Issue details

Brief Description

Under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, the Secretary of State for Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has awarded a total grant of £3,812,144 to Leeds City Council. The grant period is 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2025 and is split as follows:

1^st April 2023 – 31^st March 2024: £1,888,259

1^st April 2024 – 31^st March 2025: £1,923,885

The grant covers revenue expenditure relating to the functions set out in the 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 work associated with servicing the multi-agency Local Partnership Board (LPB) to support the Council in performing certain specified functions. 

Approval is being sought to:

·  accept the grant allocation from DLUHC

·  award funding to a number of organisations to enhance the support to victim-survivors of domestic abuse

·  allocate an element of the grant to the Council in order to fund the administrative burden associated with the new Statutory Duty

Impact On Wards

All wards

Financial and procurement implications

This is a key decision as expenditure is over £500,000. The funding will be received as a grant from DLUHC and will be distributed as either variations to existing contracts or grants.

Partnership working

All decisions relating to the allocation of this funding will be made in consultation with the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board – a multi-agency group which was established as part of the requirements of the Statutory Duty.

The Domestic Abuse Voice and Accountability (DAVA) forum will also be consulted on funding allocations. The DAVA is made up of a wide range of organisations from the third sector.