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One of Britain's top domestic violence charities sounded the alarm tonight over a shake-up to women's refuge funding.

Women's Aid warned the change will put the lives of women and their children at risk in a "postcode lottery" of cuts.

Tory ministers want to end the current system of grants for shelters, which are used by desperate women who flee their violent partners.

Instead, shelter funding will be handed out by local councils through a grant.

The change stops refuges suffering problems with new benefit Universal Credit, and was welcomed cautiously by town hall chiefs.

But a prominent critic tonight said the change creates a whole new world of uncertainty.

Despite promising the grant will be "ring-fenced", ministers haven't yet said exactly how much cash will be available, or how it will be distributed.

Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, claimed the loss of a national focus will "dismantle our national network", putting lives at risk.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

"This is a matter of life or death," she said.

"Without a safe space to escape to, more women and children’s lives will be lost to domestic abuse."

She said more than a tenth of domestic abuse services currently operate without any council funding. And on one day alone, 94 women and 90 children were turned away from a refuge, she said.

She added: "By devolving this funding to local authorities, the government will remove a woman’s individual entitlement to support with her housing costs when she flees domestic abuse to a refuge - and refuges’ last secure form of funding.

"This will compound the devastating impact of localism on specialist services, forcing refuges who are currently operating on short-term, shoestring budgets to close and leave more women and children trying to escape abuse with nowhere to turn."

The move is part of a wider consultation on 'supported housing' which Theresa May announced last week in a U-turn.

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The Prime Minister revealed she would no longer try to cap housing benefit on supported homes at the same rate as for private ones.

Today more detail of the consultation was released.

It revealed short-term supported housing - including hostels, women's refuges and safe houses - will be taken out of the welfare system and controlled with local grants instead.

Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey said some of the measures were welcome, "but there are still big unanswered questions".

He said there were already £500million in cuts to supported housing planned for April 2020 - and ministers must "come clean" on how much will still be pushed through.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

The Local Government Association said it was "a hugely positive first step" that funds would be ring-fenced but it was waiting for the detail.

Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive Terrie Alafat also welcomed many of the proposals, but warned they "fall quite a way short of what is needed to properly support other vital forms of specialist housing that provide immediate and short-term support to people who have been victims of homelessness or domestic abuse, for example."

She added: "It is imperative that people who need this type of housing are not disadvantaged and we will be making the case for this."

The government's consultation document defends the decision not to nationalise funding for women's refuges.

It says: "The Government was clear in its Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy that refuges provide a vital service.

"We appreciate the need for certainty and we strongly believe that a local approach will ensure the best outcomes for vulnerable renters in crisis and emergency supported housing.

"Local authorities are best placed to understand and meet local needs, and to take a holistic view on both housing and support provision. The Government has already committed (in the 2016/20 Violence Against Woman and Girls Strategy) to review the current approach to refuge provision in England by November 2018.

"We will need to pay particular attention to the funding of care and support costs as we do this, and will continue to work closely with this sector to make good our commitment."

The consultations close on January 23.