Domestic Abuse Act 2021
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that aims to raise awareness and understanding about the devastating impact of domestic abuse on victims and their families, improve the effectiveness of the justice system in providing protection for victims of domestic abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice, and strengthen the support for victims of abuse by statutory agencies.
Part 4 of the Act places a new statutory duty on tier 1 local authorities – including Devon County Council – to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children when they are in certain types of safe accommodation. These include refuges and specialist safe accommodation of various kinds. The duty is to provide support, not the accommodation.
As part of the duty, local authorities have to:
- appoint a multi-agency Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board and consult the Board as it performs certain specified functions
- assess the need for accommodation-based domestic abuse support in their area for all victims and their children who reside in relevant safe accommodation, including those who come from outside of their area
- prepare and publish a strategy for the provision of such support to cover their area having regard to the needs assessment
- give effect to the strategy (through commissioning or decommissioning decisions)
- monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy
- report back annually to central government
Devon County Council created the Devon Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board in April 2021. The Board has agreed to extend its remit to address a wider range of interpersonal and gender-based violence and abuse and has therefore rebranded and is now known as the Interpersonal Gender Based Violence and Abuse Board (IG-BVA).
Strategy documents
The Council’s Strategy for delivering domestic abuse support in safe accommodation 2022 to 2025
The Partnership Board, with the Council’s coordination, has undertaken a strategic needs assessment on Interpersonal and Gender-based Violence and Abuse (IG-BVA) in Devon. This IG-BVA needs assessment is published on the Safer Devon Website.
The Partnership Board are developing a new IG-BVA Strategy in 2025 with their work being supported for 2024/25 via the Partnership’s IG-BVA Strategic Plan.
The Devon Preventing Serious Violence Strategy 2024-29 is also published on the Safer Devon website. This Strategy has been developed in response to the Serious Violence Duty, introduced in 2023, which requires specified authorities in local areas to “work together to prevent and reduce serious violence”. It outlines Safer Devon’s framework for preventing and reducing serious violence in Devon.