Domestic homicide reviews (DHRs) came into effect on 13 April 2011. They were established on a statutory basis under Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Adults Act 2004.
The Middlesbrough Community Safety Partnership is responsible for establishing domestic homicide reviews in Middlesbrough.
Definition and purpose
A domestic homicide review refers to a review of the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:
- a person to whom they were related, or had been in an intimate personal relationship with
or - a member of the same household
The purpose of the DHR review is to:
- establish what lessons are to be learned from the domestic homicide regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims
- clearly identify what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
- apply those lessons to service responses including changes to inform national and local policies and procedures as appropriate
- prevent domestic abuse and homicide, and improve service responses for all domestic abuse victims and their children by developing improved intra- and inter-agency working.
Following the completion of a DHR, and approval from a Home Office quality assurance panel and Middlesbrough Community Safety Partnership, we're required to publish the anonymised executive summary and action plans.