Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Melissa Fisher, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities, outlining the revenue grant funding the Council had been awarded by the former Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHG) now Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to continue to provide support in safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse in the Borough.  The report also identified how the Council proposed to utilise this funding and sought Cabinet approval to extend the agreement with HARV Outreach Team (HARV) who were a registered charity (CN 1069367) and a registered company (CN 106673278) to enable them to continue their support service to victims of domestic abuse.

Councillor Fisher highlighted some of the key achievements of HARV in 2023/24, which included supporting 54 residents in their homes, receiving 83 referrals to move away and supporting 79 of those to move away to safe accommodation.  It was essential to continue to provide this type of support.  Councillor Khan also welcome the provision of the support.

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (the Act) had come into force on the 1^st October 2021.  The Act placed a duty on local authorities to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse, including children, had access to safe accommodation and support when they needed it.  It included a wide range of provisions intended to raise awareness and understanding about the devastating impact of domestic abuse on victims and their families.

The Act was supported by statutory guidance and required local authorities to have regard to the guidance when carrying out its functions under the Act.  The guidance distinguished between what it described as Tier 1 (upper tier local authorities) and Tier 2 local authorities (district councils).  The Act and guidance required “Tier 2” authorities to cooperate with the upper tier authority so far as reasonably practicable when requested to do so.  Hyndburn Borough Council as a Tier 2 local authority was therefore required to cooperate with Lancashire County Council, the Tier 1 local authority.

The Act and supporting guidance placed the provision of safe accommodation and domestic abuse support as central to the duties.  This included advocacy support, preventative advice, and specialist support for victims with protected characteristics, support for children including play therapy and child advocacy, housing related support, and counselling for adult victims and children.  Safe accommodation included refuge, specialist safe accommodation, dispersed accommodation, sanctuary schemes and move-on accommodation, but did not include generic bed and breakfast homeless units/hostels not dedicated to safe provision for domestic abuse victims.

The Government provided funding to Local Authorities to cover the cost of the duty to provide support in safe accommodation.  The funding was allocated in Lancashire to the County Council (Tier 1) and to District Councils (Tier 2).

Hyndburn Council had been awarded £33,184 for 2024-25 to enable it to cooperate with Lancashire County Council in the delivery of this duty.

In line with the duty to cooperate, Hyndburn Council had sought advice from Lancashire County Council on using Hyndburn’s grant allocation to enhance HARV’s existing services for victims of domestic abuse in the Borough, which comprised:

• Provision of emergency accommodation;
• Support to stay in their own accommodation safely;
• Support to access legal remedies to enable them to remain in their homes; and
• The employment of a weekend emergency safe accommodation worker.

The grant would be used by HARV to continue to employ an additional refuge worker to provide weekend cover for emergencies and also to ring fence an existing accommodation unit for referrals by the Council’s Housing Advice and Homelessness Team.

Lancashire County Council had welcomed the proposal to enhance HARV’s services and saw this as linking with the outreach support they had commissioned with HARV to provide long-term support for victims.

Hyndburn’s grant funding was specifically for Hyndburn and would be used to support local victims of domestic abuse.

HARV had been providing specialist services to vulnerable children and families in Hyndburn and Ribble Valley since 1998.  The services they provided were built around the diverse needs and issues of individuals, families and the communities in which they worked.  During this time the Council had supported HARV’s work to provide a variety of services including access to accommodation, outreach support and sanctuary scheme measures to keep victims safe in their own homes. 

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

The Council could consider awarding the funding to other agencies, however HARV was the only specialist agency in the Borough providing accommodation and support services for victims of domestic abuse and by making the grant award to HARV, it would enable HARV to continue this in the Borough.

Resolved                                   -    That Cabinet:

(1)   Notes that the Council has secured grant in the sum of £33,184 for 2024/25 for the support of victims of domestic abuse across the Borough.

(2)   Approves the Council entering into a grant funding agreement with HARV Outreach Team to enable support to victims of domestic abuse in the Borough.

(3)   Notes that the Subsidy Control Act has been considered and the definition of a subsidy has not been met as HARV will not be engaging in an economic activity, therefore, it will not be considered as an enterprise for the purpose of the subsidy control regime.

(4)   Delegates authority to the Head of Regeneration and Housing in consultation with the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) to draw up, finalise and execute agreements to grant HARV funding to provide support to victims of domestic violence.