Restraining order powers to further protect victims of domestic violence and harassment

A powerful tool to help protect victims of harassment including domestic abuse will come into effect next month, the Government confirmed today.

From 30 September courts will have greater freedom to grant restraining orders when abusers appear before them, giving victims immediate protection and sparing them the ordeal of a separate civil action.

Currently courts can only issue restraining orders following conviction for two types of offences: harassment or putting someone in fear of violence.

Under the new rules an order can be made following conviction for any offence and even where someone is acquitted in order to better protect victims. Breaking the terms of a restraining order is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

Today’s announcement coincides with the publication of the National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan 2008/9.

Home Office Minister Lord West said:

“Domestic violence is a devastating crime which impacts across all communities.
“We continue to make good progress in tackling this hateful crime and conviction rates are improving – 72 per cent of cases charged and brought to court at the end of 2008/09 resulted in a conviction compared with 60 per cent four years ago.

“The additional powers announced today will also help victims in need of immediate protection and spare them the need to take separate civil action.

“But there is still more to be done and I look forward to the launch of the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in November and further measures to help victims and prevent violence.”

Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, said:

“Domestic violence is totally unacceptable. Since 1997 we have strengthened the law, increased sentences, and improved the way police, courts and the criminal justice system support victims of domestic violence, which has led to a 64 per cent drop in incidents of domestic violence.

"But we are committed to doing more. These new restraining orders will mean that a woman does not have to go from pillar to post, immediately giving her protection from harassment.”

Nicola Harwin, Chief Executive of Women's Aid, said:

"Women's Aid welcomes the report and looks forward to the launch of the Violence against Women and Girls strategy in November. We must improve protection for those affected by abuse and welcome the many initiatives over the last 10 years to improve protection. These restraining orders will provide a valuable new tool to help protect victims

"Women's Aid also welcomes proposals for improved prevention work with young people in schools. Evidence shows that although many young people will not tolerate domestic violence, up to a million girls and boys in the UK are at risk every year."

The report shows that the Government has made significant headway in ensuring perpetrators of violence against women are effectively dealt with and victims supported.

Key achievements in 2008/9 include:

- allocating funding of £500,000 towards the National Domestic Violence Helpline run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge, which received over 137,000 calls last year;

- the Crown Prosecution Service reaching 72 per cent for successful prosecutions with the number of unsuccessful outcomes in domestic violence cases falling significantly;

- funding of £225,000 provided to train 75 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers;

- an increase in the number of multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) which meet to protect high risk victims of domestic violence to more than 200. Last year more than 24,000 cases had been brought to MARAC involving 34,000 children;

- implementation of the Forced Marriage Act. The Forced Marriage Unit saw a 27 per cent increase in the number of cases as more people sought help than ever before; and

- expanding the Specialist Domestic Violence Court (SDVC) programme to 122 in order to bring more perpetrators to justice.

Government launches counter terrorism science and technology strategy

Experts from industry and academia are being invited to provide groundbreaking innovations to help combat the threat of terrorism as part of the government’s Science and Technology Counter Terrorism Strategy launched today.

Scientists are being asked to come forward with state-of-the-art ideas that could be used to identify new threats and develop ways to counter the challenges we face from international terrorism.

The three-year Science and Technology Counter Terrorism Strategy published today aims to:

* Understand future threats and opportunities;

* Develop effective solutions; and

* Work with our international partners on counter terrorism-related science and technology

Alongside the strategy, a brochure has been produced for science and technology experts, to put them in touch with key contacts.

Science and technology play a key part in counter-terrorism, enhancing our ability to pursue terrorists, prevent radicalisation, protect essential services and infrastructure and prepare for a terrorist attack.

The government’s counter terrorism strategy (CONTEST) has identified that terrorists will continue to exploit modern technology, not only to plan and conduct attacks, but also to disseminate propaganda and recruit people to their cause. The report published today sets out what the government is already doing to counter terrorism through science and technology.

The strategy and accompanying brochure set out key challenges and invite commercial experts to get in touch to see if they can work towards meeting the operational needs of the wider counter-terrorism community as well as our traditional partners such as the police, military and security services.

Security Minister Lord West said:

“The UK currently faces a real and serious threat from terrorism and we need to utilise our position as a world leader in science and technology to counter this.

“We need to match products and ideas to problems, which is why we are actively inviting people to join us and share expertise.

“The UK is a leading innovator in the design and provision of defence and security solutions. British technology can have greater practical applications across the world and is just one more tool in our fight against those who would wish to do us harm.”

(Home Office) Government announces £5m extra funding to protect crowded places from terrorist attacks

An extra £5million to protect the public from the threat of terrorist attacks in crowded places was announced by Security Minister Lord West today.

The funding comes as a public consultation is published on how local authorities, businesses, the police and communities can work together to better secure the places where we live, work and play.

New guidance will help local partners understand their roles and the practical difference they can make to reduce the vulnerability of public areas like pubs, clubs, shopping centres, sports stadia and schools.

They will be able to prioritise their work based on advice from police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs) who for the first time are carrying out a standardised risk assessment of crowded places across the country.

Lord West said:

"There is no greater priority for the Government than the safety and security of the public, and all parts of society have important contributions to make.

"The review that I conducted into crowded places showed that a substantial amount of work has been undertaken to increase levels of protective security in our crowded places. But we need to do more to turn available advice into proportionate action on the ground.

"This is not a job for the Government or police alone. We will achieve this by better engaging local authorities, local partners and in particular businesses to encourage them to implement counter-terrorist security advice. That is the purpose of our consultation document 'Working Together to Protect Crowded Places'. We are also launching today practical advice to those involved in planning and building our crowded places on how to design out vulnerabilities to terrorism." Lord West launched the crowded places consultation documents at a regional event in Birmingham to lay out details of the Government's revised counter terrorism strategy - 'CONTEST'.

The strategy - published on March 24 - builds on the successes of the existing policy and provides the basis for a coordinated approach to counter terrorism. It sets out principles which provide the basis for the Government's response to terrorism.