Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs reflects on a recent visit to Greater Manchester and what its approach can teach us about making devolution work for victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
I recently visited Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to see first-hand how devolution is allowing local partners to work together to tackle and prevent domestic abuse. Over two days, I met with organisations across policing, health, housing, local government and the specialist domestic abuse sector, as well as members of Greater Manchester’s lived experience panel.
Throughout the visit, partners described how devolution has created opportunities to shape the domestic abuse response around local need, enabling innovation and a stronger collaborative approach.
What stood out most was the strength of partnership working. Partners spoke consistently about trust, relationships and shared accountability, built over many years and underpinned by GMCA’s ten-year Gender-Based Violence Strategy.
It was also very encouraging to see that domestic abuse was not viewed as an issue for a single organisation to solve, but as a shared responsibility requiring a coordinated response.
This was particularly evident in GMCA’s growing use of a public health approach: focussing on preventions, catching problems early, and tackling underlying issues that make people more vulnerable to abuse or make it harder for them to recover. For example, all ten local authorities in Greater Manchester, and their public health leads, work together on agreed shared priorities instead of each council working in isolation.
A further strength was the commitment to learning and improvement. Partners spoke openly about adapting services when evidence suggests they are not delivering the outcomes victims and survivors need. Examples include reworking the existing domestic abuse risk assessment (DARA) into an enhanced model tailored to local needs. They also described tailoring MARAC – a multi-agency domestic abuse safeguarding process used in every area – to better work for their region.
These initiatives demonstrate a commitment to adapting established models in light of local evidence, frontline practice and survivor expertise. Rather than viewing national models as fixed, GMCA has used the flexibility that devolution can provide to learn from local evidence, frontline practice and the expertise of survivors, enabling services to better reflect people’s experiences and pathways to support.
Partners were equally honest about the challenges they face. Funding pressures featured in almost every discussion, with organisations highlighting the difficulty of sustaining services through short-term funding arrangements. While accountability for public money remains essential, there was a clear view that local areas need greater flexibility and longer-term funding to invest in what works for their communities.
As devolution expands across England, there is much to learn from GMCA’s experience. Its approach demonstrates the value of long-term partnership working, meaningful involvement of individuals with lived experience and the flexibility to design responses around local need. It also reinforces a simple lesson: innovation can only be sustained when it is backed by sufficient, long-term funding.
Reflections from Kate Green, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Safer and Stronger Communities
It was great to welcome the Commissioner and bring partners together to reflect on the progress Greater Manchester has made through a shared, long-term approach to preventing and tackling domestic abuse. The visit highlighted the strength of relationships across our system and the importance of combining strategic leadership and frontline expertise with the voices of victims and survivors, which remain central to shaping our approach.
Continuing to learn, adapt and challenge ourselves will be essential if we are to strengthen prevention, improve support for victims and survivors, and hold perpetrators to account. Sustained progress will also depend on a commitment to further devolution on domestic abuse policy and funding ensuring that we have the flexibility to respond to the distinct needs and experiences of victims and survivors in Greater Manchester.