Luke has today met with Dame Esther Rantzen and David and Elisabeth Carney-Haworth, both recently awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for their work safeguarding children from domestic abuse, to discuss upcoming legislation to protect children from domestic violence.

What is Operation Encompass?

In 2011 the former Plymouth police sergeant David Carney-Haworth and his wife Elisabeth, a headteacher at a Cornish infant school, created a remarkable scheme called Operation Encompass. It was a simple, but incredibly effective initiative which shared police reports of domestic abuse incidents where children had been present with key adults at the schools they attended.

The calls to the school are made by police staff before the youngsters arrive at school the following morning, giving teaching staff ample time to prepare and offer whatever support the child needs.

After it was granted charitable status Dame Esther Rantzen – herself the creator of the magnificent charity Childline – agreed to be the patron of Operation Encompass, as did Dame Vera Baird QC, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, former Solicitor General for England and Wales and since June the new Victim’s Commissioner. Both have become passionate advocates who have championed the initiative.

Luke says:

“Operation Encompass is transformative and simple and can make such a difference to protecting young people. I want to see every Police force in the country adopt the Operation Encompass methodology. There are still a few that are not using this system and I want every force to use it. I have spoken with Diane Abbot, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, and encouraged her to back this initiative from Labour’s frontbench when the Domestic Violence Bill is considered shortly. I hope it will enjoy cross-party support – it certainly has mine.”

Find out more

To learn more about Operation Encompass please visit their website here.