Commissioner’s Accountability Board highlights progress in tackling violence against women and girls

Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw, has chaired his latest Accountability Board meeting with the Chief Constable and senior leaders to review progress against his Police and Crime Plan, alongside policing performance across the county.

A significant part of the meeting focused on the force’s work to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG), which represents a growing proportion of recorded crime and remains a key priority for the Commissioner.

The Commissioner heard updates on the extensive public protection and trauma-informed training undertaken by officers. He also noted the continued success of initiatives such as Project Vigilant, a proactive policing approach targeting predatory behaviour before it escalates into crime, delivered as part of Lancashire’s wider NightSafe campaign to keep people safe on nights out.

Additional investment has been made to strengthen the delivery of Clare’s Law disclosures under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), helping to better protect people from domestic abuse. Work is also ongoing to ensure that the voices of children are properly captured, vulnerabilities are clearly identified, and appropriate safeguarding referrals are made.

The Board was also updated on the force’s leadership in pursuing evidence-led prosecutions in domestic abuse cases, helping to bring offenders before the courts even where victim support for prosecution may be limited. There has also been an increased focus on stalking and harassment, with a growing number of stalking prevention orders and a new stalking scrutiny panel in place. Changes to legislation in April saw a new specific criminal offence of sex-based harassment in public.

Neighbourhood crime continues to fall, alongside an increase in neighbourhood policing numbers. This includes a 10% reduction in residential burglary and a 9% reduction in possession of weapons offences. Initiatives such as Nice2Share are supporting this progress by encouraging residents and businesses to register CCTV and video doorbells on a secure platform, creating a ‘digital neighbourhood watch’ that helps to solve crimes more quickly and improve outcomes for victims.

Performance updates also showed sustained improvements in both emergency (999) and non-emergency (101) call handling. The force has been recognised by the College of Policing for its approach to public contact, with measures such as a call-back function and an improved website crime reporting.

The force continues to attend more than 94% of emergency incidents within 15 minutes and almost 98% of priority calls within one hour. Typically, 96% of routine incidents are attended within eight hours.

Following the meeting, PCC Clive Grunshaw said:

“The public want the police to be there when they need them - responding to incidents and maintaining a visible presence in our communities. It is always encouraging to see reductions in crime, particularly offences such as burglary, which can have a lasting impact. I’m pleased that Lancashire continues to be one of the top-performing forces in the country, and I’m proud of the work that has gone into sustaining these results.

“Preventing violence against women and girls is vital. These offences have profound physical, emotional, and social impacts on victims and their families. These crimes affect millions of people, so it is right that we dedicated a significant part of this meeting to understanding the work underway in this area and the outcomes being delivered locally.

“Strengthening neighbourhood policing and driving up standards are also central to rebuilding public trust and confidence. I will continue to hold these Accountability Board meetings to ensure transparency, robust scrutiny and ongoing improvements across policing.”