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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of provisions in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 on the responsibilities of local authorities to help tackle domestic abuse; and whether her Department is taking steps to monitor the work of local authorities in this area.

Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced new duties on local authorities which came into force on 1 October 2021 to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in safe accommodation. Backed by £125 million in both 2021/22 and 2022/23 and on 12 December 2022 we announced a further two years of government funding - £127.3 million and £129.7 million for the delivery of these duties in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Under the duties local authorities are required to assess the local support needs of all victims and commission support to meet the identified needs in safe accommodation. Local authorities are required to report annually to my department on how they have delivered their duties. A Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation National Expert Steering Group, chaired by the Minister for Housing and Homelessness and co-chaired by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has been set up to monitor delivery of the new duties. The Group will publish an annual report summarising progress in implementation of the new support in safe accommodation duties across England.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 also amended homelessness legislation to give those who are homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse priority need for accommodation secured by the local authority. This change came into force in July 2021. Local authorities must provide temporary accommodation until the duty can be discharged through provision of settled accommodation. The Homelessness Code of Guidance sets out comprehensive guidance on providing homelessness services to people who have experienced, or are at risk of, domestic abuse.