Tag: #Parliament

#NoChildLeftBehind – Email Your MP

Incredible as it may sound, 4,165 children in West Dorset are trapped in poverty. That equates to 28%. That also doesn’t include the figures for 2021. No Child Left Behind have launched their campaign and to date, at the time of publishing, our local representative in Parliament, Conservative MP for Dorset, Chris Loder has NOT yet taken the following pledge:

As a member of Parliament, I pledge to do everything in my power so that no child is left behind in West Dorset:

  • I call for the development of a cross-Government strategy to eradicate the poverty faced by the 4.3 million children currently growing up trapped in poverty.
  • I will use my vote and voice in Parliament to try to stop an expected 730,000 more children being plunged into poverty by 2024.

We must value and invest in all our children, so they are supported to learn, succeed, and go on to have bright futures.

 What to write?  An example email is provided HERE at the No Child Left Behind website.

The No Child Left Behind campaign is fighting to break down the barriers poverty puts up around equal access to education.

Please visit nochildleftbehind.org.uk for further information.

#Broadwindsor,#Burstock,#Blackdown,#Drimpton,#Hursey,#Kittwhistle,#Seaborough,#Dorset,#Village,#WestDorset,#NoChildLeftBehind,#ChildPoverty,#ChrisLoderMP,#Parliament,#2022,#BeKind,#BeSafe,#WearYourMask,#StaySafe

Refuge Against Domestic Violence

Since COVID-19 began, it has been widely broadcast that there has been a significant rise in cases of domestic abuse. The Domestic Abuse Bill had it’s second reading in the House of Lords yesterday afternoon seeking to raise awareness of domestic abuse, including by legislating for the first time for a statutory definition of domestic abuse. The Bill aims to protect and support victims by introducing a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order (DAPO).*

For those in need, Refuge.org.uk operates a Free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247.
There is also a live chat service Mon – Fri 3pm – 10pm via NationalDAHelpline.org.uk.

Refuge are running a campaign to deliver Refuge parcels: bundles that women and children urgently need when escaping domestic violence.  The parcels range from £10 (Calls to the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline have increased since lockdown measures were introduced. Their support is needed more than ever by women affected by domestic abuse. This parcel could enable them to continue providing life-saving support through their Helpline) through various increments to £500 (Their refuges provide emergency temporary accommodation for women and children fleeing abuse. They give women time and space to make decisions about their futures and their specialist refuge staff are on hand to provide one-to-one emotional and practical support. This parcel could keep one of their 48 refuges running for a day.)

Click HERE to choose your parcel and donate.

* The Bill’s Key Messages are:

  • The Domestic Abuse Bill introduces important measures which will help to raise awareness of domestic abuse and will go some way to providing additional support to domestic abuse victims, whilst also helping to challenge perpetrator’s behaviour. It is a positive step in the right direction.
  • We support the creation of a statutory definition of domestic abuse, and the inclusion of economic abuse within this. We are also pleased to see that the Bill will place the role of Domestic Abuse Commissioner on a statutory footing.
  • Alongside the Bill’s focus on crisis interventions and criminal justice, tackling domestic abuse requires a cross-government response incorporating health, housing and education. We need an equal focus on, and funding for, prevention and early intervention measures that aims to prevent domestic abuse happening in the first place.
  • In addition to the measures in the Bill, the Government should provide long-term and sustained investment in early intervention and prevention programmes and wider community-based support. This should include investment in perpetrator programmes, which is why we are calling on the Government to introduce a National Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Strategy. We are also calling for the key learning and best practice from Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) to be shared on a national level.
  • This legislation comes at a time when, even prior to the eventual long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, local government’s services, particularly children’s services, were already facing unprecedented demand.
  • The Spending Review announcement of £125 million funding to help enable local authorities to deliver the proposed new duty to support domestic abuse victims and their children in safe accommodation is welcome. We now need further detail on this funding as it is not yet clear how the figure has been calculated and whether it will meet the full costs of the new proposed duty.
  • The new funding needs to fully account for any increases in demand for services, and any additional burdens identified by local needs assessments when the duty comes into force in April 2021. Children have been added into the statutory definition of domestic abuse, so it will be important to assess whether additional provision is required and therefore whether councils need additional funding to meet the new proposed duty.
  • One-off, short term grants do not allow for long-term planning or consistency in service, which is why long-term and sustained investment is needed. Transitional funding is also required to provide support for current domestic abuse services due to close at the end of the next financial year, April 1 2021.

To read yesterday’s full parliamentary debate, moved by Baroness Williams of Trafford, click HERE.

Scroll#Broadwindsor,#Burstock,#Blackdown,#Hursey,#Kittwhistle,#Seaborough,#Drimpton,#Dorset,#DomesticAbuse,#Refuge,#RefugeParcel,#Parliament,#NationalDAHelpline,#BeKind,#BeSafe,#StaySafe