Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance he has issued to providers of domestic violence refuges on the provision of single-sex facilities.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Further to the answer to UIN 117805, the Equality and Human Rights Commission provides guidance on provision of single sex services.
The Government’s position is set out in the Home Office Statutory Guidance to accompany the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1089015/Domestic_Abuse_Act_2021_Statutory_Guidance.pdf
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 131224 on Refuges: Energy, what metrics his Department has used to asses the adequacy of the packages of support for energy bills for domestic abuse refuges.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has conducted a review of the operation of the Energy Bill Relief Schemes and it considered a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence, including input from businesses and stakeholders. As part of the review, BEIS developed a framework to assess which sectors may be most affected by rising energy prices based on financial vulnerability, energy intensity and ability to pass through costs. The results of this were used alongside results from a business survey conducted by BEIS, inputs from other government departments, and wider economic and public policy considerations, to support ministerial decision-making.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from the domestic abuse sector on the level of Government support with energy bills for domestic abuse refuges.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Discussions have taken place with a number of charities regarding increased energy costs and the Government is fully aware of the impact this is having on the voluntary sector. This is why the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has been introduced, shielding eligible businesses and charities from soaring energy prices. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non domestic customers including charities.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of domestic abuse refuges that have accessed Government support with energy bills.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Refuges that are on a domestic electricity contract benefit from the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the Energy Price Guarantee. Refuges that have a non-domestic electricity contract benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the adequacy of Government support with energy bills for domestic abuse refuges.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business talks to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department regularly on a wide range of issues.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance he has issued to providers of domestic violence refuges regarding the provision of single-sex facilities.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
DLUHC have not issued any guidance to providers of domestic abuse refuges with regard to the provision of single sex facilities.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to support refuges for victims of domestic violence to afford necessities such as utility bills, given the increased cost of living.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Refuges provide vital services for victims of domestic abuse who need to flee their home. DLUHC is committed to the delivery of safe accommodation with support for all victims of domestic abuse, as part of the Government’s overall Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
The Government has put in place a number of energy assistance measures to provide support during the current cost of living crisis. We are working to ensure that domestic abuse sector providers are aware of, and able to take up, all energy assistance and advice available to them. We will monitor this carefully and work with partners on mitigating the impact of the cost of living crisis.
On 12 December the Minister for Housing & Homelessness announced two years of government funding - £127.3 million and £129.7 million for delivery of safe accommodation services in 2023/24 and 2024/25. This funding will enable local authorities to make longer term commissioning decisions and give certainty to local providers such as specialist domestic abuse refuges.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding his Department will provide for domestic violence refuges in each of the next three years.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities are funded to meet their duties, included in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation including refuges.
We have already provided £125 million to local authorities in each of 2021/22 and 2022/23, and will be announcing the 2023/24 and 2024/25 allocations shortly.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support domestic abuse victims during the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of domestic abuse receive the support they need, when they need it. In March 2022, we published the cross-Government Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan which invests over £230 million into tackling domestic abuse, including over £140 million for supporting victims.
To help to ensure victims do not remain with an abuser for fear of not having a roof over their head, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities introduced a new legal duty within the Act on local authorities to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation, including refuges. This is backed by £125 million of Government funding to ensure that these vital services are available to anyone who needs them, wherever they live.
Ensuring victims and survivors have the funds to move forward with their lives is crucial. That is why in the Domestic Abuse Plan, the Home Office committed to running a further trial of the flexible funding model. The funds will be made available to charities in selected local authorities, and they will have wide-ranging discretion on what these funds can be used to acquire, based on their first-hand understanding of individual’s needs.
We also know that economic abuse can often leave victims economically dependent on abusers, creating financial insecurity that makes it harder for them to access safety. The Government is committed to tackling this form of abuse which is why for the first time in history, economic abuse is now recognised in law as part of the statutory definition of domestic abuse, included in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (the Act). In the Domestic Abuse Plan, we have committed £200,000 of funding to further support improving the response to economic abuse.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to (a) provide support for groups for victims of domestic abuse and (b) increase the availability of those groups.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Tackling domestic abuse and ensuring victims receive the support they need is a priority for this Government. Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 will strengthen our protection to victims and ensure perpetrators feel the full force of the law. It includes the first legal definition of domestic abuse, improved support for victims in the courts, new offences, including on non-fatal strangulation, and strengthened legislation around cruel acts of controlling or coercive behaviour.
The Act also places a duty on local authorities in England to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in refuges and other safe accommodation, backed by £125 million of Government funding to ensure that these vital services are available to anyone who needs them, wherever they live. This will be supported by a new £6 million Domestic Abuse Capacity Building Fund to help Local Authorities prepare for the upcoming duty.
In March 2022, we published the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan which will seek to transform the whole of society’s response in order to prevent offending, support victims and pursue perpetrators, as well as to strengthen the systems processes in place needed to deliver these goals.
The Plan invests over £230 million into tackling domestic abuse. This includes over £140 million to support victims, much of which is multi-year funding, part over £47 million of which is ringfenced for community-based support services.
As committed to in the cross-Government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy published on 21 July last year, the Home Office has also provided an additional £1.5 million funding this year for ‘by and for’ service provision and to further increase funding for valuable specialist services for victims of violence against women and girls.
The Home Office is also planning to double funding for survivors of sexual violence and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline by 2024-25, and further increase funding for all the national helplines it supports.
The VAWG National Statement of Expectations, and Commissioning Toolkit, which we have published alongside the Plan, will also provide support to commissioners to help them increase provision of ‘by and for’ and specialist services.