To Government:
- Set up an Emergency Fund to support all women and children subjected to male violence and prevent the risk of death or destitution, including migrant women and women with no recourse to public funds, to be distributed by women’s sector infrastructure organisations in England and Wales. These organisations will be accountable to the Government and ensure full GDPR of all data and financial due diligence.
- Universal Credit, working tax credit and other ‘legacy’ benefits to be immediately increased in line with rising rates of inflation and acknowledgement of the energy driven crisis.
- Introduce a charity energy price cap that is specific to charities and reflects their different status to businesses.
- Ensure all grants are paid to Voluntary and Community Organisations in advance, as organisations do not have the reserves to subsidise this work using their own funds.
To Public Commissioning Bodies:
- Guaranteed 3-5 year contracts with inflationary uplifts.
- Prioritise funding for specialist VAWG services in the community.
- Mid-term contracts need an uplift to reflect higher operational costs and a recruitment crisis in a sector still dealing with the impact of the pandemic, with high levels of staff burnout.
