The Impact of New Funding Policy (Commissioning and Procurement) on Women's Refuges in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the new funding policy (commissioning and procurement) on women’s refuges in the United Kingdom. I assess the degree to which the new funding policy meets the needs of women’s refuges. I also examine the degree of change within organisations to enable them to compete in open markets to procure their services. I discuss the complex dynamic within organisations around the feminist rights-based social justice approach to emergency provision for women subjected to violence, and the changing nature of provision under new funding policy through the neoliberal remodelling of these services as efficient corporate entities producing cost savings. The focus of the study is on the ‘by and for’ sector (BAF) that supports the needs of Black and minoritised women who navigate additional systemic and structural barriers to receive the support they need. While this sector is seldom the focus of empirical research on the impact of neoliberal policy, they are at the forefront of funding cuts to specialist services as they are defined as inefficient under new funding policy. The study traces the historical and political development of BAF refuges reviewing how such spaces were funded prior to government austerity and changes to the funding regime following the introduction of neoliberal policies that brought these rights-based services into the public procurement regime. The study was conducted using qualitative interviews with two groups of participants - directors and chief executives of frontline BAF organisations who interacted with the new funding policy to secure their provision and commissioners responsible for resourcing these services. The interviews were done during two significant events that shaped the future provision of these services first, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and Part 4 Statutory Duty on Accommodation-Based Services was introduced. The duty was designed to ensure adequate provision of women’s refuges in local areas. Second, the global health pandemic followed by the cost of living crisis created temporary financial safeguards by suspending the new funding policy in favour of more expedient resource redistributive systems to meet emerging need especially for women trapped in violent homes during the lockdown. The study traces a twenty-year period from the introduction of the new funding policy to its suspension during a national emergency. Within this period, the rights and protections of women subjected to VAWG are assessed. The study concludes with a single recommendation for an alternative system protecting rights-based provision from open market competition under a neoliberal approach governing the allocation of public resources. The study argues for human rights protection of vital resource allocation systems against the neoliberal tendency.

Date of Award	8 Oct 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Megan Robb (Supervisor), Beth Jaynes (Supervisor) & Rachel Forrester-Jones (Supervisor)