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Domestic Domestic Violence Mini-site

Refuge & Support Services

Contents

 

How many refuge places are there?

Supporting People supply data reported that in December 2002, there were a total of 3073 household spaces in women’s refuges for women experiencing domestic violence, of which 2891 were Supporting People funded.
Refuge places are increasing: in 1998 there were approximately 2715 spaces for households in refuges in England.

Funding from Office of the Duty Prime Minister will provide 273 new units of accommodation this year.

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Are there specialist refuge places available?

There are specialist refuge places around the country with, for example, 21% of local authorities having access to refuge spaces for women with mental health problems. Whilst around only 23% of local authorities can access specialist refuge accommodation for women fleeing domestic violence, this is because refuges are not always the most appropriate response for women who have complex needs. Similarly, small numbers of women with particular needs make it difficult to provide a dedicated response, and therefore other options such as outreach, tenancy sustainment and so on offer more practical and effective solutions.

However, there are some specialist providers of refuge services – for example, Imkaan, which supports refuge places for women from BME groups who have fled domestic violence.

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What is the Government doing to help victims who want to remain in their homes?

Many local authorities are developing schemes to enable women to stay in their own homes – where it is safe and they wish to do so. This may be part of the local authorities homelessness strategy, or via the CDRP. For this to work, all local agencies need to work closely together to ensure that the victim is safe and supported and that the perpetrator is dealt with.

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What helpline Services are available?

On 15 December, a new 24-hour National domestic violence helpline was launched.  The groundbreaking new service is backed by grants from the Office of the Duty Prime Minister and Comic Relief.  It will run by a partnership of leading domestic violence agencies, Women's Aid and Refuge, replacing previous helplines operated by those organisations.  Women's Aid estimates that it received c.65,000 calls in 2002 and dealt with c.13,500 of them.  Refuges estimates that it received 25,014 call in the year ending December 2001.  Their statistics suggest that they successfully answered 5,264 calls.  

The new domestic violence freephone helpline that the Government is funding will help to increase the number of caller who get through and will help improve the service that they receive.

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What is the Government doing to increase the Stock of refuge places?

The Government has committed significant resources this year to fund both capital and revenue support for refuges across the country.  This year alone, ODPM has allocated £8.9 million capital funds via the Housing Corporation for refuge provision.  The Housing Corporation has also allocated £9.9 million this financial year.  ODPM has also committed £7 million in each of the next two financial years.  Supporting People funds contribute to the revenue costs associated with refuges.  It is important to recognise that refuges are just one part of the response to helping victims of domestic violence-and £54 million funds of Supporting People money is going this year to provide accommodation related support services for victims of domestic violence.

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What is the Government doing for domestic violence victims without recourse to public funds?

A foreign national who wants to settle in the United Kingdom on the basis of marriage or an unmarried partnership to someone already present and settled here must normally live with their partner or spouse for a probationary period. If the marriage or partnership breaks down during that period, they have no right to remain in the UK.

To protect victims of domestic violence, the Government introduced a concession in 1999 so that those who left their spouse or partner during the probationary period and could prove, by a court conviction or similar, that the relationship ended because of domestic violence, were granted settlement.

In November 2002, the Government extended the types of evidence that could be used as proof of violence, and these were formally included in the immigration rules. To qualify, victims should ideally provide proof of one of the following against their spouse or partner:

  • an injunction, non-molestation order or other protection order; or

  • a relevant court; or

  • full details of a relevant police caution. 

However, if one of these is not available, the victim may provide more than one of the following instead:

  • a medical report from a hospital doctor or a letter from a GP who has examined the applicant confirming that the applicant has injuries consistent with being a victim of domestic violence;

  • an undertaking given to a court that the offender will not approach the applicant who is the victim of violence;

  • a police report confirming attendance at the home of the applicant as a result of domestic violence; 

  • a letter from social services confirming it's involvement in connection with domestic violence; or

  • a letter of support or a report from refuge

This is a significant improvement in the position of victims of domestic violence who are still subject to immigration control. In addition, these applications are flagged and given priority consideration by the Immigration & Nationality Department (IND).

In Safety and Justice, we also made a commitment to ensure that victims in this position would access refuge accommodation funded through the Supporting People arrangements.

However, while their applications are still being considered by IND, victims of domestic violence still subject to immigration control cannot have access to public funds for the period until the application has been decided.  There are no plans to amend legislation in this area.  However, the Government believes that it does have a duty to ensure that victims attempting to leave a violent relationship- one of the most dangerous times for victims of domestic violence- can have access to refuge accommodation and services.  as a result, we announced in 'Safety and Justice' that victims would be able to get access to refuge accommodation and services supported through the Supporting People arrangements.  This change is effective immediately.

In addition, we are currently considering following responses to 'Safety and Justice', what additional support might be given to victims in this situation within the current legislative framework.

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Last update: 14/07/02

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