Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to introduce a strategy to fund specialist services to support victims of violence that are (a) disabled, (b) an ethnic minority, (c) a religious minority, (d) identify as being LGBTQIA+ and (e) with no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office and Ministry of Justice have committed to a joint 'by and for' fund for services across England and Wales. The fund is providing £5.9m to organisations supporting marginalised groups affected by violence against women and girls (VAWG) over two years to March 2025. This includes organisations supporting victims from ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled victims, and LGBT victims. ‘By and for’ services are specialist services that are led, designed, and delivered by and for the users and communities they aim to serve.
Additionally, Police and Crime Commissioners receive annual grant funding to commission local victim services, including specialist 'by and for' services, based on an assessment of local needs.