Written question asked by Doug Naysmith (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 June 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 June 2009. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 July 2009 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Domestic Violence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contribution his Department has made to the cross-Government consultation, Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for specialist voluntary sector organisations dealing with violence against women.

Answer: I have been asked to reply.The Department for Children, Schools and Families is part of an inter-ministerial working group and a cross-Government steering group for the Violence Against Women and Girls consultation and strategy.DCSF is establishing a new advisory group to consider how schools should help tackle violence against women and girls, and how the relevant strands of ongoing DCSF work can most effectively be harnessed to maximise their impact. Gill Frances has been offered and accepted the role of chair of the group which will be meeting before the summer break.The funding for specialist voluntary sector organisations dealing with violence against women is one of the issues being considered as a part of the consultation and strategy and any decisions on this will be announced when the strategy is published in the autumn.

Secondary information