SafeLives’ Statement on the Budget
The Autumn Budget, announced yesterday, sets out how public money will be spent over the coming year and includes priorities for welfare, health, and social services.
No mention of sustainable funding to tackle domestic abuse
We are disappointed that the Budget made no reference to violence against women and girls (VAWG). We are also deeply concerned that it failed to provide the sustainable funding needed to properly protect and support people experiencing domestic abuse.
Without long term investment that reaches every community, the ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade will remain out of reach.
Two child benefit cap is scrapped
SafeLives welcomes the announcement made to end to the two-child limit, and, with it, the dehumanising and cruel ‘rape clause’, which meant a mother had to prove a child was conceived non-consensually to receive a benefit.
However, families across the country need services they can rely on, and professionals need the resources to respond quickly and safely. Children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right, yet there is currently no duty for support services to be commissioned or funded specifically for them. We are calling for this to change, so that both adult and child victims have access to the support they need.
Survivors tell us what works. Their voices and expertise must be central to decisions about funding and future plans. We will continue to work alongside specialist services and government to push for a response that supports every adult and child living with abuse.
Energy bill relief
We welcome the government’s decision to provide energy bill relief for industry, but we would have liked to see this kind of support extended to services that are essential to protecting victims and survivors.
Domestic abuse refuges are facing soaring energy costs and already operate with insecure funding, so offering them the same level of relief would have provided a lifeline for frontline services and for women and children who rely on them.
Salary Sacrifice
Charities will also be negatively impacted by the change making salary sacrifice pension schemes less generous, capping the amount that is exempt from Employer and Employee NICs at £2k annually. The previous NIC employer contribution changes have already resulted in significant additional costs for charities. Although the new measures won’t come into place until 2029, this is another burden for the voluntary sector which is already under considerable financial pressure and dealing with insecure funding and short-term commissioning cycles.
A crucial opportunity to act
As the Government prepares to publish the VAWG Strategy, this is a crucial opportunity to act. It is essential that the VAWG Strategy delivers meaningful, measurable progress. We want to see:
- Sustainable, multi-year funding for specialist and community-based victim-survivor services
- A joined-up, cross-departmental approach with clear accountability across health, education, justice, and beyond for a whole system response which addresses the risks and needs of all adult and child victims.
- Victim-survivor voices embedded at every level, with co-creation of policy and services.
- Data-driven decision-making, with comprehensive measures covering all forms of VAWG and all types of domestic abuse.
- A review of the impact of the NIC contribution changes on charities in the VAWG sector, given our role in furthering efforts to halve VAWG within the decade.
Halving violence against women and girls in a decade requires long-term investment, national coordination, and the involvement of all government departments, alongside strong engagement with survivors and specialist services.