UK Government efforts to tackle violence against women and girls failed – watchdog

UK Government efforts in recent years to address violence against women and girls (VAWG) have not improved outcomes for victims, according to the spending watchdog.

VAWG is a “significant and growing problem” affecting one in 12 women, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.

But it added that the Home Office – the main department in charge of work to tackle it – “is not currently leading an effective cross-government response”.

A key pledge by Labour when they came into Government last summer was to halve VAWG in the next decade.

But the NAO said that to meet this target, the Home Office “will need to lead a coordinated, whole-system response that addresses the causes of VAWG”.

Buy-in

While the Home Office under the Conservatives created a dedicated team to lead its 2021 VAWG strategy, the NAO said the department had “found it challenging to get buy-in from other government departments”, with an oversight group working to progress the strategy not having met until a year after the launch.

A ministerial oversight group for the strategy “only met four times in three years”, the NAO said.

Public Accounts Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the NAO report shows a “disjointed” approach from Government to tackling the “epidemic” of VAWG.

He said: “It is disappointing that the Home Office does not know where money is being spent and whether it is making a difference.

“If the Home Office is serious about halving violence against women and girls within the next decade, it cannot continue relying on fragmented efforts.

“Government must take a hard look at the lessons from past strategies and develop a better understanding of what works – both to prevent these horrific crimes and improve outcomes for traumatised victims.”

The prevalence of sexual assault against women aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales was 4.3% in 2023-24, up from 3.4% in 2009-10, the NAO said.

In that same period, incidents of rape and sexual assault against women and girls recorded by police rose from 34,000 to 123,000, although the NAO said this could partly be explained by improved recording of such crimes.

Funding

The NAO report raised questions over funding, saying that in comparison to the 2021 illegal drugs strategy, there was no joint spending review bid prepared regarding the VAWG strategy, and noted historic Home Office underspending in this area.

The watchdog stated: “Our analysis suggests other government departments spent at least £979 million between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

“The Home Office has historically underspent its own budget allocated to the VAWG Strategy, by an average of 15% between 2021-22 and 2023-24.”

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Government’s efforts to tackle violence against women and girls have not yet improved outcomes for the victims of these crimes.

“The lack of an effective, cross-government approach and a limited understanding of what works to help reduce these crimes means the Home Office cannot be confident that government is doing the best it can to keep women and girls safe.

“The new government has set an ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. A well-informed and effectively implemented cross-government response is needed, that addresses both the causes and the consequences of these crimes.”

‘Delivering’

A Home Office spokesperson said the report had looked at the previous government’s “failure to deliver systemic change”, and vowed that Labour was “delivering a step-change in the Government’s response”.

They said: “Over the last six months, we have wasted no time in taking action to better protect victims and pursue perpetrators. This includes launching new domestic abuse protection orders, starting the roll-out of domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, strengthening the police response to spiking and stalking, and pioneering a truly cross-government approach to tackling these issues.

“We will not stop until we have a system that protects victims, supports their journey to justice and holds perpetrators to account.”