Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
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Women’s Aid
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown Excerpts(12 years, 9 months ago)
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Mrs McGuire
That is a good point, and I am glad that my hon. Friend has slotted it in.
There is a question about how the social fund will be delivered to the devolved Administrations. Will it go directly to them or to local authorities? Will the devolved Administrations be the intermediaries? The reason why I highlight that in the presence of my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill is that he has had bitter experience with an allocation of funding at a UK level for respite care for disabled children. As a proportion under the Barnett formula, it went to the Scottish Government, but then—I shall be generous—we could not quickly identify where the money went. It appeared to be wrapped up in other funding packages; it certainly did not appear to be delivered as my right hon. Friend’s Committee intended.
I will wind up with one or two general points. We have focused to a certain extent on the benefits side, but there are wider issues. Although I appreciate that the Minister does not have direct responsibility for those wider issues, I hope that she will take them on board in her discussions with her colleagues. It is fair to say that women’s support services feel that they are facing a precarious future out there, owing to the uncertainty of funding. It is widely recognised that domestic abuse accounts for between 16% and 25% of violent crime in this country. It is not disappearing. It is there, and our police forces are aware of it.
Cuts are being made to policing. We can debate how many and how much. Street lighting is under pressure, as are women’s support services, including refuges. All those factors affect the wider issue of women’s safety in this country. I hope that the Minister will allay some of our fears and give my right hon. Friend and me confidence that she understands the issues and is prepared to see how the Government, particularly the Department for Work and Pensions, can respond.
Dr William McCrea (in the Chair)
I am sure that we would all agree that the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr Clarke)had a distinguished career before first coming to the House. He will be happy to know that we do not need birth certificates to be produced to agree with those comments by the right hon. Member for Stirling (Mrs McGuire).