A scheme designed to help victims of domestic abuse is being rolled out to jobcentres and jobs and benefit offices in an East Lancs town.

It comes as domestic abusers are set to face tags and tougher management under new measures to protect women and girls.

The law will be changed so the most dangerous domestic abusers will be watched more closely and, for the first time, controlling or coercive behaviour will be put on par with physical violence.

The Ask for ANI (Action Needed Immediately) is already in operation in more than 5,000 pharmacies across the UK and is now being expanded to 18 jobcentres across the country, including Blackburn.

Delivered in partnership with Hestia’s Safe Spaces, anyone who is suffering from or fearful of domestic abuse can go into these places and ask for ANI, and they will be guided to a safe and private space and offered support to call the police or specialist domestic abuse services.

Since the scheme launched in 2021, the emergency support has been accessed on average once a week.

Firoza Mohamed, chief executive officer of Humraaz Support Services in Blackburn, said: “I welcome this as we need to create more safe spaces for people experiencing domestic abuse to safely access specialist support.

“Blackburn Job Centre is one of the pilot areas and we have been working closely with the team leaders to develop a strong partnership between the work coaches and domestic abuse services staff.

“The work coaches build a trusting relationship with their customers and with the appropriate training will be able to identify any red flags and explore further with the customer.

“I welcome publicity around this campaign in Blackburn so that people are aware the local Job Centre is a safe, easily accessible space in the community.”

The changes in the law will mean offenders sentenced to a year or more imprisonment or a suspended sentence will automatically be actively managed by the police, prison, and probation services under multi-agency public protection arrangements.

While the legislation is pursued, police and probation services will start work to ensure that from now offenders sentenced to a year or more for controlling or coercive behaviour are recorded on the violent and sex offender register, so they do not fall through the cracks.

Abusers could also be fitted with a tag, prevented from going within a certain distance of a victim’s home, and made to attend a behaviour change programme, as part of a trial of domestic abuse protection notices and domestic abuse protection orders in three areas of the UK.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “No woman or girl should ever have to feel unsafe in her home or community and I am determined to stamp out these appalling crimes.

“The Ask for ANI scheme provides a lifeline for anyone suffering from domestic abuse and we will continue to expand the scheme so that more people can access it, including piloting this service in the first jobcentres.

“As well as extra support for victims, we’re making it a priority for the police to tackle violence against women and girl and toughening up the way offenders are managed – preventing more of these crimes from happening in the first place, and brining more predators to justice.”

The Government will also require police forces to treat violence against women and girls as a national threat, as set out in a new strategic policing requirement.

This means tackling these crimes will be as important as tackling threats like terrorism, serious and organised crime, and child sexual abuse.