The NAO report Tackling violence against women and girls examined the Home Office’s leadership of, and progress towards implementing, the 2021 VAWG strategy and the 2022 ‘Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan’. Some of the NAO report’s key findings included:
VAWG commitments partially implemented
As of July 2024, the Home Office had implemented 78% of the commitments in the 2021 VAWG strategy, although it had originally aimed to implement all the commitments in the strategy by December 2024. The NAO found that the Home Office had not been on track to achieve these commitments since the launch of the strategy in 2021.
Lack of “buy-in” from government departments
The Home Office, the lead department for preventing VAWG, has not led an effective “whole-system” response to VAWG because it has struggled to get “buy-in” from other departments.
Failure to learn from past VAWG strategies
The Home Office produced the 2021 VAWG strategy “at pace” and did not develop this VAWG strategy based on what works. The NAO also found “little evidence that the Home Office had applied learning from previous strategies”.
No consistent definition of VAWG
The lack of a consistent definition of VAWG across public bodies, and their differing approaches to measuring VAWG offences, has made it challenging to measure progress in a consistent way.
Lack of oversight of VAWG prevention spending
There is no oversight of all government funding that is being spent on preventing VAWG. Between 2021–22 and 2023–24, the Home Office underspent its own budget allocated to the VAWG strategy by an average of around 15%. This underspend came to around £22 million, against a total £149 million budget for that period. Other government departments spent a total of around £979 million on implementing the VAWG strategy during the same period.
Limited progress on VAWG prevention measures
The Home Office has made little progress developing measures to prevent VAWG, with most departments leading prevention activities in the 2021 VAWG Strategy focusing on supporting victims.
Full report at https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/violence-against-women-and-girls-in-2025/