George Howarth
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Mr George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab)
I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) on giving us the opportunity to debate this important issue and on the way she presented the argument. I must also mention my debt of gratitude to Angela Cholet, the chief executive of Ross House in Knowsley, who has provided me with some important briefing for the debate.
In Knowsley, Ross House received 168 inquiries for refuge space for women. That is a 61% increase on the previous year. They were only able to accommodate 50 women, which resulted in 118 women and their children being turned away. Those 50 women represent a 28% increase on the previous year, and they were accompanied by 69 children, a 92% increase on the previous year.
I have a few questions for the Minister on the new system. As he is aware, housing benefit is currently the only consistent form of refuge funding that contributes nationally to enable a network of refuges to operate, even if that is often on a shoestring. The new grant for funding covers all supported accommodation. I ask the Minister, “Who chooses?” Will the local authority have to choose who gets what? If I am right in that assumption, will it be aligned to current agreed housing benefit rates for refuges? Will they provide the grant based on each woman living in a refuge, or as one lump sum no matter how many women are in the refuge? That could have enormous potential for refuges to turn women away because they simply cannot afford to fund them.
I will briefly touch on one more issue, which is how the costs of children are covered. Those children, who have often gone through traumatic circumstances, need particular support; I think my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Julie Cooper) referred to therapeutic and counselling support. I ask the Minister to address how he expects children’s needs to be met through the new funding arrangement.