7. What consideration does the Minister give to the provision of domestic abuse services when allocating funding to the social justice portfolio? OQ57378

The Welsh Government is clear about its ambition to end violence against women and girls. The pandemic has created exceptional challenges for victims and survivors of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence and the services supporting them. Over £4 million of additional funding was subsequently made available to the sector to deal with the impact.

Minister, in Newport, and indeed also Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire, Barnardo's Cymru run an Opening Closed Doors service, which is a service for the whole family when domestic abuse is occurring and a family are suffering as a result. Indeed, since March 2019, over 450 families have benefited from this service. It provides tailored support to adult and child survivors of domestic abuse, as well as services to perpetrators. General research shows that more than one in 10 children under the age of 11 experience domestic abuse. The pandemic, with associated lockdowns, has worsened these problems, and as a result, there is increased and ongoing demand. An independent evaluation of this Barnardo's service, Minister, has been very positive and shows the value of the work, but Home Office funding, which enables this project, currently runs out in March of next year and the future beyond that is uncertain. Minister, along with other MSs for the area benefiting from this service, I have written to you and included the evaluation and an explanation of the work that's involved with this service, and I wonder if you would carefully consider necessary financial support to ensure that this important and worthwhile work continues beyond March of next year. 

I thank John Griffiths for raising this issue this afternoon and recognising, really, the important work that organisations such as Barnardo's do, and I'm very interested to hear about the project that you've described. We have provided additional funding through the course of the pandemic, recognising, as John Griffiths said, the fact that staying at home more makes it more difficult for people who are experiencing domestic abuse. I haven't yet received the letter; I expect it will be my colleague, the Minister for Social Justice, who will ultimately reply to the letter, but I'll make sure that I also have a copy of that. This does sit within her portfolio, but I'll be sure to look at that as well. Thank you. 

Minister, some third sector organisations received additional financial support during the pandemic to respond to the increasing rates of domestic abuse during the lockdown and to support various helplines in responding to more challenging cases. The pandemic is not over, but many organisations fear that the funding is. Can the Minister offer a personal commitment to all those still facing a life of abuse that resources will be targeted to helping identify it and respond with an even stronger partnership with our police forces? Thank you. 

Thank you, and Altaf Hussain is correct that we have provided significant additional funding to this sector over the course of the pandemic, recognising the points that he and John Griffiths have described. We've provided over £1.2 million in dispersed community-based accommodation for those for whom refuge provision isn't suitable, and for move-on accommodation. I think this has been really important in terms of freeing up space within refuges so that people could still leave if they needed to during what has been such a difficult time. And about £0.25 million extra funding was initially made available at the start of the financial year, which was topped up with further funding in that respect. And that's also enabled some of our domestic violence services to reconfigure what they do, and to do so in a COVID-secure way, such as equipping refuges and supporting victims, providing PPE and so on. So, there has been lots of important work that has had to take place this year that has been specifically in response to the pandemic. But, as I said, my colleague, the Minister for Social Justice, will be listening very carefully to this question and, I'm sure, taking on board what colleagues have been saying. 

Finally, question 8, Jenny Rathbone.