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Domestic Abuse Act 2021

Type Public General Act

Publication 2021-04-29

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

PART 1 — Definition of “domestic abuse”

Strategy for prosecution and management of offenders

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(1) This section defines “domestic abuse” for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is “domestic abuse” if—

(a) A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and

(b) the behaviour is abusive.

(3) Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following—

(a) physical or sexual abuse;

(b) violent or threatening behaviour;

(d) economic abuse (see subsection (4));

(e) psychological, emotional or other abuse;

and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.

(4) “Economic abuse” means any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on B's ability to—

(a) acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or

(b) obtain goods or services.

(5) For the purposes of this Act A's behaviour may be behaviour “towards” B despite the fact that it consists of conduct directed at another person (for example, B's child).

(6) References in this Act to being abusive towards another person are to be read in accordance with this section.

(7) For the meaning of “personally connected”, see section 2.

Definition of “personally connected”

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(1) For the purposes of this Act, two people are “personally connected” to each other if any of the following applies—

(a) they are, or have been, married to each other;

(b) they are, or have been, civil partners of each other;

(d) they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);

(e) they are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship with each other;

(f) they each have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child (see subsection (2));

(g) they are relatives.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(f) a person has a parental relationship in relation to a child if—

(a) the person is a parent of the child, or

(b) the person has parental responsibility for the child.

(3) In this section—

“child” means a person under the age of 18 years;

“civil partnership agreement” has the meaning given by section 73 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004;

“parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3 of that Act);

“relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996.

Children as victims of domestic abuse

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(1) This section applies where behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is domestic abuse.

(2) Any reference in this Act to a victim of domestic abuse includes a reference to a child who—

(a) sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, the abuse, and

(b) is related to A or B.

(3) A child is related to a person for the purposes of subsection (2) if—

(a) the person is a parent of, or has parental responsibility for, the child, or

(b) the child and the person are relatives.

(4) In this section—

“child” means a person under the age of 18 years;

“parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3 of that Act);

“relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996.

PART 2 — The Domestic Abuse Commissioner

Domestic Abuse Commissioner

Appointment of Commissioner

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(1) The Secretary of State must appoint a person as the Domestic Abuse Commissioner (“the Commissioner”).

(2) The Commissioner is to hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Commissioner's appointment.

(3) The Commissioner is not to be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown.

Funding

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(1) The Secretary of State may make payments to the Commissioner out of money provided by Parliament for the purpose of enabling the Commissioner to meet expenditure incurred in the exercise of the Commissioner's functions.

(2) Payments are to be made at such times, and subject to any such conditions, as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(3) The Secretary of State may pay, or make provision for paying, to or in respect of the Commissioner—

(a) remuneration;

(b) allowances;

Staff etc

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(1) The Secretary of State must provide the Commissioner with—

(a) such staff, and

(b) such accommodation, equipment and other facilities,

as the Secretary of State considers necessary for the carrying out of the Commissioner's functions.

(2) Before providing any staff, the Secretary of State must—

(a) consult the Commissioner, and

(b) obtain the Commissioner's approval as to the persons to be provided as staff.

(3) The Secretary of State must consult the Commissioner before providing any accommodation, equipment or other facilities.

Functions of Commissioner

General functions of Commissioner

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(1) The Commissioner must encourage good practice in—

(a) the prevention of domestic abuse;

(b) the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences involving domestic abuse;

(i) people who carry out domestic abuse;

(ii) victims of domestic abuse;

(iii) children affected by domestic abuse;

(d) the provision of protection and support to people affected by domestic abuse.

(2) The things that the Commissioner may do in pursuance of the general duty under subsection (1) include—

(a) assessing, monitoring, and publishing information about, the provision of services to people affected by domestic abuse;

(b) making recommendations to any public authority about the exercise of its functions;

(d) providing information, education or training;

(e) taking other steps to increase public awareness of domestic abuse;

(f) consulting public authorities, voluntary organisations and other persons;

(g) co-operating with, or working jointly with, public authorities, voluntary organisations and other persons, whether in England and Wales or outside the United Kingdom.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Commissioner may not do anything in pursuance of the general duty under subsection (1) that—

(a) relates to a devolved Welsh authority, or

(b) otherwise relates to Welsh devolved matters.

(4) Subsection (3) does not prevent the Commissioner from—

(a) doing anything falling within subsection (2)(c), (d) or (e), to the extent that the thing done does not relate to Welsh devolved matters;

(b) doing anything falling within subsection (2)(f) or (g);

(c) disclosing information to a devolved Welsh authority, or information which relates to Welsh devolved matters, under section 18.

(5) For the purposes of this section something relates to Welsh devolved matters so far as it relates to—

(a) any matter provision about which would be within the legislative competence of Senedd Cymru if it were contained in an Act of Senedd Cymru, or

(b) (so far as it is not within paragraph (a)), any matter functions with respect to which are exercisable by the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister for Wales, the Counsel General to the Welsh Government or the Senedd Commission.

(6) In this section—

“devolved Welsh authority” has the meaning given by section 157A of the Government of Wales Act 2006;

“public authority” means any public authority within the meaning of section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, other than a court or tribunal.

Reports

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(1) The Commissioner may report to the Secretary of State on any matter relating to domestic abuse.

(2) The Commissioner must publish every report made under this section.

(3) Before publishing a report under this section, the Commissioner must send a draft of the report to the Secretary of State.

(4) The Secretary of State may direct the Commissioner to omit material from any report under this section before publication if the Secretary of State thinks the publication of that material—

(a) might jeopardise the safety of any person, or

(b) might prejudice the investigation or prosecution of an offence.

(5) The Secretary of State must consult the Commissioner before making any direction under subsection (4).

(6) The Commissioner must arrange for a copy of any report published under this section to be laid before Parliament.

Advice and assistance

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(1) The Commissioner may provide the Secretary of State with any advice or assistance that the Secretary of State may request.

(2) The Commissioner may, at the request of any other person, provide the person with advice or assistance relating to the exercise of any of the person's functions, or the carrying out of any activities by the person, in relation to people affected by domestic abuse.

(3) The Commissioner may charge a person for providing the person with advice or assistance under subsection (2).

(4) The Commissioner must publish any advice given to a person under subsection (2).

(5) Before publishing any advice given under this section, the Commissioner must send a draft of what is proposed to be published to the Secretary of State.

(6) The Secretary of State may direct the Commissioner to omit anything contained in the advice before publication if the Secretary of State thinks the publication of that material—

(a) might jeopardise the safety of any person, or

(b) might prejudice the investigation or prosecution of an offence.

(7) The Secretary of State must consult the Commissioner before making any direction under subsection (6).

Incidental powers

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(1) The Commissioner may do anything which the Commissioner considers will facilitate, or is incidental or conducive to, the carrying out of the Commissioner's functions.

(2) But the Commissioner may not borrow money.

Framework document

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(1) The Secretary of State must issue a document (a “framework document”) that deals with matters relating to the Commissioner.

(2) The matters that may be dealt with by a framework document include (among other things)—

(a) matters relating to governance, funding and staffing;

(b) matters relating to the exercise of functions of the Commissioner;

(3) The Commissioner must have regard to the framework document when exercising any of the Commissioner's functions.

(4) The Secretary of State must have regard to the framework document when exercising any functions in relation to the Commissioner.

(5) The Secretary of State—

(a) must keep the framework document under review, and

(b) may issue a revised framework document.

(6) The Secretary of State—

(a) must consult the Commissioner in preparing or revising a framework document, and

(b) may not issue a framework document without the agreement of the Commissioner.

(7) The Secretary of State must consult the Welsh Ministers before issuing—

(a) the first framework document under this section, or

(b) any other framework document which is, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, significantly different from the framework document it replaces.

(8) The Secretary of State must—

(a) arrange for any framework document issued under this section to be published in the manner which the Secretary of State considers appropriate,

(b) send a copy of the framework document to the Welsh Ministers, and

(9) The Welsh Ministers must lay before Senedd Cymru a copy of any framework document sent to them under subsection (8)(b).

Advisory Board

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(1) The Commissioner must establish an Advisory Board (“the Board”) for the purposes of providing advice to the Commissioner about the exercise of the Commissioner's functions.

(2) The Board is to consist of not fewer than six and not more than ten members appointed by the Commissioner.

(3) Each member of the Board is to hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms and conditions of the member's appointment.

(4) The members of the Board must include—

(a) at least one person appearing to the Commissioner to represent the interests of victims of domestic abuse;

(b) at least one person appearing to the Commissioner to represent the interests of charities and other voluntary organisations that work with victims of domestic abuse in England;

(c) at least one person appearing to the Commissioner to represent the interests of persons who provide, or have functions relating to, health care services in England;

(d) at least one person appearing to the Commissioner to represent the interests of persons who provide, or have functions relating to, social care services in England;

(e) at least one person appearing to the Commissioner to represent the interests of persons with functions relating to policing or criminal justice;

(f) at least one person appearing to the Commissioner to have academic expertise in relation to domestic abuse.

(5) The Commissioner may pay such remuneration or allowances to members of the Board as the Commissioner may determine.

(6) In this section—

“health care services” means services relating to health care (within the meaning of section 9 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008);

“social care services” means services relating to social care (within the meaning of that section).

Strategic plans and annual reports

Strategic plans

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(1) The Commissioner must, as soon as reasonably practicable after the Commissioner's appointment, prepare and publish a strategic plan.

(2) A strategic plan is a plan setting out how the Commissioner proposes to exercise the Commissioner's functions in the period to which the plan relates, which must be not less than one year and not more than three years.

(3) A strategic plan must in particular—

(a) state the Commissioner's objectives and priorities for the period to which the plan relates;

(b) state any matters on which the Commissioner proposes to report under section 8 during that period;

(c) state any other activities the Commissioner proposes to undertake during that period in the exercise of the Commissioner's functions.

(4) The Commissioner must, before the end of the period to which a strategic plan relates (“the current period”)—

(a) prepare a strategic plan for a period immediately following the current period, and

(b) publish that plan.

(5) At any time during the period to which a strategic plan relates, the Commissioner—

(a) may revise the strategic plan, and

(b) must publish any revised plan.

(6) In preparing or revising a strategic plan, the Commissioner must consult—

(a) the Secretary of State,

(b) the Advisory Board established under section 12, and

(7) The Commissioner must arrange for a copy of any plan (or revised plan) published under this section to be laid before Parliament.

Annual reports

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(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year, the Commissioner must submit to the Secretary of State an annual report on the exercise of the Commissioner's functions during the year.

(2) The annual report must include—

(a) an assessment of the extent to which the Commissioner's objectives and priorities have been met in that year;

(b) a statement of the matters on which the Commissioner has reported under section 8 during the year;

(c) a statement of the other activities the Commissioner has undertaken during the year in the exercise of the Commissioner's functions.

(3) The Commissioner must arrange for a copy of every annual report under this section to be laid before Parliament (but see subsection (4)).

(4) The Secretary of State may direct the Commissioner to omit material from any report under this section before it is laid before Parliament if the Secretary of State thinks the publication of that material—

(a) might jeopardise the safety of any person, or

(b) might prejudice the investigation or prosecution of an offence.

(5) The Secretary of State must consult the Commissioner before making any direction under subsection (4).

(6) In this section “financial year” means—

(a) the period beginning with the day on which the first Domestic Abuse Commissioner takes office and ending with the following 31 March, and

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