver and bolder" in their decision-making.
The government responded that it could not provide "specific guidance" on how local authority funding should be spent but acknowledged that improvements to the review process are needed.
What Are Domestic Homicide Reviews?
DHRs are multi-agency investigations conducted in England and Wales when an individual aged 16 or over dies as a result of apparent abuse, violence, or neglect by a partner, relative, or household member. These reviews are designed to ensure that public bodies learn lessons from tragedies to protect future victims. They operate separately from any related criminal proceedings and cannot assign legal blame for a death.
Jacobs noted: "When someone loses their life to domestic abuse, we should be doing all we can to learn from this tragedy and ensure it never happens again." She emphasized that the lack of dedicated funding for councils to conduct these potentially life-saving reviews is deeply concerning, particularly as councils have warned they may struggle to commission them without additional resources.
Financial Pressures on Councils
Jacobs, who authored a report on DHRs for the government in 2024, said some councils warned they might have to stop carrying out the reviews due to increasing financial pressure. Estimates from her office and the Local Government Association suggest each review costs approximately £10,000.
DHRs were introduced in 2011, and their scope was widened in 2016 to include suicides related to domestic abuse. The Guardian has highlighted this issue in a recent series of stories, noting that the number of domestic abuse suicides has exceeded homicides for three consecutive years.
Calls for Dedicated Funding
Jacobs had called for dedicated funding for chairs, expert panel members, support for families, management costs, and the sharing of lessons learned, as councils struggle to fund a growing number of investigations. She added: "In the last few weeks, this government has been accused of delivering incremental change for victims and survivors of abuse. If it wants to achieve its mission and be a world leader in tackling violence against women and girls, it must be braver and bolder in its decisions."
She urged ministers to reconsider their response and make dedicated funding available to ensure DHRs can be effectively conducted, stating that this would not only deliver genuine improvements for people subject to domestic abuse but ultimately save lives.
Government Response
In response to Jacobs' report, Learning from Loss, the government acknowledged the concerns raised regarding the financial and resourcing challenges involved in undertaking DHRs. However, it added: "Funding for DHRs is provided through the local government funding settlement and unfortunately, the Home Office is unable to provide specific guidance on how funding should be allocated locally."
The government noted that new statutory guidance has been drafted to increase efficiencies and reduce delays in the overarching process. For example, a new toolkit with templates, process maps, checklists, draft letters, and key contacts will be included to help guide those undertaking reviews and ensure consistent and high-quality outputs.
Labour committed to halving violence against women and girls in its 2024 manifesto and has described the issue as a "national emergency." Jacobs expressed pleasure that the government reaffirmed its commitment to deliver a digital oversight tool but expressed frustration that there was no detail on funding or a timetable for its introduction. The government stated that further detail on the platform would be "announced in due course" and that it would work to implement its own recommendations on DHRs, which Jacobs had also suggested.
The Home Office has introduced a new process as part of the wider programme of DHR reform, through which the sharing and implementation of national recommendations will be monitored across government departments by the Home Office DHR secretariat.
