Nottinghamshire County Council has been awarded £1.5m by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to support and protect adults and children affected by domestic abuse within safe accommodation.
The County Council will use the funding to deliver year two of its three year commissioning plan in partnership with district and borough councils, domestic abuse services, the police and the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The funding will go towards:
- Safe accommodation and support services e.g. supporting survivors to get new accommodation, access new schools, access funding, help with safety planning, emotional support, mental health support, etc.
- Provision of specialist children’s workers within refuges.
- Increasing therapeutic support for survivors of domestic abuse.
- Funding for sanctuary schemes, which provide additional security measures to allow. domestic abuse survivors to remain in their own home.
- Domestic abuse specialists embedded within district / borough council housing teams to support their response to domestic abuse.
- ‘Co-production’: working with domestic abuse survivors to understand their experiences and putting their voices at the heart of decision making.
- Consulting with domestic abuse survivors on their experiences of safe accommodation services and ensuring there are no barriers to accessing support for people with protected characteristics.
- Training staff to understand the Domestic Abuse Act and improve awareness e.g. social care and housing staff.
- Providing funding on an individual basis to improve a survivor’s journey to safe accommodation.
- Funding temporary accommodation for pets of domestic survivors.
Last year, the County Council used the Government money to fund support services within refuges, provide children’s workers within refuges, train front line staff and embed domestic abuse specialists within housing teams. Evidence shows that these projects are working well and the Council is continuing to build on these in year two of its commissioning plan.
Councillor Boyd Elliott, Chairman of Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee, said: “We’re delighted that our funding has continued from last year, as we have already had some successes with our work so far. We can now work with our partners on delivering the next steps of our plan.
“The last couple of years have been difficult, with the pandemic leading to an increase in domestic abuse referrals. However, our local support services have really stepped up and I am confident that our joint plans will further improve the outcomes for domestic abuse survivors in Nottinghamshire.”
4800 domestic abuse survivors received support in Nottinghamshire in 2020/21. Based on current figures, it is expected that over 5000 people will receive support in 2021/22.
Find out more about domestic abuse and support services in Nottinghamshire.
