12th April 2011

CUTS WATCH – THE STORY SO FAR, RESOURCES & NEW SURVEY

WWA has been monitoring the impact of expected cuts to Women's Aid member groups throughout Wales.

Responses to our online survey show that:

• Most groups that responded just don't know about their funding from April on (with particular uncertainty around refuge provision)
• In terms of funding reductions or cuts, results so far indicate that prevention work and work with children are the hardest hit 
• When asked about likely impact of cuts, the most popular answers so far have been that fewer clients will be able to access their service; there will be longer waiting lists; and redundancies are likely
• Given the cuts to other services that our groups work with, the impact is even more concerning; groups particularly listed Citizens Advice Bureaux and Legal Aid solicitors as services which are being cut and which will have a detrimental impact on women and children affected by DA

In response to this, and to member groups' requests, WWA has been lobbying nationally on behalf of our member groups and urging further action on the protection of frontline services. We will also be working with other organisations that are monitoring the cuts to raise awareness of the impact upon our member groups’ services, and the implications for women and children affected by domestic abuse.

Cuts Watch Pack

WWA is also in the process of finalising a comprehensive Cuts Watch Pack for our member groups to use. The pack will include information on the following:
• How to prove the worth of your service (including savings that your service makes to the state, savings per victim, un-costed benefits and national research to prove cost effectiveness)
• How to lobby your representatives (MPs, AMs and Councillors – including information around the Welsh elections, enlisting supporters’ help and using the media)
• How to challenge funding decisions (including information on how you can use public law, the Gender Equality Duty and the new public sector equality duties to challenge unfair decisions)
• A resources section (including template letters, press releases and useful links)
Look out for your pack – we will be sending it to all groups in the next couple of weeks. Please contact Hannah Austinfor further information

Cuts Watch survey - *NEW* for the financial year 2011/12

The main outcome of our original survey was that even as late as the last week in March, most groups simply did not know about their funding situation from April onwards.

Now that the new financial year is upon us and member groups should have more certainty, WWA has devised a new, shorter survey, to monitor cuts that HAVE taken place, rather than projected cuts. This will assist us in national campaigning and building an all-Wales picture of how the cuts are affecting our member groups. The deadline for responses is 31st May 2011.

The survey should take about 10 minutes to fill in.
Deadline for responses is 31st May 2011.

You can take the survey online by clicking the link.