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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many refuges in the UK are available for a woman with no recourse to public funds; and what the locations are of those refuges.

The Department does not hold centrally the number and location of refuges which are available to women with no recourse to public funds in the UK.

The provision of refuge is a devolved matter. We are carrying out a comprehensive review of how domestic abuse services are delivered locally across England. To inform our review we have commissioned an audit - being run by Ipsos MORI – which will give us a complete picture of domestic abuse provision across England, including services for victims with no recourse to public funds. This will enable us to assess what impact services are having and to identify any gaps in provision. Thereafter we will make decisions on the future arrangements for domestic abuse services.

Of the projects funded through the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government 2016-18 £20 million fund for domestic abuse services, 14 committed to use funding they received to support victims of domestic abuse with no recourse to public funds. We also fund the ‘No Women Turned Away Project’ managed by Women’s Aid, which provides support to victims of domestic abuse, including those with no recourse to public funds, who may have been turned away from a refuge.

Government has consulted on what more can be done to protect domestic abuse victims with no recourse to public funds through the Domestic Abuse Bill, which closed on 31 May. We are currently analysing the 3,200 plus responses received and will carefully consider what future courses of action are necessary.