Ministers unveil £76million package for domestic violence victims

Ministers tonight unveiled a £76million package for domestic violence victims as they admitted the coronavirus lockdown is making it harder for people to seek help.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced the funding as he took the daily Downing Street press briefing, saying the government would not ignore the ‘reality’ of what many vulnerable individuals face during the crisis. 

He said victims of domestic abuse will get priority access to local housing, and money will be channelled to charities.

Declaring there would be £76million of ‘new funding’ for victims of domestic violence, Mr Jenrick said: ‘For some in our society these measures involve sacrifices that none of us would wish anyone to bear.

‘For victims of domestic abuse it means being trapped in a nightmare.

‘The true evil of domestic abuse is that it leaves vulnerable people including children living in fear in the very place where they should feel most safe and secure: inside their own home.’

Mr Jenrick said the Government’s Domestic Abuse Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament last week, would create ‘the first ever legal definition of domestic abuse’.

He said that through the Bill, the Government would ‘be ensuring that the victims of domestic violence get the priority need status that they need to access to local housing services much more easily’.

He added: ‘This is a fully-funded commitment which will mean that no victim of domestic violence has to make the unbearable choice between staying somewhere that they know is unsafe or becoming homeless.’

He said the Government had already announced an extra £15million to strengthen its support, with an extra £16million going directly to refuge services. 

‘This additional support will ensure more safe spaces and accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse and their children, and the recruitment of additional councillors for victims of sexual violence.’

He added that the funding will also help frontline charities to offer virtual ways to assist those in need, including phone-based services.

Mr Jenrick said: ‘We know that some refuges have had to reduce, or even to cancel the services that they would want to provide during the pandemic.

‘This funding will help them to meet the challenges posed in this national emergency, and to continue to help those that desperately need support.’