Consultation on the proposed changes to guidance for local VAWDASV strategies

We are updating our guidance for local authorities and local health boards who have a duty under Section 5 of the VAWDASV Act 2015 to prepare local strategies for tackling VAWDASV.

Our updated approach aims to:

• publish the Guidance under Section 15 of the VAWDASV Act 2015, which will place the guidance of a statutory footing, which bodies under section17 of the Act have a duty to follow
• provide a clear structure for the preparation of local strategies
• clarify the accountability for implementing local strategies 
• clarify the roles and responsibilities of organisations involved in preparing and implementing the strategy 
• strengthen the partnership and collaboration arrangements between organisations
• provide guidance on the importance of data sharing in the preparation of strategies
• provide templates for Needs Assessments and the local strategies to support consistency and clarity across Wales

Your voice matters

We know that our partners across Wales work hard to deliver services to tackle VAWDASV. The VAWDASV Act 2015 places clear duties on local authorities, local health boards, and other relevant authorities. But tackling VAWDASV is the responsibility of a much wider group of organisations both within the public sector and specialist service providers within the third sector.

That is why we need to hear from you. Whatever your role or responsibility in delivering services that tackle VAWDASV, your views will help shape this guidance.

Thank you to everyone who has helped develop the guidance so far. By working together, we can help to deliver services that tackle VAWDASV across Wales, both now and in the future.

Why we are making changes

Guidance for Local Strategies was published in 2018. The purpose of this guidance was to assist local authorities, local health boards and their partners to develop local strategies that complied with the requirements and purposes of the Act. The guidance was not published under Section 15 of the VAWDASV Act 2015 and therefore did not have a statutory basis. This means that whilst relevant authorities were advised to follow the guidance, there was no statutory expectation on them to do so. As a result, strategies were prepared with varying levels of engagement from some of the key partners.

In discussion with the sector, it is evident that the guidance itself was not clear enough about what was expected of local authorities and local health boards and did not provide sufficient clarity on the roles and responsibilities of other organisations who were involved in the delivery of VAWDASV services.

What we want to change

We are looking to:

• publish the guidance under Section 15 of the VAWDASV Act 2015. This will provide it with a statutory basis to help clarify what is expected of the relevant authorities and their partners in developing the strategies and delivering services
• strengthen and clarify the accountability for delivery so organisations better understand what is expected of them
• clarify the roles and responsibilities for relevant authorities and their partners so organisations understand how they can support the development of the local strategies and delivery of services
• Improve the guidance relating to data collecting and needs assessments
• Provide templates which will help to support consistency across Wales

What this consultation covers

To make this easy to understand, this consultation document examines each of the chapters of the previous guidance, beneath which we explain what changes we propose to make, and where in the new guidance they will sit.

We propose to set out the new guidance in 4 sections:

• Chapter 1 will include the purpose of the guidance and the legislative context under which it is published.
• Chapter 2 will provide the detail on how we expect local strategies to be prepared, the roles and responsibilities we expect organisations to take on, and the accountability structures we expect to see in place.
• Chapter 3 will provide detail on implementation and accountability.
• Chapter 4 will include templates, checklists and additional resources that will be available to local authorities and local health boards in preparing their strategies.

It is recommended that you read this consultation document together with both the existing guidance and the new statutory guidance document.

How your feedback will be used

Your responses will help us to create robust guidance for local authorities and local health boards to support the preparation of local strategies for VAWDASV.

How we developed this guidance

The decision to review and redraft the guidance was taken by the Sustainable Whole System Approach Workstream Working Group, part of the Blueprint Approach for VAWDASV adopted by the Welsh Government and policing in Wales. 

The revised guidance was further developed with the support of a Task and Finish Group made up of members of the Sustainable Whole System Approach Workstream Working Group, and discussions with the VAWDASV regional advisors.

1. Introduction and purpose of the guidance

We have expanded this section to clarify the purpose of the statutory guidance further.

2. Duties on local authorities and local health boards under the Act

We have brought the beginning of this section together with the previous one and expanded the legal context to make it clearer on which basis the guidance is being issued. We have removed reference to the Lloyds Bank Foundation Toolkit as it no longer exists.

3. Engagement and involvement 

We have expanded this section and incorporated it into Chapter 2, where we have included more detail on how to engage, who to engage with, and how partnership working can support the development of the strategies.

4. Content of local strategies 

We have included much of this section in the revised guidance and added more emphasis on data sharing and the scrutiny required of the strategies.

5. National programmes of work 

We have not included this section in the revised guidance. Since the previous guidance was published, understanding and available information relating to these areas of work have improved and are well-established. Regional arrangements are now in place across Wales with clear remits within them on regional and local working practices.

6. Monitoring and implementation 

We have strengthened the monitoring and evaluation expectations within the revised guidance and proposed more robust accountability measures.

7. The Role of the National Advisers

We have left this unchanged.

Annexes

We have removed information relating to the Lloyds Bank Foundation as it is no longer in existence.

Chapter 1

Question 1

Do you agree with the changes we have suggested to the areas within Chapter 1 relating to the purpose of the guidance and the duties outlined within the Act?

Chapter 2

Developing your strategy

We have updated the guidance to set out the important steps that you will need to follow in developing your strategy to ensure that all relevant authorities and interested parties have contributed to the strategy and that it is signed off by the relevant person.

Question 2

Considering the list of steps included to develop a strategy, how do you feel we could improve this section to ensure that it sets out the process for preparing and publishing local strategies clearly? 

Embedding VAWDASV into how your organisation works

We have included in the guidance information on the importance of embedding VAWDASV within your organisation. 

Question 3

What could we add to the ‘embedding VAWDASV into how your organisation works’ section to make it clear what is expected of local authorities and local health boards in embedding VAWDASV within their workforces?

Partnership and collaboration 

We have included a list of the organisations and groups we recommend you work with in preparing your local strategy.

Question 4

Which organisations or groups, if any, are missing from this list in the partnership and collaboration section?

Roles and responsibilities

We have included an infographic and guidance on the roles and responsibilities of organisations who have a part to play in developing effective strategies.

Question 5

What needs to be added to this section to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the relevant authorities and partners effectively?

Engagement

We have included in this section a list of the groups of people you should ensure you engage with and consult with when preparing your strategy. 

Question 6

Which groups of people, if any, are missing from the list and should be included, and why?

Needs assessments

We have included in this section information relating to the different needs assessments that can be accessed to advise the development of local strategies, but we have stopped short of specifying exactly what should be included in a needs assessment.

Question 7

How direct should we be in stating what we expect to see in a needs assessment?

Question 8

Would the guidance benefit from the inclusion of a template for needs assessments?

Data sharing

We have included in this section some of the data collection services we know are available.

Question 9

What should we include in this section to go further and/or compel organisations to share information more effectively? How can we do this?

Scrutiny

We have included more robust guidance on how local strategies should be scrutinised.

Question 10

What else should we include in this section to encourage appropriate consultation, engagement, and challenge in the development of local strategies?

Monitoring and evaluation

We must have effective monitoring and evaluation processes in place to ensure delivery of local strategies and services targeting VAWDASV.

Question 11

What arrangements does the guidance need to include to monitor and evaluate your local strategies effectively?

Chapter 3

Accountability

We have suggested more robust accountability measures are introduced into local strategies.

Question 12

What accountability measures do you think we should add to ensure this is robust enough?

Question 13

Should each local strategy have a ‘declaration’ page that is then signed by the chief executives and chairs of the responsible organisations (local health boards and local authorities)?

Question 14

Would the guidance benefit from including a template for local strategies to support more consistency across Wales?

Relevant contacts

Question 15

Which contacts would be useful to include within the guidance?

Welsh language

Question 16

What, in your opinion, would be the likely effects of the [matter, recommendation, option, proposal, policy, legislation etc] on the Welsh language? We are particularly interested in any likely effects on opportunities to use the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English. 

Do you think that there are opportunities to promote any positive effects?

Do you think that there are opportunities to mitigate any adverse effects? 

Question 17

In your opinion, could the (matter, recommendation, option, proposal, policy, legislation etc) be formulated or changed so as to:

• have positive effects or more positive effects on using the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English; or
• mitigate any negative effects on using the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English?

Other

Question 18

We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them:

Submit your comments by 30 April 2026, in any of the following ways.

• Complete our online form
• Download, complete our response form and email VAWDASV@gov.wales
• Download, complete our response form and post it to:

VAWDASV
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

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Number: WG53675

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