To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps she plans to take to increase resources to regions where women who have undergone domestic violence are significantly underserved according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s survey Mapping the Gaps. (226140)

The responsibility for decisions about local level funding priorities, including the provision of specialist support to women who have been affected by domestic violence, rests with local authorities.

The Supporting People programme provides the main source of public funding for housing-related support. This programme is delivered at a local level and decisions on how much money is spent on services for those affected by domestic violence are made by the top tier local authorities, based on a local needs assessment. The 2008-09 allocations for Supporting People amount to £1.686 billion. The top tier authorities spent £59,333,258 on services for those affected by domestic violence in 2005-06, and £61,645,319 in 2006-07.

The Government Equalities Office will continue to work in partnership with the Women’s National Commission, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and other Government Departments to keep a close watch on how local areas prioritise funding for domestic violence services.