VICTIMS of domestic abuse are set to benefit from new funding from government.
Middlesbrough Council has been award £100,000 over two years as part of a £3.5 million scheme to help victims access the support they need.
The Council is one of 46 local authorities across the country to benefit, leading to the creation of 710 new bed spaces in a range of safe accommodation.
The extra money will enable the authority to work with Endeavour Housing and Harbour to provide additional dispersed refuge accommodation and a range of other services to victims across the area.
Successful bids ranged from specialist domestic abuse refuges for young women aged 16-25 to specialist training for domestic abuse advisors to cater for the specific needs of Britain’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
This funding boost in 2015/16 is in addition to the newly secured funding of £40 million over the next four years to support victims of domestic violence, announced as part of the Spending Review.
Communities Minister Baroness Williams, who with Home Office Minister Karen Bradley, has already led a review of services working with women’s domestic abuse charities, local authorities and other local service providers to gain a much clearer understanding of the range of challenges victims and services are facing.
Baroness Williams said: “Domestic abuse is an appalling crime that shatters lives and this Government is determined to ensure that no victim is turned away from the support they need.
“This new funding will help Middlesbrough Council and specialist charities provide a strong safety net for anyone facing the threat of abuse in their own home.
“In the Spending Round we have also secured an additional £40m over the next four years – to make sure that victims can access support wherever they are from, anywhere in the country.
“We’ll set out how this money will be used for victims and areas that most need it with the publishing of the new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.”
Councillor Mick Thompson, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive Member for Communities and Public Health, said: “It’s a sad fact that domestic violence and abuse remains all too prevalent, and Middlesbrough has a higher than average occurrence of incidents.
“It’s vital that those responsible are identified, offered diversionary interventions to help remedy their behaviour, or brought to justice because this sort of criminal behaviour has no place in a civilised society.
“But it is just as important that we offer the advice and support that victims so badly need – if they have the confidence to come forward then we stand a chance of stamping this scourge out once and for all.
“This funding will make a real difference to the services we can offer locally and has the potential to change lives.”