Recommendation 12

The Committee is aware of examples where domestic abuse survivors did not receive adequate support. Examples shared during our evidence session included women turning to an MP’s advice surgery for support having struggled to be rehomed despite engaging with the local authority and housing association.26 The 2021 Domestic Abuse Act introduced a new statutory duty making MHCLG responsible for ensuring all domestic abuse survivors have access to refuges or another safe form of accommodation. This duty requires local authorities to assess the need for accommodation– based support in their area and develop a strategy for providing such support. MHCLG told us that it’s understanding is that in the majority of cases survivors are supported to find safe accommodation by the local authority, funded through MHCLG. We noted that in our experience it is clear that what MHCLG described is not routinely happening and the examples we had heard were in no way unusual.27 20 Q 6 21 Q 7 22 Q 3 23 VAWG0040, VAWG0050 24 Q 7 25 VAWG0055 26 Q 25 27 Q 26 13 Funding a whole-system response