Written questions by Pritchard.

If she will take steps to help West Mercia Police recruit more special constables in rural communities.

The Government recognises and values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by special constables in their work. Special constables, along with the full range of volunteers in policing, make a vital contribution to keeping our communities safe.As we announced in the Police Funding Settlement in January, the Government is doubling the funding available in 2025/26 to support the first steps in delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel, including special constables. This £200 million investment underlines our commitment to the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee as part of the Safer Streets mission.

If she will bring forward legislative proposals to make it a criminal offence to create fake online media accounts for public bodies and organisations where the communication of official and public information is necessary for civic order and resilience.

Under the Online Safety Act, all services in scope must tackle illegal content and activity which enables fraud, including activity through fake and anonymous accounts. The illegal harms duties will come into force in Spring 2025.More broadly, government departments and agencies continually seek to identify malicious websites that intend to impersonate public sector bodies and enable fraudulent activity. Those creating such websites may be liable for prosecution for fraud or computer misuse offences.Domain registrars, Internet infrastructure (IIPs) and service providers (ISPs) operate robust voluntary arrangements for filtering, blocking and takedown of malicious websites, which is supported by the operational work of our agencies and law enforcement. NCSC also works in collaboration with industry partners to present ISPs with real-time threat data that enables them to instantly block access to known fraudulent or malicious websites. This has a major impact in protecting citizens from cyber- and cyber-facilitated crimes.The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK is the safest place to live and work online. It is essential that the UK has the right legislative framework to allow us to tackle the harms posed to our citizens, businesses, and government services online.

What steps she is taking to improve reporting of domestic abuse against men.

The definition of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) encompasses crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. That is why we fund a specific helpline with Respect, which provides specialist tailored support for male victims of domestic abuse. On 24 October, the Home Secretary announced a package of reforms to improve the police response to victims of VAWG related crimes. Ensuring that all victims have a positive experience when dealing with the police is essential to increase reporting of these crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims. Our new VAWG strategy to be published next year aims to help all victims of domestic abuse and this strategy will lay out our plans for any future initiatives and research, including for men who are victims of abuse.

What steps she is taking to reduce familial abuse.

This Government is committed to tackling domestic and sexual abuse in all its forms. Achieving our aim of halving violence against women and girls in a decade will require a whole systems approach.The Domestic Abuse Act (2021) recognises children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right when they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse.We recognise that domestic abuse and sexual violence can take many forms such as from family members in the context of so-called honour-based abuse, or older victims experiencing abuse from their partner or adult children. That is why we fund Hourglass and Karma Nirvana to deliver specialist helplines, which provide tailored support for older victims of domestic abuse and victims of honour-based abuse respectively.This government also remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and working to keep children safe across the country. We are driving forward action right across government, education, children’s social care, health, policing, law enforcement, and working with industry, international and civil society partners to ensure we are all doing all that we can to tackle this horrific crime.

If she will (a) commission and (b) publish research into domestic abuse against men.

The definition of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) encompasses crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. That is why we fund a specific helpline with Respect, which provides specialist tailored support for male victims of domestic abuse. On 24 October, the Home Secretary announced a package of reforms to improve the police response to victims of VAWG related crimes. Ensuring that all victims have a positive experience when dealing with the police is essential to increase reporting of these crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims. Our new VAWG strategy to be published next year aims to help all victims of domestic abuse and this strategy will lay out our plans for any future initiatives and research, including for men who are victims of abuse.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle domestic abuse against men.

The definition of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) encompasses crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. That is why we fund a specific helpline with Respect, which provides specialist tailored support for male victims of domestic abuse. On 24 October, the Home Secretary announced a package of reforms to improve the police response to victims of VAWG related crimes. Ensuring that all victims have a positive experience when dealing with the police is essential to increase reporting of these crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims. Our new VAWG strategy to be published next year aims to help all victims of domestic abuse and this strategy will lay out our plans for any future initiatives and research, including for men who are victims of abuse.