London Councils - keep your commitment to funding lifesaving services for women and children

London Councils (LC) is currently consulting on the future of its London Boroughs Grants Scheme, which provides over £3.3 million annually to pan-London frontline services for women and children who have experienced violence. The possibility of cuts to a substantial portion of the grants budget, through ‘repatriation’ to local authorities, is very worrying and has far-reaching consequences for the future of services for Londoners and the legacy of the grants scheme itself.

Pan-London funding for services addressing violence against women and children is essential because such violence is unconstrained by borough boundaries. Joined-up, regional funding provides a strategic approach and consistent service provision

Due to the timescales of the review, LC and the London boroughs have failed to conduct an Equalities Impact Assessment prior to its decision, which is a legal requirement under the Gender, Race and Disability Equality Duties. The designation of services into categories A, B and C (i.e. those best delivered regionally, sub-regionally and locally) does not appear to have been based on an open decision-making process nor any clear logic.

If funding for violence against women services is withdrawn or reduced, women and children who are victims of violence and abuse will find themselves unsupported and caught between seeking safety and the constraints and variability of local funding. Increased pressure will be put on public services, as the specialist services and economies of scale provided through LC funding will be lost.

We, the undersigned:

• Express great concern at the threat to the £26.4 million annual budget for the LC Grants Scheme, of which 12.7% funds essential and lifesaving services addressing violence against women and children

• Are against any reduction to the LC grants budget that will reduce the services available to and have a disproportionate impact on some of the most vulnerable and marginalised women and children, and which threaten the existence of the specialist organisations that meet their needs

• Are against the proposal to ‘repatriate’ the grants budget to local authorities and bring existing funding agreements to a premature end

• Express great concern at the lack of Equalities Impact Assessment and transparent consultation process

• Ask that LC guarantees that all funding will be continued until the end of the original funding agreements and that any changes to the future direction of the grants scheme only take place after full and proper consultation with London’s women’s sector and the wider voluntary and community sector

N.B. If you live in London, please enter your borough of residence under ‘location’. This will enable us to show London-wide support for the petition. If you do not live in London, your support is still appreciated – let us know where you’re from too!