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Two days after the government watchdog, the National Audit Office, criticised the government for ‘not currently leading an effective cross-government response’ to address the problem of violence against women and girls, the NPCC confirmed government funding will be devoted to a national centre to support forces and lead on a national prevention approach with other agencies.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said that the national hub, called the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection, will build on the successes of programmes like Operation Soteria. The new centre will work with academics to ensure an evidence-based approach, transforming the way policing looks at and responds to these crimes.
Publishing its value for money report on Tackling violence against women and girls, the NAO said last week that it had looked at work carried out by the former government “to identify lessons to support the delivery of the government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls.” The Labour government committed in its manifesto to achieve this halving within ten years. In the conclusion to its 63-page report, the NAO states: ‘To meet this ambition the Home Office will need to lead a coordinated, whole-system response that addresses the causes of VAWG.”
In July 2024, NPCC VAWG lead, T/CC Maggie Blyth spoke about the need for a whole-system approach to tackling the problem. She said: “Violence against women and girls is at such a scale that it cannot be addressed through law enforcement alone. 1 in 20 people are estimated to be perpetrators of VAWG per year, with the actual number thought to be significantly higher.”
She welcomed the announcement of funding the national centre, saying: “We already have the foundations in place, we have a strong partnership across the College of Policing, NPCC and specialised programmes to drive better consistency in policing’s response to violence against women and girls.” She added that the national centre forms part of wider work with government on a “shared commitment to reform policing.”
At the time of writing, the level of funding had not been made public.
Updated 1500 on 3 February: The College of Policing is now advertising for the role of Director for the National Centre for Violence Against Women & Girls and Public Protection. Full details on the two year secondment are now provided in the recruitment pack.
Read more about work in this area in this news story from September, Top perpetrators of VAWG to be targeted under new data-driven national strategy.
