70 per cent of women’s domestic violence refuges to shut ‘thanks to benefit cap’
More are now at risk because the Department of Works and Pensions refuses to make residents exempt from the proposed cap
NEARLY 70 per cent of domestic violence refuges could close under Government plans to cap housing benefit.
The threat comes despite The Sun winning a pledge from then-Chancellor George Osborne to give £33million to the vital centres.
Two women a week are killed by their partners or an ex. We launched our Give Me Shelter campaign after council cost-cutting led to almost a fifth of refuges in England and Wales closing since 2010.
More are now at risk because the Department of Works and Pensions refuses to make refuge residents exempt from the proposed cap.
Housing benefit covers a large part of a refuge’s rental costs and service charges — up to 90 per cent for some.
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Under a cap, a refuge’s income would be reduced from around £300 per room per week to £60.
The move would put 67 per cent of refuges in England and 69 per cent in Wales at risk of immediate closure.
The rest would struggle to help vulnerable women and their children.
Alice Stride, from Women’s Aid, said: “The Sun was hugely successful on shining a light on a terrible situation. Now refuges will have to close and others operate at a much lower level.”
The cost of keeping refuges open is tiny compared with the £1.4million cost to the country of each domestic murder.
Actress Julie Walters, a Women’s Aid patron, said: “The Government must exempt refuges or live with the consequences of more women being killed.”