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Lord Russell of Liverpool (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 8 September 2026

Debate

Criminal Justice Reform

Contribution

My Lords, I have the privilege of serving on the post-legislative scrutiny committee on the Domestic Abuse Act, and I am reassured by the Minister’s focus on victims. Obviously, we are liaising closely with both the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and the Victims’ Commissioner, and I can assure him that there continues to be a very high level of concern among victims, not least because of the failures of communication in making clear to them, and, quite often, their children, what degree of harm they may be in the way of. I will ask one specific question about the response to breaches of either exclusion zones or restriction zones. Those will be only as effective as the monitoring of, and the responses to, any breaches. If an offender wants to breach, they will breach. What processes are in place to ensure that probation receives timely notification of any breach, and that the police can react swiftly? Will responses to breaches actually keep the victims safe in the moment, or will they simply be identified and acted on retrospectively?

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