Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
26th Report - Tackling Violence against Women and Girls
Published 16 May 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
This financial uncertainty can have particularly devastating consequences on smaller, specialist organisations, including those run ‘by–and–for’ the people that they serve. Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse told us that funding ‘by–and–for’ services not only ensures adequate support for all survivors, regardless of specific needs, but also saves costs. For example, research referenced by Southall Black Sisters suggests that when migrant survivors with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) can access ‘by–and–for’ services, net savings to local public services over 3 years total more than £18,000 per women.36 However, After Exploitation told us that throughout the delivery of the 2021 VAWG Strategy there was a dearth of support services ‘by–and–for’ survivors with diverse characteristics.37 The Home Office told us that it is committed to taking an intersectional approach to its new strategy, so that it recognises the diverse range of needs.38 35 Q 40 36 VAWG0069; VAWG0078 37 VAWG0059 38 Q 87 15 2 Monitoring and evaluation Engaging locally to understand what works
From: Public Accounts Committee, 26th Report - Tackling Violence against Women and Girls (HC 644), 16 May 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-sixth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 16 July 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-sixth report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations across the areas covered, including governance, survivor engagement, funding, evidence, measurement, prevention and online safety.
- On cross-government accountability, the government says it has set up "robust governance and accountability" through the Safer Streets Mission, and that it is developing options for a cross-Whitehall team to monitor delivery of VAWG commitments.
- On funding, the Home Office will write to update the Committee once it has decisions and clarity on cross-government VAWG spending. Coordination is stated to depend on other departments completing their own internal allocation processes.
- On measuring progress, the target to halve VAWG within a decade will be set against a headline prevalence measure from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, with a target implementation date of September 2025.
- On prevention, delivery of the actions by September 2025 is stated to be "contingent on the publication of the Tackling VAWG Strategy within that timeframe". DSIT will "aim to update" the Committee in six months on early findings from Ofcom's Tracker.