Decision details

Under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has awarded a grant of £1,846,117 to Leeds City Council. The grant period is 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022.

The grant covers revenue expenditure relating to the functions set out in the new statutory duty (within the Domestic Abuse Bill) on Tier 1 Local Authorities, relating to the provision of support to victims of domestic abuse and their children residing within safe accommodation and to the development of a multi-agency Local Partnership Board (LPB) to support LAs in performing certain specified functions. 

Approval is being sought to:

·  accept the grant allocation from MHCLG

·  award grants to a number of organisations to enhance the support to survivors and victims of domestic abuse living in safe accommodation

·  allocate a small proportion of the overall grant to LCC in order to fund the additional administrative burden associated with the new Statutory Duty

All recommendations relate to the financial year 1st April 2021 - 31st March 2022.

The Director of Communities, Housing and Environment:

a)  Approved an allocation of £359,019 to Leeds Domestic Violence Service (via Leeds Women’s Aid as the lead agency) to provide additional support through the existing commissioned emergency accommodation service. This will be done as a variation to contract 9Y9N-Z2LOII - DN194503 under the provision of Public Procurement Regulations 2015- Regulation 72 (c).

b)  Approved an allocation of £227,221 as a grant to Leeds Womens Aid to provide additional support to clients living in the non-commissioned Leeds Women’s Aid refuge and the additional dispersed properties that were previously funded through emergency covid funding.

c)  Approved an allocation of £290,029 as a grant to Leeds Women’s Aid to develop, manage and fund a new Sanctuary Support Team.

d)  Approved an allocation of up to £50,000 as a grant to St Anne’s Community Services to provide domestic violence support to clients being supported through their accommodation based housing support services.

e)  Approved an allocation of £82,730 to Turning Lives Around to provide domestic violence support to clients living in their commissioned accommodation based service (Beacon). This will be done as a variation to contract DN199026 under the provision of Public Procurement Regulations 2015- Regulation 72 (5) and (6).

f)  Approved an allocation of £207,980 to Gipsil to provide domestic violence support to clients being supported through their young people’s service (Our Way Leeds). This will be done as a variation to contract DN421340 under the provision of Public Procurement Regulations 2015- Regulation 72 (5) and (6).

g)  Approved an allocation of £43,999 to Basis Yorkshire to provide domestic violence support to clients being supported through their Housing First model. This will be done as a variation to contract DN415655 under the provision of Public Procurement Regulations 2015- Regulation 72 (5) and (6).

h)  Approved the allocation of £200,000 to Leeds City Council (Safer Leeds and Leeds Housing Options (LHO) to fund the staff resource required to undertake the administrative burden of the new Statutory Duty and to increase and develop the domestic violence and abuse specialism within the LHO team.

i)  Gave approval to allocate the remaining funding relating to this decision (£385,145) via Significant Operational Decisions or Administrative Decisions as appropriate.

Ongoing consultation will be undertaken via:

•  the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board (DALPB)

•  the Domestic Abuse Voice and Accountability (DAVA) forum

•  conversations with people who have experienced / are experiencing domestic abuse

Members of the DALPB (chaired by the Executive Member for Communities):

Members of the Domestic Abuse Voice and Accountability forum (a wide-ranging group of frontline services who support service users who are experiencing/have experienced  domestic abuse)

People who have lived / are living in safe accommodation who are survivors and victims of domestic abuse.