Today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented her Autumn Budget. The Autumn Budget sets out the Government’s taxation and spending plans.

In response to the Autumn Budget, Sam Smethers, Interim CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, said:

“Today the Chancellor promised in her Autumn Budget to restore the nation’s economic stability, but she failed to outline how she will invest to stop economic abuse and help victim-survivors rebuild their lives.

“Domestic abuse costs society around £78 billion a year. Yet for every pound invested in domestic abuse support services, there’s a saving to the public purse of £9. Failing to close down opportunities for abusers and help victim-survivors escape is not only expensive and resource-intensive, but it costs lives. We know from victim-survivors that the impact of economic abuse makes it harder for them to flee a dangerous abuser and when they do leave, they can find it impossible to get by.

“To achieve its ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, the government must invest in both frontline services and prevention, and it must put tackling economic abuse at the heart of its strategy and work with specialists like Surviving Economic Abuse to drive systemic change to save lives.”

ENDS