Today Parliament has been debating the Domestic Abuse Bill. This is a hugely important piece of legislation which was almost lost in the unlawful suspension of Parliament. It will address some of the egregious gaps in support that exist for people who have experienced domestic abuse. The Bill has cross-party support and I have been working with campaigners on an amendment to improve the Bill to better help people fleeing abuse secure a safe home long-term.
I chair the Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness, and we found almost 2,000 people fleeing domestic abuse were unable to access long-term housing last year due to councils not accepting they were ‘vulnerable’ enough to be prioritised for homes. The #ASafeHome campaign seeks an amendment to guarantee long-term housing prioritisation. I am pleased the campaign won frontbench Labour support today. You can watch clips of my Westminster Hall debate on Domestic Abuse and Homelessness here:
Providing #ASafeHome for survivors of domestic abuse
I led a debate this week on Domestic Abuse and Homelessness. The evidence of the overlap between the two issues is clear, the gap in protection is obvious and I am campaigning for an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill to guarantee more help for people fleeing abuse. The Minister’s response was poor and claimed that existing legislation is enough, when in fact around 2,000 people a year fleeing domestic abuse are currently unable to get the help they need. Along with campaigners and charities I will keep up the pressure and I am hopeful that we will succeed as the legislation progresses! See highlights from my opening and closing speeches and the Minister’s response below, or you can watch the full debate at https://bit.ly/2R8vnsk. You can download our report on the #ASafeHome campaign here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/a-safe-home/.
Posted by Neil Coyle MP on Friday, June 14, 2019