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26
Feb 2023
County council pledges to fund extra help for rising tide of domestic abuse victims
North Yorkshire County Council has pledged to fund whatever is needed to help survivors of domestic abuse after it had “failed to spend” almost half a million pounds of government funding.
Opposition councillors called on the Conservative-run council to include the £450,000 of funding in its budget for the coming financial year, saying the cost of living crisis had led to a sharp rise in misogyny in the county and that domestic abuse could not “be put under the table”.
Nevertheless, after a lengthy debate, councillors voted against including the funding for domestic abuse in its budget for the coming year and approved a 4.99% rise in council tax.
The decision will mean average band D residents in North Yorkshire will pay between £2,090 and £2,158 in council tax for the coming year, and more if their parish authority levies a charge.
Labour councillor for Falsgrave and Stepney Liz Colling told a full council meeting that domestic abuse incidents reported to North Yorkshire Police in the county had risen from 7,825 to 8,652 in 2021.
Underlining its widespread impact on communities, she added 25% of domestic abuse victims were male.
Cllr Colling said:
Other opposition members called for the money to be secured for a long-term domestic abuse strategy and point out how a domestic abuse refuge in Scarborough had been put on hold due to a rise in building costs.
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However, executive member for stronger communities, Cllr David Chance, replied £750,000 had been set aside for such services in the coming year, alongside a £100,000 contigency, as those were the sums officers believed would be needed.
Referring to the £450,0000, he said:
The meeting heard several leading Tory councillors underline that helping domestic abuse victims was a priority and that they were awaiting the results of a review into safe accommodation and domestic abuse services that had been commissioned jointly with City of York Council.
The authority’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said the authority was set to receive £1.3m from government next year, and by removing the £450,000 from its spending plans it would help the council to maintain services to vulnerable people, including those for domestic abuse survivors.
He said one of the reasons the funding had not been spent was because the government had stipulated it must not be used for building-type projects.
Cllr Dadd said:
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