Domestic Abuse

Baroness Donaghy Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Donaghy (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove, and I congratulate her on all her work on victims.

The Government’s statement that they are committed to tackling domestic abuse is welcome but, as Jess Phillips said in the Westminster Hall debate, they have,

“always committed morally to this problem, although they have perhaps found committing resources a little more difficult”.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/12/17; col. 56WH.]

It is the resources that I am mainly interested in. The context of the current maze of consultation is a local government system virtually on its knees. The Minister has a distinguished local government background and will be aware of the extent of cuts in local government. I learned yesterday that 75% of local authority budgets on children’s social care were overspent, so where will the money come from?

The Government could end up making a bad situation worse, despite the Prime Minister’s good intentions, because of their misguided funding model; their concentration on increased punishment for abusers rather than rebuilding the lives of abused women and children; their neglect of local government; and some of the implications of the introduction of universal credit, which my noble friend Lady Lister has already referred to. The Government already know this; the Work and Pensions Committee and the Communities and Local Government Committee have raised it. Refuges are closing; the majority of women seeking refuge are being turned away, and the irony is that they do not count as part of the overall statistics if that happens. The Bill is a very long time coming and, almost certainly, will not tackle the uncertainty around funding of refuges. Women who have escaped abuse need specialist help and confidence-building, not just a bed for the night, and government proposals for funding do not recognise the special nature of refuges or the services they provide. It is simply not good enough for the Government to claim that the amount of funding for supported housing is not changing, that it will be a ring-fenced grant to be distributed by local authorities and that it will not be introduced until April 2020. The crisis in the funding of refuges is happening now and needs to be dealt with now.

Women’s Aid put this much better than I can when referring to the forthcoming Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill. It said that the Bill must be underpinned by a sustainable funding future for specialist domestic abuse services, including the national network of lifesaving refuges currently under threat from supported housing reforms. I know that the consultation period on the funding model closed on 23 January, and I would be interested to know what came out of that, preferably with an accurate count of the number of organisations and responses.

Then we wander into what the Government refer to as “other strands of work”. One is to ensure that we have the refuge provision that we need. I can give the Minister the answer now, if she wishes. Secondly, there is a review of domestic abuse services, which says:

“We are reviewing how we provide funding for care and support to make it work even harder”.


That is a worrying phrase. Thirdly, the review of the funding of refuges provision in England will not be available until November 2018. I am relieved that the Government are not ruling out a national model for refuge provision, but why does it have to take so long? How many more refuges will close between now and November?

Fourthly, apparently to inform one of the other reviews, the Government are tendering for an audit of local authority commissioning of domestic abuse services, including refuges. Again, I can give them an answer today, which will save time and effort. A good friend of mine, who has been involved with a women’s refuge for 20 years, described to me the dilemma that the governing bodies of refuges have. Hers was invited to submit a bid under the commissioning process, and knew that the choice was to lower standards to win the bid, or to have to close the refuge. She said that it was the worst climate she had ever experienced—yet there was more demand than ever, as financial pressures were leading to more break-ups, including abuse.

If the audit of local authority commissioning comes up with some concrete proposals, well and good. I am pleased that the Government followed through their manifesto pledge on automatic lifetime tenancies for domestic abuse victims—after an unremitting use of the cattle prod by my noble friend Lady Lister.

I am also pleased that the Government are consulting on the Bill, and on the new guidance on improved access to social housing for victims of domestic abuse. Of course that will add to the burdens of local authorities and the police, rather than those of central government, and I am waiting to hear what support they will receive. I also welcome the Government’s emphasis on culture change. I do not underestimate its importance—but I have a real concern that the well-meaning intentions will not be matched by urgent action.

I know how difficult and humiliating it is to acknowledge that one is a victim of domestic abuse—how daunting it is to walk out of that door. If women seek help—and of course, many do not—it should be available immediately, with all the support systems needed to make that person feel loved, respected and whole again.