Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided by the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are in move-on accommodation.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional temporary provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided by the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are in short-term emergency accommodation.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional emergency provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans are in place for occupants of the 1500 new beds provided by the domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund of £10 million after 31 October 2020, when that funding has been spent.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional temporary provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
Charities can now request to extend the spending period beyond the original 31 October deadline. Plans for occupants of additional beds beyond the emergency funding period will vary depending on the local arrangements put in place by bidders. Charities will be working with local partners to either extend the duration of bedspaces or to ensure occupants can safely move on.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided by the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are provided by services or organisations whose sole purpose is to support victims of domestic abuse and their children.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
To be eligible for funding through the MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Emergency Support Fund, applicants needed to be charities providing domestic abuse safe accommodation services in England, as stated in the Fund Prospectus, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890420/MHCLG_COVID-19_Emergency_Support_Fund_-_updated_prospectus.pdf.
Of the total 147 successful applications, there were 101 applications from organisations whose sole purpose is to support victims of domestic abuse and related forms of abuse.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new beds are being provided by each organisation that was successful in bidding for funding from £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
In total the successful recipients of the MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Emergency Support Fund proposed opening 1546 additional bedpsaces to meet increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what quality standards were used in the commissioning of new domestic abuse bed spaces under the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund was open for safe accommodation charities, including refuges, to apply for funding to maintain their existing level of service or create additional temporary beds to meet the anticipated demand resulting from the pandemic.
To be eligible for funding, applicants had to commit to meet the standards set out within the MHCLG Quality Standards, which can be found in Annex B in the Fund Prospectus in the link below:
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided under the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are provided by Community Interest Companies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Of the successful recipients of the MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Emergency Support Fund, there was one organisation that was a Community Interest Company.
We have extended the period for which applicants can spend their grant funding and deliver their outcome by, and this may result in some changes to initial applications. We are therefore unable to provide a breakdown of beds, in the manner requested, at this time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new bed spaces provided under the £10 million domestic abuse safe accommodation covid-19 emergency support fund are planned to exist for six months or less.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The MHCLG £10 million Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund aimed to ensure safe accommodation charities, including refuges, could continue to provide support to victims and their children during the pandemic. Charities could apply for funds to create additional temporary provision to meet short-term increases in demand as a result of the pandemic.
The timescales for additional beds created by this fund will vary depending on local circumstances and arrangements put in place by bidders. Charities can now request to extend the spending period beyond the original 31 October deadline.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department’s press release of 23 June 2020 entitled £105 million to keep rough sleepers safe and off the streets during coronavirus pandemic, what estimate his Department has made of the number of homeless people provided with temporary accommodation through the Everyone In initiative who were (a) women and (b) women with no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On 24 June we announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the almost 15,000 vulnerable people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This commitment will help to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets.
On 3 June we published the management information that supports the announcements from Secretary of State and Dame Louise Casey regarding the amount of people accommodated. This management information is collected from over 300 local authorities nationally; however, we do not currently hold a breakdown of the gender of all those who have been assisted.
We are continuing to work with local authorities to further understand the work they are doing to help the most vulnerable in our society. Local authorities hold the most up to date information regarding the number of people they are currently assisting.
The Government is aware of concerns about those with no recourse to public funds experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis.
We are ensuring local authorities are supported, with £3.2 million of targeted funding previously announced to help support individuals who are sleeping rough off the streets, and an additional £3.7 billion provided to local authorities as part of the wider Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This funding has been provided to help local authorities to reduce risks to public health and to support individuals on the basis of need.
The legal position on those with no recourse to public funds has not been amended.
The Government recognises that these are unprecedented times, and expects local authorities to support people who are sleeping rough, and also to minimise unnecessary risks to public health, acting within the law.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter issued to local authority leaders on of 27 April 2020 on the use of emergency funds to house victims of domestic violence, what plans his Department has to assess local authority compliance with that letter; and whether he plans to issue further guidance in relation to the ability to use that funding to house victims with no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
I recently wrote to local authorities asking them to work closely with their local domestic abuse safe accommodation providers to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and their families can be provided with safe emergency accommodation and appropriate support to avoid further pressures on frontline homelessness services.
To understand how the funding is meeting local needs and pressures across the country, vital data is being provided by local authorities. This data is enabling us to monitor the use of the funds and will inform our wider conversations within Government.
In 2018, Government published statutory guidance designed to help local authorities ensure that victims of domestic abuse in a refuge or other form of temporary accommodation have appropriate priority under their social housing allocation schemes.
On 2 May, the Government announced an unprecedented £76?million package of support to ensure the most vulnerable in society get the support they need during the pandemic.
A change to the rules will also mean that those fleeing domestic abuse and facing homelessness as a result will be automatically considered as priority by their council for housing – ensuring more survivors of domestic abuse have access to a safe home.
The Government is aware of concerns about those with no recourse to public funds during the COVID-19 crisis.
We are ensuring local authorities are supported, with £3.2 billion provided to local authorities as part of the wider Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This funding has been provided to help local authorities to reduce risks to public health and to support individuals on the basis of need.
The legal position on those with no recourse to public funds has not been amended.