Child Sexual Abuse Charities Face Closure Due to Funding "Stitch up"

By Josh Halliday
The Guardian
July 9, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/09/child-sexual-abuse-charities-face-closure-home-office-funding-stitch-up

The fund was set up as part of the Justice Lowell Goddard (above) inquiry: charities without funding are struggling to cope with an increase in demand for their services. Photograph: Home Office/PA

Child sexual abuse charities have slammed a ?2m Home Office fund, set up as part of Justice Lowell Goddard’s inquiry, labelling it a “stitch-up” that has left dozens of support groups facing closure. The sexual abuse victim support fund was announced by Theresa May to help struggling charities cope with the huge number of victims coming forward to give evidence to Britain’s biggest ever public inquiry, which began on Thursday.

Money from the ?2m fund went to 34 charities with scores missing out and ?170,148 – the second biggest single award – going to the charity Missing People, which has recently launched a helpline for sexual exploitation victims but does not specialise in helping child abuse survivors.

“That was a scandal. I’m furious about it. That was our lifeline and now we’re all in crisis,” said Gillian Finch, founder of the Hampshire-based charity Cisters, which offers counselling to women who have been sexually abused by a member of their family in childhood.

The ?2m fund was managed by Norfolk’s police and crime commissioner’s office as part of a ?4.85m Home Office grant for abuse charities. Out of a total 299 bids, 77 were successful.

There is also anger that large sums were given to a handful of bigger well-established charities. The bosses of smaller charities complained that the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac), for example, was given the largest single award – ?177,441 – despite acting as a “signposting service” directing survivors to the underfunded charities.

“The Home Office has increased funding, and the Norfolk PCC funding should have helped out the specialist agencies providing these services but it didn’t,” said Fay Maxted OBE, chief executive of the Survivors Trust, a national umbrella group that represents 135 specialist abuse support groups across the UK.

She said: “It [funding] wasn’t awarded in the way that was most effective. A lot of agencies were disappointed that specialist agencies didn’t get funding. This has left them at risk. They haven’t had that funding and they’re still trying to cope with a huge increase in the number of people coming forward.

“The Home Office estimates the cost of sexual violence and abuse in billions – around ?20bn. Think what proportion that ?5m amounts to and it’s not a lot.”

A spokeswoman for Napac rejected the claim that it was “merely a signposting service”, saying the organisation also offered direct support to survivors through its confidential telephone helpline, its website and advocacy work.

The charity SupportLine could close within weeks, after missing out on ?32,500 from the sexual abuse fund. Geri Burnikell, the charity’s coordinator, has written to the home secretary and justice minister demanding a review of the fund process, which was overseen by Home Office officials.

“Our service is currently facing closure. We do not have money to pay our bills next month,” she said.

“The whole grants process needs to be looked at. The people who pushed to give Missing People charity money need to explain themselves – it is an absolute disgrace and an insult to every survivor.”

A spokesman for the Norfolk PCC office said smaller organisations fared well in the overall funding distribution.

He said: “All bids to both funds were subject to a robust and thorough assessment against a published set of criteria. Bids were subjected to an initial panel assessment by the Home Office against the published criteria and further scrutinised by a senior oversight board, chaired by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk, which made the final decisions.”

A spokeswoman for Missing People said it had launched a 24/7 telephone line for sexual exploitation victims and that demand for its services was growing significantly.

She said: “There is a very close link between a child repeatedly going missing and them being sexually exploited. At least 23% of the young people we support and safeguard are survivors of sexual abuse and/or continue to be at risk of sexual abuse. Research shows 70% of victims of child sexual exploitation have been missing.”