Statement on the Budget October 2024
Chancellor Rachel Reeves didn’t explicitly mention funding related to the VAWG sector in her Autumn Budget 2024.
She did announce £1.3bn for additional grant funding for local government, including £600m for social care.
The government announced that integrated settlements will be implemented for Greater Manchester Combined Authority and West Midlands Combined Authority at the start of the 2025-26 financial year.
We welcome the government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls as well as the promise of a cross-departmental approach and funding to local government.
We will wait to see what it means for our sector – but we know long-term planning for charities is difficult when there is uncertainty, and we need to know the detail.
A 2023 Women’s Aid report ‘Investing to Save’ shows “for every pound invested in domestic abuse support services, we will see a saving to the public purse of at least £9.” These costs are typically borne by the NHS, police resources, temporary accommodation, refuge.
In addition to this, we are also an employer.
As the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) said, “The 6.7% rise in the national living wage and the increase in employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) to 15%, both effective from 1 April 2025, will bring significant financial pressures for charities. Additionally, the NIC threshold has dropped from £9,100 to £5,000.”
The NCVO has written to the Chancellor and asked her to consider reimbursing charities for National Insurance contributions, in line with public sector organisations.
