Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has made available to organisations that provide support to victims of (a) domestic violence and (b) sexual abuse based in the Leeds area in each of the last three years; and if he will increase that funding in response to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.

MoJ does not hold specific funding data for Leeds, as funding for local support services for victims of crime is provided to West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner covering all of West Yorkshire.

In the last three years, the funding provided to West Yorkshire PCC by the Ministry of Justice for local support services for victims of crime, including Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence is as follows:

In the last three years, the funding provided through the Ministry of Justice Rape Support Fund to rape support centres in West Yorkshire is as follows:

In 2020/21 MoJ provided an additional £770,000 in emergency COVID-19 funding to West Yorkshire PCC to provide additional support for domestic abuse and sexual violence service providers to maintain support during the pandemic.

On 1st February 2021, in addition to the core funding for local commissioning of support services for victims of crime, the Government announced a further £40m for victims’ services. This funding will include £11 million for local community-based sexual violence services and £9.7 million for domestic abuse services. It also includes £16m to expand further the availability of Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers. We are in the process of agreeing the core and additional allocations for 2021-22 that all local areas will receive.