The government is spending £53m over the next four years on an intervention programme which it says can help domestic violence perpetrators change their lives and move away from abuse.
Since 2016, a pilot scheme has been working with perpetrators on a one-to-one basis to help them come off drugs and alcohol and resolve personal issues.
Following an independent evaluation that concluded the pilot had successfully cut abuse, the government has decided to fund an expansion of the programme across England and Wales.
Home Office Minister Jess Phillips said the money would give victims a “better and safer future” but some domestic violence charities have expressed scepticism.
The Drive Project pilot, which has begun operating in Essex, South Wales and West Sussex, has focused on high-risk or serial domestic violence perpetrators through intensive one-to-one case management for up to 12 months.
Alongside that, victims are given a “dedicated independent domestic violence adviser” to provide support.
But Debbie Jones, from the charity Resolute, said: “The only real deterrents to serious domestic violence are tougher prison sentences and stricter licensing conditions if perpetrators aren’t sent to jail.”
And Refuge’s Ellie Butt said the programme “may go some way in reducing the risk” but warned that perpetrator programmes “often lead to increased demand on local services for survivors so without co-ordinated and sustained investment across the sector, these new efforts will still fall far short of what is needed”.
An evaluation carried out by the University of Bristol found that the Drive Project programme reduced domestic violence, cutting physical abuse by 82%, sexual abuse by 88% and harassment and stalking behaviours by 75%.
Kyla Kirkpatrick, head of the Drive Partnership, said victims “want and need better responses to the people causing harm in their lives. They need them to be seen, held to account and stopped.”
She said the Drive Project delivered this and added that evaluation had proved “it works”.
The programme will go live in 15 new areas by March 2026 and a full roll-out across England and Wales will follow.
Speaking to the BBC, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said the programme was part of “an effort” to change the behaviour of perpetrators rather than victims.
Asked if the programme would see fewer perpetrators going to prison, Phillips said offenders would “still see the full force of the law”.
She added that the “vast majority of domestic violence perpetrators never go to prison”.
A further £230,000 will be spent on specially-trained plain-clothed officers who will patrol streets at night to crack down on predatory behaviour.
In its manifesto, Labour promised to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee have urged the government to provide more funding for support services and for tackling online abuse.
In a letter to Phillips, committee chair Tonia Antoniazzi said: “The shocking scale of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland, highlighted by the harrowing experiences we heard of those who are forced to put up with it daily, cannot be tolerated any longer.”
The government is pointing to the project as a example of how it can work with charities, faith groups and social enterprises to deliver on its policies.
In a speech in central London, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer launched a “Civil Society Covenant” which would introduce a stronger role for the third sector in government.
“This is about rebalancing power and responsibility – not the top-down approach of the state working alone,” he said.
“Not the transactional approach of markets left to their own devices but a new way forward – where government and civil society work side by side to deliver real change.”