A
BILL
TO
Require provision of women’s refuges in certain areas; to set out requirements
of local councils relating to women’s refuges; and for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Local authorities are required to provide domestic violence refuge services for
all women and children seeking protection from domestic violence who are
assessed as being in priority need for domestic violence refuge services by
5specialist domestic violence organisations.
(1)
The Secretary of State must monitor a national network of domestic violence
refuges and stipulate the level of funding required to be spent in each local
authority area to meet the required demand.
(2)
10The Secretary of State must establish a model of sustainable funding for the
provision of domestic violence refuges.
(3)
The Secretary of State shall by regulation establish arrangements for the
assurance of quality for the provision of domestic violence refuges.
(4)
The provision of accommodation by local authorities for victims of domestic
15violence must not be restricted to solely those from within the local authority’s
boundaries.
(5)
Domestic violence refuge accommodation must be provided on the basis of
need, and available capacity, not on the basis of the location of the place of
abode of the person seeking accommodation.
There is to be paid out of money provided by Parliament—
Women\xd5 s Refuges (Provision and Eligibility) BillPage 2
(a)
any expenditure incurred under or in consequence of this Act by the Secretary
of State, and
(b)
any increase attributable to this Act in the sums payable under any other Act
out of money so provided.
The Secretary of State must publish guidance on the commissioning of
domestic violence refuge services.