Government’s plans to support victims of domestic violence and abuse, House of Lords - 6 June 2019

The draft Domestic Abuse Bill, published in January 2019, has the potential to make important changes to help improve the lives of victims. Our ultimate aim should be preventing this abuse from occurring in the first place.

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Key messages

  • Tackling domestic abuse is an issue which councils take very seriously. They already offer a range of support to protect victims and their families from this horrendous crime.
  • The Government recently announced that local authorities will be required to publish strategies which set out in detail the range of support services available for domestic abuse survivors and their children. Councils will be supported with this vital work through funding, which will be provided to ensure these services are put on a long-term, sustainable footing.
  • The Government’s new package of support for domestic abuse survivors, also places a legal duty on councils to deliver accommodation-based support. It is important that the final package ensures local authorities are supported in their work going forward. It must provide flexibility to ensure services can be tailored to the needs of different areas.
  • A multi-agency approach is needed to tackle this crime, with flexibility in the new package of support to ensure services can be tailored to the needs of different areas.
  • Our ambition must be to reduce the number of victims of domestic abuse. We need greater investment in early intervention and prevention schemes that helps stop domestic abuse occurring in the first place.
  • Housing security is critical for the health and wellbeing of families and everyone deserves a safe, secure and affordable place to call home. With councils’ homelessness services facing a funding gap of more than £100 million in 2019/20 and £421 million by 2024/25, the Government also needs to use its upcoming Spending Review to sustainably fund homelessness prevention.

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Government’s plans to support victims of domestic violence and abuse, House of Lords - 6 June 2019