Councils are to receive £6 million in government funding to help prepare for the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill, which from April 2021 will place a duty on councils to support victims of domestic abuse.
Cllr Nesil Caliskan, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Tackling domestic abuse is an issue that councils take very seriously, so we are pleased that government has agreed to provide funding to help local authorities prepare for the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill, which the LGA has supported.
“With rising demand for support during the pandemic, the need for comprehensive domestic abuse services and effective perpetrator interventions could never be more crucial to prevent and eliminate this appalling crime.
“The new statutory duty in the Bill has only been placed on councils, but they cannot tackle this crime alone. Councils will need the cooperation of other public services, including the police, to work together on this.
“As well as fully funding the new duty, we are calling on the Government to use the Spending Review to provide long-term and sustained funding for early intervention and prevention programmes and wider community-based domestic abuse support, and the introduction of a National Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Strategy.
“This funding needs to be similar in scale to the Youth Endowment Fund, which is £200 million over 10 years.”