Concern at possible cut to safe spaces

CHESHIRE East has been asked to provide evidence of a fall in domestic abuse amid concerns it could reduce the number of safe accommodation places for victims by a quarter.

- BY BELINDA RYAN Local Democracy Service Reporter

A report on a planned review of the provision of safe accommodation sparked concern among some members of the children and families committee.

At present the council commissions accommodation units from the charity My CWA (Cheshire Without Abuse).

Cllr Jos Saunders (Poynton, Con) said at a meeting of the committee: “It [the report] states that you're asking for 16 units for accommodation.

“But, at the moment, My CWA are providing us with 21 units because they have other sources of funding. So, in a sense, we're getting 25 per cent more than what we're commissioning and we're getting it for free.

“In the data, I couldn’t see anywhere that domestic abuse had fallen by 25 per cent