Refuges: Females

Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 21 February 2012.

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Photo of Jim Cunningham Jim Cunningham Labour, Coventry South

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment his Department has made of the number of available places in women's refuges; and if he will make a statement.

Photo of Grant Shapps Grant Shapps The Minister for Housing

holding answer 8 February 2012

In November 2010, the Department published the research 'Meeting the needs of households at risk of domestic violence in England' which mapped and reviewed the role of accommodation and support services for households at risk of domestic violence in England.

The research is available on the Department' s website at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/domesticviolenceneeds and shows that there were 445 accommodation based services specifically designed for households at risk of domestic violence in 2009 (88% of which were women's refuges). 4,035 household places were recorded in over 418 schemes.

The Government's approach to tackling domestic violence is set out in the “Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan”.

As part of this plan, the Home Office is providing £28 million of funding over the spending review period for specialist domestic and sexual violence services.

The Ministry of Justice is also using proceeds from the victim surcharge, of up to £3.5 million a year, to give existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding, and to establish new centres where there are gaps in provision.

Supporting People is the main funding source for the provision of refuge-based domestic violence services; the Department for Communities and Local Government has protected such funding and is providing £6.5 billion of funding for Supporting People over the spending review.

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