Refuges: Finance

(asked on 28th February 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that refuge services that are in receipt of Government funding in (a) England and (b) Greater Manchester do not close at the end of the (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19 financial years.


Answered by
Heather Wheeler Portrait
Heather Wheeler
This question was answered on 13th March 2018

Local authorities are responsible for making local spending decisions. In our Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services, published in 2016, we acknowledged the importance of local authorities taking a strategic approach to provision of these vital services informed by an assessment of local need.

We are reviewing funding for domestic abuse services, including refuge, particularly the critical care and support costs. To inform our review, we have commissioned an independent, external audit of domestic abuse services. This will give us a complete picture of provision for all victims across England, enabling us to assess what impact services are having and identify any gaps in provision. The audit will report in spring 2018, and the review will be completed by summer 2018. We are committed to working closely with the sector and local authorities on the audit and overall review, drawing on their expertise and knowledge, to ensure we have a robust evidence base on which to take future decisions about the funding of these vital services.

The Spending Review 2015 announced £40 million to support victims of domestic abuse from 2016 to 2020. We were clear in the prospectus for the fund that bids from local authorities should be for long term approaches to supporting victims to ensure that each project in receipt of funding would be sustainable beyond the 2017/18 financial year. The prospectus for the fund and the Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-fund-prospectus

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