‘Funding life-saving specialist domestic abuse support, for every survivor who needs it, will cost £393 million per year. This investment would be a fraction of the estimated £66 billion annual cost to society.’
This is from a November 2019 report from Women’s Aid on funding specialist support services. The report looks at the cost of fulfilling the previous government’s committment to delivering a statutory duty on local authorities to fund refuge services.
The report lays out several prerequisites for a sustainably funded specialist sector, including provision for women with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) and making housing benefit available to cover housing costs for refuge services.
Further, the report recommends that the new Government commits to a funding settlement of at least £393,326,676, and works with stakeholders to make sure it’s delivered effectively to secure the future of specialist provision for women and children escaping domestic abuse. It also recommends the Government and Domestic Abuse Commissioner work in partnership with the ‘by and for’ sector to develop the funding settlement.
