Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure the adequacy of funding for the effective provision of (a) services and (b) referrals in relation to incidences of violence against women and girls.

The National Health Service will see its day-to-day spending rise by £33.9 billion in cash terms by 2023-24, compared with 2018-2019, and the public health grant saw a real term increase to £3.279 billion in 2020/21. Responsibility for local decisions on funding services rest with the local areas to meet the needs of their population.

There are a wide range of healthcare services that victims and survivors of violence against women and girls may access. This includes sexual assault referral centres and female genital mutilation support clinics. The 47 sexual assault referral centres received £35 million in 2019/20, rising from £27 million in 2017/18.

We will continue to work across Government and agencies to ensure the effective provision of services to support victims and survivors and support multi-agency working and referrals.