What is the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) was launched nationally in March 2014. The scheme allows people to make enquiries with the police about an individual they are in a relationship with, or who is in a relationship with someone they know, where there are concerns that this individual may be violent, abusive or controlling and coercive towards their partner.
The scheme is also referred to as ‘Clare’s Law’, and was named after Clare Wood who was murdered in 2009 by her ex-partner George Appleton, who had a history of violence against women. This law applies to all people, regardless of gender or sexuality; it should not be viewed solely as a mechanism for women to make enquiries about male partners.
There are two aspects to the DVDS; ‘Right to Know’, and ‘Right to Ask’. ‘Right to Know’ refers to an obligation the police have to disclose information to individuals, without it being requested, if they consider that information suggests the individual is at risk of harm from domestic violence or abuse. ’Right to Ask’ refers to the rights of members of the public to apply to the police for a disclosure of specific information for the purposes of protecting individuals from domestic violence or abuse.
What information may be disclosed
The police may disclose the following relevant police information in relation to a subject, under either the ‘Right to Know’ obligation or a ‘Right to Ask’ application:
- Convictions for an offence related to domestic violence or abuse, which are not yet considered ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974);
- History of a serial perpetrator of domestic violence or abuse; i.e. committed domestic violence or abuse acts against two or more victims;
- Intelligence about previous offending in a domestic setting, which may include cases not proceeded with, or previous concerning behaviour towards previous partners;
- Concerning behaviour by the subject towards the potential victim, e.g. a pattern of behaviours relating to exerting coercive control, stalking etc.;
- The police have a duty to protect members of the public from crime, and are allowed to balance the subject’s right to confidentiality against a potential victim’s right not to suffer harm from them.
What is the process for members of the public to make an application under the DVDS
Individuals can make contact with the police in a number of ways: using the 101 non-emergency telephone number; in person at a police station; by speaking to a police officer on the street. There are four stages to the process:
Initial contact and information gathering: a police officer will speak to the applicant and take details about the partners involved, what prompted the enquiry, and when and where it is safe to make further contact with the applicant. If a crime is alleged to have taken place at this point, then this will be investigated and responded to in line with existing DV procedures. Initial checks will be run to establish if there are any immediate concerns.
Face to face meeting to complete the application: if the application progresses, the applicant may need to attend a face to face meeting with the police. The purpose of this meeting is to obtain further information about the relationship between the partners to help assess the risks, to establish whether there are any children in the household, and to check the identity of the applicant. The police may run checks and speak to other agencies about information they hold.
Multi-agency meeting to consider disclosure: The final decision about whether to disclose will be made by the police and other key safeguarding agencies (e.g. Probation, Prison Service) who will discuss the information provided by the applicant and any relevant information from agencies. If they decide to disclose, they will decide who should receive the information and any safety plans which need to be in place to protect potential victims.
Disclosure of information: the decision to disclose or not to disclose will be relayed to the applicant in person. If information is shared, the applicant will be asked to sign a written undertaking that they will not share this information further. No written information is given to an applicant, but the conversation is recorded verbatim and kept on police records.
Key contacts and further information
You can use this guide to explain the scheme and the process to people you are working with who may wish to make an application under the scheme.
If you suspect that domestic violence is currently taking place, however, you should follow your agency’s safeguarding procedures, which may include contacting the Children’s Social Work Service Duty and Advice Team if there are children in the home on tel: 0113 3760336 (out of hours 0113 5350600).
There are leaflets about the scheme, as well as other sources of information and support in relation to domestic violence, available from the
West Yorkshire Police website.
You can also contact the Leeds Police Safeguarding Unit at:
leeds.safeguarding@westyorkshire.pnn.police.uk
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