Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for rape crisis centres.

This Government inherited a criminal justice system under immense pressure, and a black hole in the nation’s finances.  We have made difficult decisions to ensure we can deliver the justice victims deserve.

This Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning that 43% of employers will pay no National Insurance Contributions at all.

I have protected dedicated VAWG victims spending in the department this year to ensure help is available to survivors of these awful crimes. This includes our ringfenced domestic abuse and sexual violence funding to all 42 Police and Crime Commissioners and our Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, which reaches over 60 specialist rape victim support organisations. Grant recipients are best placed to understand their local communities and shape support to meet the need of victims in their area.

To stay abreast of demand volumes and service user needs, we regularly monitor these grants, using management information to inform policy development and commissioning.

Now that the department has its Spending Review settlement, we are in the process of allocating this budget to individual priorities, including victims funding. This will require difficult and carefully considered decisions to balance priorities within the Ministry of Justice.