Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that domestic abuse victims can access safe refuges.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We know that refuges provide critical safe accommodation for victims and their children. To ensure these services remain open, operating and able to support more victims, between June and September 2020 we provided £10 million direct to safe accommodation charities as emergency Covid-19 funding. We have since extended the flexibility to spend the funds to cover the Winter period.
We have also provided guidance for organisations to operate safely, made free PPE available to refuges and, made it clear that victims and their children, under the current national restrictions, can leave home to escape domestic abuse and access safety.
We are pressing ahead with a new legal duty on local authorities to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation in the Domestic Abuse Bill.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support domestic abuse refuge services.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This Government continues to support the provision of safe accommodation with support to ensure those fleeing from abuse have somewhere safe to go.
Since 2014 we have invested £80 million in safe accommodation services, including refuges to support victims of domestic abuse. This includes a £10 million COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for safe accommodation charities, supporting a significant number of organisations to keep services running. In addition, we have secured free PPE for domestic abuse refuges.
Following the outcome of Spending Review, £125 million funding will be allocated to local authorities for the new duty to provide support within safe accommodation, including refuges, for 2021-22.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided by the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are in move-on accommodation.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional temporary provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided by the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are in short-term emergency accommodation.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional emergency provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans are in place for occupants of the 1500 new beds provided by the domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund of £10 million after 31 October 2020, when that funding has been spent.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional temporary provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
Charities can now request to extend the spending period beyond the original 31 October deadline. Plans for occupants of additional beds beyond the emergency funding period will vary depending on the local arrangements put in place by bidders. Charities will be working with local partners to either extend the duration of bedspaces or to ensure occupants can safely move on.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what quality standards were used in the commissioning of new domestic abuse bed spaces under the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund was open for safe accommodation charities, including refuges, to apply for funding to maintain their existing level of service or create additional temporary beds to meet the anticipated demand resulting from the pandemic.
To be eligible for funding, applicants had to commit to meet the standards set out within the MHCLG Quality Standards, which can be found in Annex B in the Fund Prospectus in the link below:
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided under the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are planned to exist for six months or less.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional temporary provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
The timescales for additional beds created by this fund will vary depending on local circumstances and arrangements put in place by bidders. Charities can now request to extend the spending period beyond the original 31 October deadline.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional support they have provided to women affected by domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
A key Government priority is to ensure victims of domestic abuse can get the right support when they need it during the pandemic.
The?Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has allocated £10 million in emergency funding for safe accommodation services.??This fund is supporting 166 organisations to provide bed spaces for those affected by domestic abuse, ensuring that refuges remain open and more victims can access life-saving support during the pandemic. The Department also enabled local authorities to book additional rooms in temporary accommodation through a centralised service, helping more victims access safe accommodation. We have also provided £4.8 billion in additional funding to help local authorities respond to COVID-19 spending pressures, including support for domestic abuse services.
In addition, Home Office are providing £2 million for community-based domestic abuse services impacted by the outbreak and the?Ministry of Justice are providing £25?million?to help victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the community access support services during the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of specialist BME refuges for victims of domestic violence that have closed in the last 12 months as a result of local authorities switching contracts to larger generic charities.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government does not hold this data centrally. Local authorities often make commissioning decisions based on their specific local needs.
The Government recognises the support that BAME specialist refuges provide for victims of domestic abuse and their children. During 2020/21 we have funded and supported specialist refuges, including BAME specialist services, through our £10 million domestic abuse COVID-19 emergency funding.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they intend to have with local authorities about the case for changing procurement policies to ensure that local specialist services including BME refuges for victims of domestic violence continue to receive contracts.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Depending on the value of any specific contracting opportunity, local authorities will need to comply with the general principles of procurement outlined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This includes a regulatory responsibility to apply equal treatment to bidding organisations. Local authorities are also required to consider the Social Value Act as part of their contracting processes.
My officials have held workshops with local authorities from across the country to support them in preparing for the implementation of the new duty, including discussions on the importance of assessing the needs of all victims and providing specialist domestic abuse services as required. We will continue to work closely with local authorities and the sector.