Short-term funding settlements and a fragmented approach to
commissioning services is putting the Government's target to
halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) at risk – a report
by the Home Affairs Committee has warned.
Inconsistent approaches to how VAWG is defined and data recorded
has led to fragmented decision making across central and local
government. Short term, bid-based procurement is further acting
as a barrier to smaller providers who can be best placed to
provide specialised services.
The Government has committed to halving violence against women
and girls within a decade. This will only be achieved if there is
a greater focus on prevention, the report finds. Universities and
the third sector should be commissioned to build the evidence
base to underpin effective prevention strategies and programmes.
This work should be supported by long-term, ringfenced
funding.
Delivering comprehensive VAWG services will require significant
improvement in cross-government coordination. This includes
standardising the definitions of VAWG, aligning data collection,
and mapping funding distribution. Cross-departmental boards have
been established, but questions remain over their impact, as well
as the Home Office's “capacity or imagination” to deliver the
vital reform required to meet the target to halve VAWG in a
decade.
Current approaches to determining value for money skew funding
decisions in favour of larger providers. Greater emphasis should
be placed on the impact of services on people's lives, rather
than simply numbers, the committee finds.
Long-term funding settlements are needed to support long-term
planning, staff retention and service delivery. The Committee
calls for funding cycles to be increased to three-five
years.
VAWG funding structures need to recognise the vital role that
smaller providers can play in meeting the complex needs of
victims and survivors. ‘By and for' services – designed and
delivered by and for marginalised communities – face particular
barriers to funding. The committee calls for ring-fenced funding
and simplified application processes to ensure these much needed
services are supported.
Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, Dame said:
“Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), and supporting
victims, requires a range of services that meet complex,
sensitive and diverse needs. Yet the processes for commissioning
those services are hard to navigate and time consuming.
“Big providers are best placed to deal with the bureaucracy and
short-termism of the current system. But it's often the smaller
providers who are best placed to provide the specific type of
support that stops people falling through the gaps.
“We're calling for a new approach that recognises the unique
contribution that smaller providers can make. We also want to see
a more strategic approach that understands where all the
different funding pots are working and where gaps
remain.
“Ultimately VAWG services are there to deal with the consequences
of behaviours that cannot be tolerated. If the Government is to
truly address violence against women and girls it will need to
deal with the root causes – this means investing in prevention
and funding research into what works.”
