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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of victims of domestic abuse entering (a) refuges, (b) temporary accommodation and (c) homelessness in each year since 2013.

We are overhauling the statutory homelessness data collection alongside the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act. This will give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need, including where someone is accepted as homeless because they were vulnerable as a result of having fled their home because of domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, alongside other reasons for acceptance.

Since 2015 we have also provided over £1 million to Women’s Aid for two projects, Routes to Support and No Woman Turned Away. Routes to Support (formerly UK Refuges Online) is part-funded by the Government and is a UK-wide online database containing information about domestic abuse and other violence against women services, including refuge. No Woman Turned Away provides additional caseworker support to women facing difficulties in accessing refuge, including victims with children. We are continuing to fund these vital projects to 2020.

The Department does not hold information on the number of victims of domestic abuse entering refuges, temporary accommodation and homelessness in each year since 2013.

However, we do hold data for the numbers of households who have been accepted as owed a homelessness duty, where the main reason for the loss of a last settled home was due to a violent relationship breakdown with a partner. Please find a table with a breakdown of figures for the financial years 2012/13 to 2017/18 below.

Domestic abuse is a devastating crime that nobody should have to suffer. Supporting victims of domestic abuse is an absolute priority for this Government. Councils have a legal duty to provide accommodation to families and others who are vulnerable as a result of fleeing domestic abuse. The Homelessness Reduction Act requires councils to take reasonable steps for all eligible households who are homeless, to help them secure accommodation.These statistics are available for each local authority area, and previous years at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness.