THE main domestic abuse screening tool used by police, social service and health workers for the past 16 years doesn’t work, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said today.

She told the BBC that the Dash (Domestic Abuse, Stalking, Harassment and Honour-Based Violence) questionnaire has “obvious problems” following mounting concerns from academics and those working in the sector that the checklist does not correctly identify victims at the highest risk of further harm.

“Until I can replace it with something that does work, we have to make the very best of the system that we have,” Ms Phillips said.

She added that any risk assessment tool is “only as good as the person who is using it” and people were killed even when deemed to be at high risk.

The assessment is a list of 27 questions put to victims, to 24 of which they answer “yes,” “no” or “don’t know.” They include things like “is the abuse getting worse?”

The answers generate an overall score that determines whether a victim is classified as “high” risk and needs to be referred on for specialist, intensive support.

Charities who operate in the sector have also raised concerns about Dash, which many are required to use as part of their contracts to provide domestic abuse services on behalf of public bodies, the BBC found from freedom of information requests.

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) however said that risk assessment tools were not designed to be used in isolation.

Ellen Miller, chief executive of SafeLives, the charity that initially developed Dash and promotes its use, told the BBC that the “beauty” of the questionnaire was “its simplicity, its universality and its accessibility.”

It comes after the government announced that new statutory guidance and a legal definition of honour-based abuse will be brought in to help combat the crime.

Honour-based abuse is motivated by the perception that a person has brought shame to themselves, their family or the community.

Related crimes include female genital mutilation, forced marriage and murder.

The Home Office will also pilot a study looking at how widespread this crime is.

A community awareness campaign will also be launched and teachers, police officers, social workers and healthcare professionals will receive more training under the new policies.