Clare's Law: "People aren't left at risk"
Merseyside Police has taken up to 90 days to disclose information in a Clare's Law request
Merseyside Police has moved to reassure people who are worried about suspected domestic abusers after an inspection highlighted concerns with the force's handling of Clare's Law requests.
The law, or the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) gives people the right to know if their current or ex-partner has any previous history of violence or abuse.
It is named after Clare Wood, who was murdered by her abusive boyfriend in 2009.
The inspection found that Merseyside once took up to 90 days to disclose information in a Clare's Law request - the limit is 28 days.
His Majesty's Inspectorate has issued a warning and raised concerns that such delays could increase the risk of harm.
DCI Tracey Martin said:
"Obviously 90 days would be concerning but I'd like to reassure the public that it's not a case that they will be waiting 90 days. We no longer have people waiting that long, but we do actually triage all of the applications that come in immediately so anyone that was at fear of risk or we identified as being at risk would be flagged up immediately and there are processes and measures that we can put in place to support those people prior to them getting a disclosure.
"People aren't left at risk"
"People aren't left at risk. What we do, when applications come in, we identify any high-risk victims and we ensure they're offered appropriate support and that's not just from the police, that's from partners as well.
"We work with various different partner agencies to make sure people are protected and are able to protect themselves from domestic abuse.
"We're constantly looking at our processes in order to improve them. We've provided extra staff within the department to ensure that these disclosures are made within a timely frame, we're also working with partners in order to get those disclosures made within a timely manner and also protecting people by looking at other measures and other agencies that we can use in order to support those people.
"I would urge anyone to still come forward and apply for those applications because we want to protect people and we want to give the best service that we can to them."
Clare's Law applications can be made here.