A police chief has vowed to improve the support available to victims of domestic abuse following the release of an independent report into services in Hertfordshire.

The Herts Police and Crime Commissioner, David Lloyd, said he was "very happy" with the findings of the report by the Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse (CAADA) charity.

CAADA applauded the county for wanting to improve its services and found there were some “good practices” in place.

But the charity, invited to conduct a review of the county’s services by the PCC, said some services are overstretched and underfunded, and highlighted improvements that could be made around governance and leadership.

Mr Lloyd told the Observer: “We are very happy with it – this is a timely report and we are going to use the recommendations to improve further what is already a good service for those at the higher risk of domestic violence.

“CAADA looked at what we were good at and how we can improve, in a no holds barred report, and that’s what we got.

“Our campaigns to get more victims of domestic abuse to come forward are working and it is vital that we provide them with the best services possible when they do.

“We can only tackle this issue by working together and I am pleased that all the key agencies are committed to ensuring that happens.”

CAADA’s report set out a raft of measures it believes would improve the county’s support network for domestic abuse victims further.

It included identifying all victims, children, and perpetrators of domestic abuse, as early as possible.

To bring in “joint commissioning of domestic abuse services, based on an agreed understanding and thresholds of need and risk” and ensure all agency workers are trained in domestic abuse awareness.

Ensure there are enough caseworkers to support families and ensure agencies are properly resourced, as well as build a system of learning and development so agencies across the county can see what works.

CAADA said its recommendations would cost £2.4m to implement, with the county currently spending £1.7m tackling domestic abuse.

CAADA’s Chief Executive, Diana Barran, said: “If implemented our recommendations would create the platform to help identify all victims, children, and perpetrators of domestic abuse, as early as possible and give enough capacity to respond by risk and need as well as foster innovation, learning and development across agencies.

"With strong leadership, the Hertfordshire Partnership has the opportunity now to make a material difference to the lives of so many residents of the county.”

Mr Lloyd said the county had already begun upgrading the support network for victims before CAADA’s report had been published.

He said: “We will need to spend more, and we are going to increase the numbers of advisors so there will be better ways of supporting those at risk of domestic abuse.

“It’s not just violent abuse - it’s control, coercive behaviour and emotional abuse – so no individual agency can have the resources and know-how to deal with every element of this.

“The leadership role highlighted in the report shows you have excellent individual agencies each doing there darn hardest within their constraints.

“We all sat down to look at the draft report and the first thing we did was put in a high level officer to act as a conduit for co-ordinating it.

“That’s already paying dividends and there’s a collective understanding that we can do more with our resources, we are moving down the paths that CAADA and ourselves have identified.”

Mr Lloyd also highlighted the awareness campaigns the partnership had undertook in recent months, as well as a pilot scheme to train all police officers about domestic abuse awareness on their patch.

Other proposals currently being discussed by the partnership includes the potential creation of a “multi-agency safeguarding hub”.

The partnership – which includes councils, police, the NHS and other agencies – will also review its current domestic abuse strategy.

During 2013/14 there were 12,808 domestic abuse incidents recorded in Hertfordshire but it is widely accepted that it is still significantly under-reported and many victims do not come forward.

For more information about the report visit www.hertscommissioner.org