Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of women's refuges that have closed since 2010.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Government does not hold this data centrally. Local authorities make local commissioning decisions based on their specific local needs.
Government recognises the support that refuges provide for victims of domestic abuse and their children. During 2020/21 we have funded 166 organisations, providing almost 1900 bed spaces for victims and their children, through our £10 million domestic abuse COVID-19 emergency funding.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to allocate extra resources for the safe accommodation of victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
My Department’s priority remains for refuges to remain open so that victims of domestic abuse and their children can access support and safe accommodation when they need it.
In May, we launched a £10 million Emergency Support Fund for charities providing safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse. Funding has been allocated to 147 successful charity bids, supporting 166 organisations providing 1890 bed spaces. This funding is ensuring that more victims can access life-saving support during the pandemic.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to support mental health during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
A central part of the Church's mission is to provide grief counselling and prayer in times of need, as well as assistance to those under pressure through provision of food and other help to the vulnerable and shielding. Healthcare chaplains continue to work alongside community and acute mental health services.
Parishes have been supporting vulnerable individuals to remain in contact with family, friends and their community, digitally and where possible by direct face to face contact. The reopening of church buildings for prayer, worship, weddings, baptisms and funerals has also provided mental and spiritual succour to clergy, laity and community.
The Church remains particularly concerned for children and young people who are young carers or living in homes where domestic abuse and violence is present. The Church continues to remain open as a first point of contact for vulnerable people and to support local charities and refuges.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance on the support available under his economic recovery plan for (a) mothers, (b) lone parents, (c) survivors of domestic abuse and (d) refugees.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has listened to charities and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner about the pressures the sector faces and is providing extra funding for charities which support victims and their children. The Home Office launched an awareness campaign in April called #YouAreNotAlone, in order to raise the profile of domestic abuse victims during COVID-19 and signpost victims to the support services available.
£76 million of support announced in May is helping the most vulnerable in society, including domestic abuse victims, through:
The Government is allowing households where there is only one adult – including people who live alone or single parents with children under 18 – to form a “support bubble” with another household.
The Plan for Jobs package also provides support to those who have lost their jobs and DWP will ensure that support from Jobcentres and partners addresses the needs of those who are underrepresented in the labour market, such as BAME groups and lone parents.
Through the furlough scheme, the Government has supported those who have been unable to work for childcare reasons. The Government is continuing to fund free early years entitlements, and the minimum income for Tax-Free Childcare has also been temporarily suspended for those who would have met the requirement were it not for the pandemic.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific steps they took to provide additional support for domestic violence shelters during the period when restrictions were in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government has made £10 million available specifically for domestic abuse charitable safe accommodation providers, including refuges, in support of this critical provision during the COVID-19 outbreak.
To date, £8.76 million of this funding has already been allocated to 122 successful charity bids across the country, providing almost 1,600 bedspaces.
Additionally, Government issued guidance to domestic abuse safe accommodation providers in support of their service delivery during these unprecedented times. It ensured front-line domestic abuse support workers were included in the key workers list, and that domestic abuse refuges are included in the Local Resilience Forums list to enable them to request urgent PPE supplies.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to provide additional funding for housing assistance to help ensure that victims of domestic abuse and their children continue to be protected while covid-19 restrictions remain in place.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
My Department’s priority remains for refuges to stay open, up and running, so victims of domestic abuse and their children can access support and safe accommodation when they need it.
On 7 May, my Department launched a £10 million fund to support safe accommodation charities providing vital accommodation and support for victims of domestic abuse and their children. On 5 June, we announced the outcome of the first wave of this Emergency Domestic Abuse Fund, with 103 successful applications receiving £8.15 million and covering 147 organisations. This funding will help to reopen 291 bedspaces and create an additional 1210 bed spaces during the pandemic.
The Fund has now reopened for further bids to allocate the remaining £1.85 million, giving charities the flexibility to apply to support more victims.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that clear statutory guidance is issued to help local authorities and charities carry out their duty to (a) support and (b) meet the needs of victims of domestic abuse (i) during and (ii) after the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
My Department’s priority remains for refuges to stay open, up and running, so victims can access support and safe accommodation.
The Government has made available clear quality standards for domestic abuse services through the Violence Against Women and Girls National Statement of Expectations, as well as my Department’s Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services which were updated in 2018. The Priorities are clear that local areas should respond to the needs of all domestic abuse victims, including those from isolated and/or marginalised communities, those with complex needs, BAME, LGBT+, disabled and male victims and older people.
My Department has also issued PHE-approved guidance for domestic abuse safe accommodation providers in support of their service delivery in these unprecedented times. The guidance will help protect victims and their children residing in safe accommodation and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-domestic-abuse-safe-accommodation-provision.
There is currently no statutory duty on local authorities or charities in regard to the delivery of support for victims of domestic abuse, or any requirement in legislation to provide guidance in regard to support for victims.
However, we are continuing the progression of the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill through Parliament including the introduction of a statutory duty on local authorities aimed at ensuring that all victims, including children, have access to safety and support within safe accommodation, when they need it. The duty will be underpinned by robust statutory guidance, clearly setting out expectations on local authorities in meeting their duty which is planned to come into force from April 2021.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many LGBTIQA+ specialist refuges and hostels there are in England.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
My Department does not hold central data on the number of specialist refuges in England.
However, I can confirm that we do support specialist refuges, including LGBTIQA+ specialist refuges, which provide safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse and their children. During 2020/21 we have committed funding to support safe accommodation services, including, £16.6 million to 75 local authority-led projects, and a further £10 million emergency funding to support safe accommodation charitable providers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On 5 June we announced that £8.1 million of this emergency support funding will be granted to 103 successful charity bids, supporting a total of 147 charities providing domestic abuse safe accommodation of which 42 organisations are providing specialist support to diverse groups. The remaining funding remains open for bids and we would welcome applications from those providing vital specialist support.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse in all locations of the UK are provided with alternative emergency accommodation.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
My Department’s priority remains for refuges to stay open, up and running, so victims can access support and safe accommodation.
On 2 May, the Government announced an unprecedented £76?million package of support from the Charities Fund to ensure the most vulnerable in society get the support they need during the pandemic. My Department secured £10 million of this package specifically for safe accommodation in England.
Where charitable services are devolved the Government has applied the Barnett formula in the normal way. We expect the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to receive at least £60 million as a result and we encourage them to use this funding to support victims of domestic abuse.
Where safe accommodation charities in England judge hotels and other alternative emergency accommodation to be necessary, safe and appropriate, they have been able to apply to fund such costs through this £10 million fund which closed on 21 May.
In addition, we have also put in place a system to enable local authorities who need additional accommodation to meet demand during the pandemic to book rooms for domestic abuse victims through a centralised system.
We will continue to engage with the sector as the emergency unfolds, to understand the additional challenges they are facing and how best to help them support victims and their children during the pandemic.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate the number of domestic abuse victims who do not live in safe accommodation and would not qualify for statutory support as set out in clause 53 of the Domestic Abuse Bill.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
To understand the complex landscape for community-based support, in the Government’s further response to the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill (CP 214), published on 3 March, we indicated that the Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner has agreed to undertake an in-depth exploration of the current community-based support landscape over 2020/21.
The Government also indicated that we must better understand the existing routes by which support services are commissioned and funded and establish best practice within services in order to ensure quality provision. The precise scope and timing of the review is a matter for the independent Commissioner. I understand, however, that the review is expected to take some 12 months.
The Government does not collect statistics on the number of domestic abuse victims who do not live in safe accommodation. I would like us to look more into data in the coming months.