APPENDIX 68
Letter from Iain Wright MP, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for the Department for the Communities
and Local Government
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AND HOMELESSNESS
I would like to thank the Committee for
giving me the opportunity to set out the positive work my Department
is doing to tackle domestic violence. Following my appearance
before you on 4 March, you raised a number of further questions
and I wrote to you on 11 March responding to the Committee's concerns
regarding Supporting People funding and the potential impact upon
domestic violence services. This correspondence sets out my reply
to your other questions.
I take the issue of domestic violence
extremely seriously and recognise that accommodation can play
an important role in resolving the problem and providing safety
and security for the victims. Our pioneering approach to homelessness
prevention looked at the main causes of homelessness; domestic
violence was one of these. Our subsequent work set about tackling
this issue. For example, we strengthened the homelessness legislation
in England in 2002 by extending priority need for accommodation
to people vulnerable because they were fleeing violence.
Firstly, you asked about the homelessness
grant to local authorities and whether this is ring-fenced for
domestic violence services, and if not how we can we be sure it
will be used for domestic violence services.
My Department will invest £200 million over
the next three years in homelessness prevention: £150 million
to local authorities, and a further £50 million to voluntary
sector partners. In line with the principles set out in the Local
Government White Paper, this money is not ring fenced for specific
purposes such as domestic violence services. The challenges we
face on the ground are too complex and the needs often too local,
for all solutions to be imposed from the centre. We are making
it easier for local government to focus on improvement and respond
to rapidly changing circumstances, diverse local need and that
is why we allow them this type of flexibility.
We know that a significant proportion
of this money is used to help prevent victims of domestic violence
becoming homeless. Over the past few years we have seen an increase
in the implementation of Sanctuary Schemes across the country.
In 2005 a survey showed that 120 local authorities already had
a Sanctuary Scheme in place. A follow up survey in 2007 found
that 171 local authorities were operating Sanctuary Schemes and
a further 90 were planning to introduce them.
Other homelessness prevention measures
also benefit victims of domestic violence, including rent deposit
schemes, use of Discretionary Housing Benefit Payments, early
warning systems with housing providers, active referrals to floating
support, and private sector coordination.
Part of the homelessness prevention grant
paid to the voluntary and community sector also funds the important
work carried out by Women's Aid and Refuge who deliver, in partnership,
UKRefugesonline (UKROL). This is a UK wide database of domestic
violence services and refuge vacancies. They also produce the
Gold Book "A Guide to refuge and domestic abuse services"
every two years which is an invaluable resource for those working
with survivors of domestic abuse. In this financial year we have
been able to move away from the insecurity of year on year funding
for UKROL and have provided three year indicative funding of £400,000
from 2008-09 to 2010-11.
We also funded the establishment of the
national 24 free phone domestic violence helpline investing £1.4
million and levering in a further £1 million of Comic Relief
funding.
The homelessness prevention grant is
only one part of the support we offer to victims of domestic violence.
Our early work on homelessness prevention
concluded that refuge provision could be strengthened as could
its quality. That is why we, together with the Housing Corporation,
provided £34 million between 2003-06 under the Women Fleeing
Domestic Violence programme to build and refurbish 511 units.
Since then in the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme
for 2006-08 over £17 million was allocated for accommodation
for women at risk of domestic violence. This funding will provide
153 units of housing. Recently initial allocations for the Corporation's
2008-11 Affordable Housing Programme showed that a further £6
million had been provided for 113 rented units. CLG's own Hostels
Capital Improvement Programme (2005-08) allocated £4 million
to fund six refuges.
Capital funding needs revenue support,
so that is why we continue to fund housing related domestic violence
services through our Supporting People programme. Local authorities
determine how they focus their Supporting People funding, based
on the needs and priorities identified in their five year Supporting
People Strategies. The evidence we have from local
authorities overall concerning their investment of Supporting
People in domestic violence services is a positive one. They are
spending more of their Supporting People funding on domestic violence
services, some £61.6 million in 2006-07 compared to £59.3
million in 2005-06. More services overall are also being funded;
the number of services for women at risk of domestic violence
has risen from 579 in 2005-06 to 613 in 2006-07, and the number
of units of support available increased from 7,578 to 8,660.
Secondly, you asked for more information
around the evaluation of Sanctuary Schemes in Harrow and Barnet
and any other areas. This is provided at Annex A, and shows high
levels of client satisfaction.
Thirdly, you asked about our plans for
commissioning research to evaluate Sanctuary Schemes. While we
already have useful information about the impact of the schemes
in some areas, we are keen to see more comprehensive, independent
evaluation. Planning is at an early stage and the precise scope
for the research has not yet been finalised. To do this properly
we would like to invite key stakeholders to be involved and ensure
that, where possible, the research addresses their concerns and
that it is as robust as possible. We anticipate that the research
would be likely to assess for example:
— how many schemes there are
across the country and who operates them;
— what were the most common
adaptations;
— how many "Sanctuaries"
have been installed;
— how many people asked for
them and who has been helped (male/female);
— what other measures were used
in conjunction with the Sanctuary Scheme (eg prosecution, non-molestation
orders);
— how effective they are;
— how safe the users feel; and
— what are the benefits as far
as the users are concerned and what are the cost/savings?
Fourthly, you asked me to expand on the
information we collect about homeless acceptances and which groups
access social housing. This is provided at Annex B, together with
a summary of how the legislation works.
Fifthly, you asked how we can make sure
available accommodation meets the needs of those on the ground,
and whether we consider there is a shortfall in funding for refuges
and other types of accommodation for women fleeing domestic violence.
We are investing in more social housing
and support overall, including more family homes. Our ambition
is to build an additional 3 million homes by 2020 along with the
necessary supporting infrastructure such as schools, to support
this housing growth. We are increasing outputs of new affordable
housing to at least 70,000 by 2010-11 of which 45,000 will be
for new social rented homes, 50% more than 2007-08. Our goal is
to go further in subsequent years to reach 50,000 new social homes
per annum in the next spending review period. We will also be
delivering 25,000 homes a year for low cost home ownership.
The Housing Green Paper "Homes for
the future: more affordable, more sustainable" called on
local authorities to play a stronger role in addressing the housing
needs of all residents as part of their place shaping role. As
part of this, authorities are expected to assess and plan for
the current and future housing needs of all local people, including
vulnerable people such as victims of domestic violence.
Decisions around the provision of refuge
spaces are a local matter and it is the responsibility of the
individual local authority to identify any gaps in service provision
and put in place appropriate solutions to address this. We would
expect local authorities to build services based on the needs
of their communities, taking account of locally available data
sources.
The research that we plan to commission,
as mentioned above, is also expected to look at the provision
of refuge places across the country. This will help establish
how many bed spaces are available for those fleeing domestic abuse.
Finally, you asked whether we had given
any thought to radical measures to tackle domestic violence, for
example, provision of limited housing for perpetrators who have
no independent means, to enable them to be removed from the home
(rather than the women/children).
We already provide housing advice to
all members of the community regardless of whether they are eligible
for homelessness assistance. It could be argued that by committing
domestic violence, the perpetrator would make themselves intentionally
homeless and would not, therefore, be eligible for housing assistance.
However, this would not prevent housing providers offering housing
advice which could well help them find alternative accommodation
away from the family home, for example in the private rented sector.
Our overall approach to homelessness
prevention encourages innovation at local level. When promising
new models—such as Sanctuary Schemes—are developed,
we aim to spread that good practice, in particular through the
work of our regional homelessness advisors.
I hope that you find this information
useful and once again I'd like to thank the Committee for giving
me the opportunity to provide evidence on this important issue.
Ian Wright
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