PM warned more funding needed to halve crime against women

The prime minister has been warned he will fail to meet his own target of halving violence against women and girls without significant investment in services, according to two senior government watchdogs.

This is the first time Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales Dame Nicole Jacobs and Victims Commissioner for England and Wales Baroness Newlove have written jointly to Sir Keir Starmer.

The pair said victim support services were being "pushed to the brink" by funding cuts and rising costs.

The intervention comes ahead of the chancellor's spending review later this month, which is expected to feature cuts to some areas of public spending.

In a further headache for ministers, the country's most senior police chiefs have also warned Sir Keir Starmer they will face "stark choices" about which crimes to investigate if their budgets are cut as expected.

The BBC understands that the Home Office, which is responsible for both victims and police forces, is still in negotiations with the Treasury over how funds will be allocated in the spending review.

In the letter seen by the BBC, the commissioners told Sir Keir that the spending review was a chance to define the government's legacy for victims and survivors.

The pair said they welcomed the prime minister's "personal commitment to halving violence against women and girls within a decade" but said "funding cuts and scaled back ambition are leading to piecemeal policies".

They added that with "bold and ambitious investment, we can finally tackle the systemic stain of violence and abuse" and said the "cost of inaction is one this country can no longer afford".

As first reported in The Times, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley is also among those cautioning Sir Keir against cuts in next week's spending review, saying they will herald a return to frontline police numbers last seen under austerity.

Going over the heads of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly seen as a "last-ditch ploy" by the police chiefs, who say negotiations between the Home Office and the Treasury have been going "poorly".

Sir Mark, the head of the National Police Chiefs' Council Gavin Stephens, and the head of the National Crime Agency (NCA) Graeme Biggar made a direct appeal to the PM around the "far-reaching consequences" of decisions.

"We understand that the Treasury [is] seeking to finalise departmental budget allocations this week and that the negotiations between the Home Office and the Treasury are going poorly," they wrote.

"We are deeply concerned that the settlement for policing and the [NCA], without additional investment, risks a retrenchment to what we saw under austerity. This would have far-reaching consequences."

The Conservative government's austerity policies saw police numbers fall by 45,000 between 2010 and 2016, with Office for National Statistics figures from 2016 showing violence against the person offences rose by 24% in the previous 12 months.

The police chiefs' letter sets out how government funding "has not kept pace with demand", which has left "very limited room for manoeuvre" within police services.

"A settlement that fails to address our inflation and pay pressures flat would entail stark choices about which crimes we no longer prioritise," they add.

"The policing and NCA workforce would also shrink each year."

Last week, The Times disclosed that police chiefs and MI5 had warned the government that the early release scheme represented a threat to public safety.

Rowley was one of six police chiefs who publicly warned that promises on crime would be broken without more money from the Treasury.