2027 Violence Against Women and Girls Proposals

WQ.235/2026

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

BY DEPUTY S.J. GLEAVE OF ST. HELIER SOUTH

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 26th OCTOBER 2026

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2026

Question

"Further to Written Question 208/2026, regarding violence against women and girls funding, and the Minister's response during Questions Without Notice on 20th October 2026, will the Minister advise –

1. which charitable organisations specialising in supporting victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence were consulted during the preparation of the 2027 Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) funding proposals, and what input they provided;
2. whether consideration was given to commissioning additional services from existing specialist charities, including Jersey Action Against Rape (JAAR) and Freedom from Domestic Abuse (FREEDA), as an alternative to creating additional Government posts, and, if so, what conclusions were reached, and if not, why not;
3. what assessment informed the decision to allocate £57,000 for an additional specialist therapeutic post  within  Health  and  Care  Jersey,  including  whether  existing  charitable  provision  was considered; and
4. what criteria is used to determine whether VAWG services are commissioned from specialist charities or delivered directly by Government?"

Answer

1. Following the results of the election on 7th June 2026, and the subsequent lifting of the pre-election period restrictions, officers took the first opportunity to consult with charities and community services involved in work to address VAWG by hosting a workshop on 8th June 2026 which aimed to understand the demands on, and needs of, their services.

Invitations to this workshop were extended to members of the VAWG Taskforce that represent third sector services (including JAAR and FREEDA). However, invitations were also extended to a wider group of charities and community services who have not previously been involved in the work of the VAWG Taskforce, so as to ensure that all perspectives were captured. These invites were sent out via a range of mailing lists[1] to ensure a wide reach across third sector and community organisations. Third sector members of the VAWG Taskforce were also encouraged to invite any additional charitable services that they felt the workshop would be relevant for.

During this workshop, attendees were asked a series of questions related to the operational pressures and capacity and resourcing challenges that their services are facing. Officers used the feedback garnered during this workshop to inform the content of the VAWG funding business case for consideration by the new Council of Ministers in July 2026.

Officers also contacted FREEDA directly to request a quotation for the delivery of a training package relating to routine and targeted enquiry processes relating to VAWG within Health and Care Jersey (HCJ). This work forms part of the wider workstream to deliver the remaining VAWG Taskforce recommendations, and relates specifically to the delivery of Recommendations 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45. The figures provided by FREEDA in their quotation for this work were used to inform the content of the business case, specifically the component amounts allocated to "HCJ Training and Delivery".

2. As explained in the answer to WQ 208/2026, a significant proportion of the budget allocated to VAWG in 2027 is designed to fund the operationalisation of the incoming package of VAWG legislation. As statutory services are the primary stakeholders involve in the operationalisation of this new legislation, it follows that these services are the primary recipients of the funds allocated to the operationalisation of these new laws. For instance, a significant proportion of the funding is allocated to the States of Jersey Police to provide the additional investigative capacity and forensic capability required for the effective implementation of the new legislation. These are not services that can be appropriately outsourced to specialist charities.

However, consideration was given to the commissioning of additional services from existing specialist charities as an alternative to the creation of additional Government posts, where this was appropriate. For instance, consideration was given to commissioning FREEDA to deliver a training package to support the implementation of routine and targeted enquiry processes relating to VAWG within HCJ. FREEDA was identified as the most appropriate service to approach for a quotation for the delivery of training as they already lead on the delivery of Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) programme, an evidence-based domestic abuse training, support and referral programme specially designed or GPs. They are therefore well placed to ensure that this new bespoke training package for HCJ is consistent and coordinated with Primary Care and have extensive experience delivering training to medical professionals where limited time availability for training can be a significant challenge. As a result, FREEDA was asked to provide a quotation for this work which was then used to inform the content of the business case that was submitted for the VAWG funding.

It is also important to note that a proportion of the funding allocated to Justice and Home Affairs relating to "Training and delivery costs" and "Marginalised community engagement" will provide the budget from which the government can then commission training and other services from existing  specialist  charities,  such  as  to  implement  the  remaining  VAWG  Taskforce recommendations that relate to training and further research.

A full breakdown of which additional VAWG services and/or posts were considered for delivery by the third sector and the rationale behind this decision is provided in Appendix 1.

3. The VAWG Taskforce report identified that the current provision of specialist counselling and therapeutic provision for victim-survivors is too limited.[2] This resulted in VAWG Taskforce Recommendation 60, which directed that a gap analysis of current specialist counselling provision be undertaken and subsequent investment to improve the appropriateness and availability of specialist counselling should follow.

This gap analysis was subsumed into a wider review into the structure and staffing of the Jersey Domestic Abuse Service (JDAS), as directed by Taskforce Recommendation 19.1. In particular, the review identified that long waiting lists for specialist therapeutic support in Jersey were found to be placing JDAS under significant pressures. In particular, the review identified that JDAS was having to provide long-term emotional support to victim-survivors, despite this form of support falling outside the scope of their service provision, because these individuals had been unable to access the therapeutic support they required via statutory mental health services.

This finding resulted in the decision to allocate £57,000 for an additional therapeutic post within Health and Care Jersey, primarily because it was the long waiting lists for the specialist counselling provision through statutory mental health services that was identified as placing unnecessary pressure on JDAS, a separate statutory service.

It is also important to acknowledge that we, as a government, have a duty to provide specialist therapeutic support for victim-survivors through our statutory mental health services.

JAAR provides one-to-one counselling for victim-survivors of sexual trauma and rape. This is an invaluable service provision which I understand has formed a key component of the recovery and healing of many victim-survivors in Jersey. However, the service does not provide specialist counselling provision to victim-survivors of domestic abuse.

Existing charitable service provision was therefore not considered to be an appropriate alternative to the HCJ post. The specialist support that will be provided by the HCJ post differs from the JAAR provision because it will provide long-term specialist counselling provision for victim-survivors of both domestic abuse and sexual violence via our statutory mental health service.

4. The criteria used to determine whether VAWG services are commissioned from specialist charities or delivered directly by government depends on the function of the specific service in question. A breakdown of which VAWG services were considered for delivery by the third sector and the rationale behind this decision is provided in Appendix 1.

VAWG services relating to the implementation of statutory functions, such as the implementation of new legislation, necessarily need to be delivered by statutory services including the police, the courts, law officers, and staff working within the Dewberry House Sexual Assault Referral Centre and the Jersey Domestic Abuse Service.

VAWG  services  related  to  the  provision  of  specialist  support  for  victim-survivors  must  be appropriately balanced between statutory and charitable organisations. It is important to note that each specialist support service and charity in Jersey provides a different function and so their suitability for the delivery of specific VAWG services will depend on the type of services required. As noted above, the long waiting lists for specialist therapeutic support provided via our statutory mental health services were identified as putting a strain on the Jersey Domestic Abuse Service (JDAS). It follows then, that the most appropriate way to alleviate the pressure on JDAS would be to provide additional resource to our statutory mental health services so that these waiting lists can be reduced and victim-survivors can more readily access long-term specialist support.

The commissioning of services relating to education and training is more appropriately open to the charitable  sector.  There  are  a  number  of  VAWG  Taskforce  recommendations,  and recommendations arising from related workstreams, which call for additional training and guidance on different aspects of VAWG. A proportion of the VAWG funding for Justice and Home Affairs is allocated to "Training and delivery costs" in order to provide the government with the necessary budget to commission services and training from specialist charities and other organisations, depending on where the delivery of this work most appropriately sits.

The VAWG funding allocated to training and delivery in this budget represents the first step to securing the funds we need to commission VAWG services, including from specialist charities and organisations. Provided this budget is approved by States Members, the budget will then be used to commission services from specialist organisations including those which operate within the charitable sector.

Appendix 1

[1] This included the Association of Jersey Charities, the Institute of Directors, Chamber of Commerce, The Link (commissioning newsletter via HJC), Charities Newsletter (circulated by ESSH), Cross Denomination Clergy Group, Jersey Community Foundation Comité des Connétable s, Honorary Police, Safeguarding Partnership Jersey and Jersey Sport.

[2] VAWG Taskforce Report.pdf p.221