Hundreds turned away as refuges ‘too full’
Lack of bed space for domestic abuse victims
HUNDREDS OF women and children have been turned away by domestic violence refuges in Yorkshire in the past six months because of a lack of available beds,
The Yorkshire Post can reveal. It comes after council budgets in the region were slashed by about 40 per cent since 2010 – and despite police forces across the county reporting massive rises in the numbers of cases they are dealing with.
The figures have been revealed as part of a national investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and local newspapers, with 40 refuge managers across the country speaking on condition of anonymity revealing that their organisations had turned away more than 1,000 women since the start of the year.
One refuge in Yorkshire reported turning away 117 people in the last six months because of “no space [and] no recourse to funds” and being unable to meet specialist needs.
Another said it had turned away 79 people due to being full, while a third refuge said it had turned away 40 families because of the same reason.
A fourth Yorkshire refuge was unable to give a precise figure but said it was “always full” and had a lack of bed space. It added that it is particularly difficult to find spaces for people with complex high-risk needs, with one person with a disability turned away recently.
Nationally, three quarters of refuge managers said they had seen their budgets cut in the last seven years.
Katie Ghose, chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “For survivors of domestic abuse, being able to flee to a refuge is often a matter of life or death. On average, two women a week are killed by a partner or ex-partner in England and Wales. Yet for many women and their children trying to escape abusive homes, they are unable to access the safety of a refuge due to the chronic under-funding of these lifesaving services which means there are not enough spaces.”
Local authorities are responsible for the care and support element of domestic violence services which is funded from their core Government grant. The housing costs for victims staying in refuges are paid for through housing benefit for those who are eligible to receive support.
But of the four Yorkshire councils to provide comparable funding figures under Freedom of Information laws, the amount of spending on refuge services fell by an average of 39 per cent between 2010/11 and 2016/17.
Leeds and Sheffield Councils both had budget cuts of more than 40 per cent between 2011/12 and 2016/17. Councils said today spending reductions were down to changes to how services were being commissioned instead of front-line cuts.
West Yorkshire Police has seen a 102 per cent increase in domestic violence offences between 2010 and 2016, with more than 22,000 such crimes reported last year. There have been increases of over 70 per cent in North Yorkshire and Humberside in the same time.
LOCAL COUNCILS across Yorkshire have cut their spending on domestic violence refuges by about 40 per cent since 2010, new research from The Yorkshire Post and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.
Of the four Yorkshire councils to provide comparable figures on spending between 2010/11 and 2016/17, combined spending dropped from £1.3m to less than £800,000 – a fall of 39 per cent.
It comes after an investigation revealed hundreds of women and children are being turned away from full refuges in Yorkshire. Bradford Council reduced spending on refuges by 55 per cent, a £440,000 cut, while Wakefield and York cut spending in this area by 41 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. However, Rotherham Council increased spending in the same time period by 28 per cent.
Leeds Council cut spending by 49 per cent from £462,879 in 2011/12 to £234,351 in 2016/17, with Sheffield Council spending falling from £657,140 in 2011/12 to £373,000 last year.
But councils today insisted that spending changes were a result of greater efficiencies and changes to contracts rather than cuts to frontline services.
Spending has increased in Calderdale and Kirklees since 2013/14, while a new form of contract in Doncaster meant no comparable figures were available.
Nationally, more than three quarters of councils have reduced the amount they spend on women’s refuges since 2010, with the number of domestic violence incidents reported to police increasing by a third.
Louise Harrison is from South Yorkshire Women’s Aid, which is facing the prospect of the closure of its support service after Doncaster Council said it would not be supporting it with any further funding following a one-off £30,000 grant last year.
Speaking in a personal capacity, she said was not surprised by the findings. “Every time you ring through for the last two to three years for a place at a refuge you are always racing against time, whether it is locally or nationally. There are less refuges and less refuge workers and less specialist refuges for people with mental health issues or disabilities.
“From April 2016 to December 2016 in the town of Doncaster, the police recorded 6,623 incidents of domestic violence. That is just eight months in one town. That figure frightens me, especially when you consider it takes a woman on average 35 times of being attacked before she goes and asks for help.”
Sheffield Council said the opening of a new purpose-built women’s refuge in 2014 had allowed it to “significantly reduce spend”, while maintaining bed numbers. Money has also been saved by changing from using three providers to a single organisation. A spokesman for Leeds Council said the way support services are commissioned has been changed, while key contracts have been renegotiated.
Councillor Sam Lisle, executive member with responsibility for community safety at York Council, said contract costs had lowered as a result of the authority’s provider reducing its overheads.
A spokesman for Bradford Council said budget savings “have been made through streamlining of services and back-office functions rather than cutting frontline services”. A spokesman for Wakefield Council said while there has been a change to the way services have been commissioned since 2011/12, “support has been maintained for the women’s refuge service together with a range of other support services”.