My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Stroud for affording us the further opportunity to debate the impact of domestic abuse on very young children and unborn babies. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, made an important point about alcohol as a trigger for domestic abuse and the effect of alcohol on an unborn child, which is part and parcel of this. The noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong of Hill Top, made a point about preventive measures being so important in our aim of protecting victims or potential victims of domestic abuse.
Amendment 7 to Clause 3 seeks to recognise unborn babies exposed to domestic abuse in utero as victims of domestic abuse. Amendments 8 and 9 to Clause 7 seek to explicitly provide for the domestic abuse commissioner to encourage good practice and provide protection and support to children under the age of two, including unborn babies, affected by domestic abuse. Amendment 78 seeks to make provision for publicly funded therapeutic services for expectant parents and parents of children under the age of two who are victims of domestic abuse. Finally, Amendment 90 seeks to make explicit reference to unborn babies and children under two in the statutory guidance to be issued under Clause 73.
Under Clause 3, children of all ages, from birth to the day that they turn 18, are considered victims of domestic abuse in their own right if they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse and are related either to the targeted victim of the abuse or to the perpetrator. As such, all children will benefit from the provisions in the Bill. For example, Part 2 expressly recognises the impact of domestic abuse on children in the statutory functions of the domestic abuse commissioner. Part 4 of the Bill places a new duty on tier 1 local authorities to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe
accommodation. This would include the kind of support referred to in Amendment 78. In addition, Clause 73(2) provides that the Secretary of State must issue guidance on the
“kinds of behaviour that amount to domestic abuse”
and on the effect of domestic abuse on all children.
Separate to the provisions in the Bill, there are important existing measures in the Children Act 1989 to protect children at risk of harm. These include Section 8 of that Act, which makes provisions for child arrangement orders regulating arrangements relating to when a child is to live, spend time with or otherwise have contact with any other person, and whom. Section 17 sets out the provision of services for children in need, their families and others. Part V sets out measures for the protection of children, including in Section 43 on child assessment orders; Section 44 on orders for the emergency protection of children; and Section 47, which sets out the local authority’s duty to investigate when it suspects that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.
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Given these provisions, I am confident that the needs of all children, including babies and toddlers, who are victims of domestic abuse are already well embedded in the Bill and elsewhere. As a result, I do not think it necessary or appropriate to extend the provisions in Clauses 3, 7 and 73 to cover babies in utero. Our aim is to ensure that pregnant women who are victims of domestic abuse and children who are victims of domestic abuse secure the support and protection they need.
To come to the substantive point of my noble friend’s amendment, the Government recognise that pregnancy can be an especially vulnerable time for women, and that pregnancy or the birth of a child can be a trigger for domestic abuse or for the escalation of existing abuse. A number of noble Lords outlined some of the points here. I have mentioned that the guidance issued under Clause 73 was published in draft last year. This made express reference to pregnancy as a risk factor that can make women more vulnerable, during what is already a terribly precarious time for some.
Since the publication of the draft, Home Office officials have engaged extensively with a range of front-line practitioners, including convening a working group specifically focused on health earlier this year. I know that officials have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including maternity and early years specialists and service providers. Experts from the Royal College of Midwives, as well as those with academic and sector expertise, outlined how we could improve the references to pregnancy, as well as include specific references to the unborn and the impact of domestic abuse. We will consult on an updated draft of the guidance following Royal Assent, where there will be yet further opportunity for specialist organisations—and, indeed, noble Lords—to provide feedback. That goes back to the point that the noble Lord, Lord Russell of Liverpool, made about data and best practice informing our approach.
As I have indicated, all expectant mothers are covered by the provision of services for domestic abuse victims, and social workers will consider the safety of unborn children through assessments and child protection conferences, as set out in statutory guidance called Working Together to Safeguard Children. Local authorities and all safeguarding agencies are required by the Children Act 2004, and other enactments under which the guidance is issued, to have regard to this statutory guidance. It is important to acknowledge that the guidance sets out that local authorities, with their partners, have a responsibility to develop clear local protocols for assessment. These protocols should reflect where assessments for some children will require particular care, including unborn children where there are concerns.
Following a Section 47 inquiry under the Children Act 1989, if there are concerns that relate to an unborn child, consideration should be given to whether to hold a child protection conference prior to the child’s birth. An initial child protection conference brings together family members, supporters, advocates and practitioners to consider all relevant information and how organisations and agencies can work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child.
The Government are also aware and have been long-standing supporters of a great scheme called Operation Encompass, which created an information-sharing protocol between police and schools following a domestic incident. Operation Encompass has launched a pilot of this scheme in Greater Manchester for children under the age of five. Under this pilot, any information is shared by the police with health visitors following a domestic abuse incident that involves children under the age of five, and where a woman is expecting. We are working very closely with Operation Encompass to monitor the outcome of that pilot.
The Government are committed to protecting all children, including the very youngest, from the heinous crime of domestic abuse, and we continue our work in this area to ensure that this is achieved. I know that my noble friend will join me in welcoming Andrea Leadsom’s early years healthy development review. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Russell of Liverpool, on being involved in it. It has been examining the first 1,001 days of a baby’s life—that is, from conception to the age of two and a half. I look forward to the review’s publication.
In terms of perpetrator strategy, there will be a domestic abuse strategy, as the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, knows. It will of course make reference to perpetrators and how we deal with them. More broadly in relation to Amendment 78, we will come on to debate the provision of community-based support services. We recognise that there is more to be done in this area and I will set out the Government’s route map to achieve this when we reach Amendment 17—hopefully, tonight.
Lastly, I would add that the Government’s new domestic abuse strategy will consider the role of early intervention work with children, including the very youngest, to ensure that they are not forgotten. I hope that I have been able to persuade my noble friend Lady Stroud that the Bill already addresses the issues that she has raised and that it will help deliver better support and protection to pregnant women and young children alike who are victims of domestic abuse.