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<p>The Department does not hold centrally the availability of refuges for victims
of domestic violence in St Helens borough and the North West.</p><p>We are currently
consulting on the Future Delivery of Support to Victims and their Children in Accommodation-Based
Domestic Abuse Services closing on 2 August. The proposals for a statutory duty will
require local authorities to convene a Local Partnership Board. Local Partnership
Boards will be responsible for robustly assessing need for support for victims and
their children in safe accommodation, developing, agreeing and publishing an area-wide
Domestic Abuse Strategy, ensuring local commissioning of support services is in line
with this to meet the diverse support needs of victims and their children and report
to central Government on progress.</p><p>It is our intention that the proposals for
a statutory duty, subject to the outcome of the public consultation, will form part
of the Domestic Abuse Bill at a later stage.</p>
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