442 - Provision of Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation

The introduction of the Domestic Abuse bill in 2021 brought with it new duties upon local authorities, mainly in relation to the delivery of safe accommodation provision for victims of domestic abuse and their children.

The Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation service seeks to deliver flexibility in our accommodation offer, to ensure that we go further in meeting the needs of people fleeing domestic abuse. We want to increase the numbers of units we have available for individuals and ensure we have different types of accommodation to suit people’s varying needs.

The specific areas of domestic abuse accommodation have been divided into the following Lots:

Lot 1 – Domestic Abuse Refuge Accommodation.

The Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Refuge Service will deliver safe accommodation to people who are fleeing current or recent domestic abuse.

Wigan Council are seeking at least 15 units of self-contained accommodation of which, a number should be capable of accommodating families. The accommodation should be accessible 24/7 and should have the ability to flex quickly to meet varying needs and family sizes, thus not preventing any barriers to rapid accessibility.

Communal areas should also exist within the service and should be designed in consultation with people who will be using them. They should be fully accessible to people accommodated on site without restrictions, and should offer a variety of uses, including group sessions, opportunities for quiet reflection, and peer to peer support.

Lot 2 – Domestic Abuse Additional Safe Accommodation.

The Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation service seeks to deliver flexibility in our accommodation offer to ensure that we go further in meeting the needs of people fleeing domestic abuse. We not only want to increase the numbers of units we have available for individuals but wish to ensure we have different types of accommodation to suit people’s varying needs.

Wigan Council are therefore seeking a minimum of 16 units of additional accommodation, a significant element of which should be dispersed accommodation, with aligned specialist support. At least 10 units should be suitable for families, and should not be restrictive to age, gender or any other common factors associated with traditional domestic abuse accommodation models.

The delivery of this offer should be closely aligned to our refuge provision and should integrate into the borough wide Domestic Abuse Service. A significant portion of the stock needs to be non-shared, offering individuals exclusive use of their own unit of accommodation, with their own front door and exclusive facilities.

The accommodation should be accessible 24/7 and should have the ability to flex quickly to meet varying needs and family sizes, thus not preventing any barriers to rapid accessibility.

Support should be aligned to each unit of accommodation and should focus on the needs of the individuals accommodated at that time.