Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the Barnett Consequentials for Wales of the new support for domestic abuse survivors, announced on 13 May 2019.

On 13 May 2019, we launched a consultation on support for victims of domestic abuse in safe accommodation. This includes proposals for a statutory duty on local authorities in England to provide support. This consultation will help determine the level of funding required to support the new statutory duty. We estimate an early broad annual cost of around £90 million which the Secretary of State communicated to the House of Commons on the 13 May. The full costs will be informed by the consultation and taken into the Spending Review. We will consider any increase in funding for Devolved Administrations under the Barnett methodology once decisions have been taken on how to operate and fund the new duty.

My officials have discussed proposals for a duty with colleagues in the Welsh Government and will continue to work closely with them.