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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not housed in the same temporary provision of additional emergency accommodation as perpetrators of domestic violence during the covid-19 crisis.

A key priority for my Department during the current Covid-19 pandemic is to keep refuges open to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are able to access the support they need.

My officials have been liaising closely with the refuge sector from the start of the lockdown to monitor how demand is changing.

We are looking carefully at all safe and appropriate additional accommodation options for supporting victims of domestic abuse and their children.