Asked by Baroness Donaghy To ask Her Majesty’s Government
what measures they are taking to ensure that victims of domestic
violence have access to safe and secure accommodation in both the
short and long term. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Communities and Local Government and Northern
Ireland Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con) ...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are
taking to ensure that victims of domestic violence have
access to safe and secure accommodation in both the short
and long term.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Communities and Local Government and Northern Ireland
Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con)
My Lords, we have secured £100 million in the spending
review for tackling violence against women and girls, to
support victims of domestic abuse; £20 million was our 2016
to 2018 funding for accommodation-based support and service
reform. We funded 76 projects, creating more bed spaces in
safe accommodation. We fund routes to support to help
victims access refuges, and we published priorities for
domestic abuse services in November 2016 to set out what
effective local service commissioning looks like.
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(Lab)
I thank the Minister for his reply, but the Government are
relying on cash-strapped local authorities to commission
refuge services. Commissioning practices have led to 17% of
specialist refuges in England being closed, and one in four
referrals being turned away. That is probably the tip of
the iceberg. Women’s Aid says that the local housing
allowance cap on housing benefit would force 67% of refuges
to close. Does the Minister accept that the Government are
failing in their duty to adopt a strategic approach to
domestic violence?
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No, my Lords. The noble Baroness will not be surprised to
hear that I do not accept that. I am meeting Katie Ghose,
the chief executive of Women’s Aid, this afternoon, and I
look forward to that meeting. We very much value working
with our partners. As I have indicated, we are putting in
more money—but it is not just about money. As the noble
Baroness will know, we will shortly bring forward domestic
abuse legislation, which will look at some of the
deep-seated issues.
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(Con)
Is the Minister aware of the sort of situation in which
people are suffering? For example, I am dealing at the
moment with the case of someone who has been threatened by
her landlord—an illegal landlord—that if she is not out by
Friday he will take action. This is all because she called
in the police when some of her stuff was stolen; that had
been going on for years while she lived there. But when
someone phones the police, they say, “This is a civil
matter and nothing to do with the police”. Is it not time
there was some particular central thing, rather than just
the local authority list, which this woman was on for four
years and was then told that anyone who had not been on the
list for five years would be taken off it. This happened in
Camden, which I think has good policies otherwise. What is
the answer about the police, and the fact that they will
not get involved when these dangerous situations arise?
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My Lords, I am not aware of the particular situation the
noble Baroness is referring to, but I know that we work
closely with the police. They are a much-valued partner in
relation to this. As I said, legislation will be
forthcoming. We shall consult in the autumn on the
principles of that legislation, and I think that it will be
ground-breaking.
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(CB)
Does the Minister agree that when young children are in
families in which there is domestic violence, it has a
marked impact on their well-being? Will he ensure that when
the police are called to a household where there is
domestic violence and where children are involved, the
children will be properly protected and reference will be
made to the children’s services?
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My Lords, the noble Lord makes a very important point about
the particular situation where children witness domestic
abuse. This is something that will be very much referenced
in the consultation, and we will be looking at, for
example, possibly having more stringent penalties when
children are subjected to the sort of situation referred to
by the noble Lord. I will take the specific situation he
referred to back because it is a very valuable point.
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(LD)
My Lords, the domestic violence disclosure scheme was
rolled out in 2014, and the first bit of evidence suggests
that different police forces have been implementing it in
very different ways. What are the Government doing to
ensure that there is more consistency across all police
forces in using that scheme?
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The noble Baroness raises an interesting point about
consistency, and she is absolutely right: we need to see
consistency, although perhaps not uniformity. There will be
certain situations that demand a different response. Again,
that is something that we will be looking at in the
consultation being carried out this autumn on the
principles of the legislation.
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(Lab)
My Lords, if what the noble Lord said in response to my
noble friend Lady Donaghy is right, why did women’s
refuges, when surveyed, say that their biggest problem was
the uncertainty around future funding cuts and present
funding cuts? Can the Minister explain?
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My Lords, I have spoken to many refuges and many providers of
services in relation to domestic abuse. Any government
department is always under pressure to spend more money, but
this is far from being the only issue. I have seen some
excellent refuges—very recently in Derbyshire and Hampshire.
I have seen some excellent services and have discussed this
issue, for example, recently in Liverpool. Of course it is an
issue; government departments are always under pressure to
spend more money. But this is far from being the only
issue—or even the primary one.
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(Con)
My Lords, most of the comments so far have been about women’s
refuges. I wonder whether my noble friend can comment on some
of the work being done where the perpetrator is removed and
the home of the victim is made safe so that the children and
the victim can continue with a more normal life than being
removed to a refuge.
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My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely right. Far from being
the only response to domestic abuse in the shape of refuges,
there are many other ways of tackling the issue of domestic
abuse, and it is what is appropriate in a particular
situation. We look at sanctuary schemes, for example, and
outreach support for people who are still at home. There are
diverse responses according to the different situations that
we face.
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(CB)
My Lords, I hope that the Minister is aware that refuges are
needed for men as well as women. A minority of men are at
risk, and it is extremely difficult for them to find anywhere
to go if they have to leave home. There is also a need for
victims of forced marriage, many of whom are underage. They
also are not really looked after at the moment.
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My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Baroness for that
point. She is right, of course; a significant minority of men
are subjected to domestic violence and organisations support
them, too. It is important that that message gets across—and
that is something I shall mention to Katie Ghose this
afternoon. The noble and learned Baroness also mentioned
forced marriages. There are particular issues in the BME
community and, again, we try to confront that. We have
support from particular organisations that deal with BME
domestic abuse: for example, Imkaan, and on my recent
Liverpool visit I met Tracey Gore of the Steve Biko domestic
abuse service—so we are over that as well.
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(Lab)
My noble friend Lady Donaghy tabled this Question two weeks
ago. When did the Minister’s office conveniently fix up for
him to meet the chief executive of Women’s Aid this
afternoon?
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My Lords, I have great respect for the noble Lord, but he
will be disappointed to know that it has been in the calendar
for far longer than that. I am sorry to have to tell him
that. An earlier meeting was postponed because I could not
make it. It was put back in the diary immediately to have the
meeting today. I am very grateful for the question the noble
Lord has just asked.
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