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<p>On 15 May 2019, Victoria Atkins, together with the Minister for Immigration (Caroline
Noakes), the Minister of State for Equalities (Baroness Williams of Trafford) and
the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice (Edward Argar)
co-hosted a Round Table on migrant women affected by domestic abuse. Representatives
from the sector were invited to discuss the issues facing migrant women affected by
domestic abuse and the opportunities to tackle these issues.</p><p>The Government
recognises that there are victims of domestic abuse who need additional support independently
from that of their spouse / partner. We will continue to engage with domestic abuse
survivors and representatives from the sector as part of our further work on the Bill.</p><p>The
Destitute Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC), enables eligible migrants the option
of claiming welfare benefits. This is to provide immediate crisis support to eligible
migrants who claim to be victims of domestic abuse and are destitute as a result.
To be eligible, applicants must be the spouse, or partner of someone who is British
or permanently settled in the United Kingdom.</p><p>We have also provided Southall
Black Sisters with £250 000, via the Tampon Tax, to pilot a fund to assist those who
have no recourse to public funds and are suffering abuse. The findings from that project
will help guide future policy reviews.</p><p>As part of our consultation on the future
delivery of domestic abuse support in accommodation based services, we propose introducing
a statutory duty, underpinned by statutory guidance which will clearly outline the
expectations Government has for local authorities in delivering the duty. This includes
outlining specific consideration of the support needs of diverse groups of victims.</p><p>We
will work with local authorities to understand whether the new duty will incur additional
costs and to ensure that local authorities are adequately funded to discharge it.
We estimate an early broad annual cost of around £90 million which the Secretary of
State communicated to the House of Commons on the 13 May. However, the full costs
will be informed by the consultation and taken into the Spending Review.</p>
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