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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, what discussions the Government has had with local authorities on emergency accommodation for victims of domestic violence.

My Department is working closely with local authorities and the sector to minimise the risk for vulnerable people and those currently unable to self-isolate.

Government officials are in discussion with domestic abuse service providers who are undertaking their own contingency planning, in line with advice from Public Health England, to keep safe accommodation support services open and available to victims of domestic abuse and their children.

£1.6 billion of the £5 billion Covid-19 fund announced in the Budget will go to local authorities to help them respond to Covid-19 pressures across all the services they deliver. This includes increasing support for services helping the most vulnerable.