Purpose

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 placed a new statutory duty on local authorities to ensure that victims and survivors of domestic abuse and their children can access the right support, within refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation, when they need it.
Since November 2023, Newcastle City Council has commissioned and procured services from the provider ‘Changing Lives’ to deliver the Newcastle Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (NIDAS). The provision of these services supports the Council to meet our domestic abuse statutory duty by keeping people safe in our purpose built refuge and safe living in their own homes in the community with dedicated support and through recognising children as victims in their own right. In the government’s new VAWG Strategy (2025), they have emphasised the importance of early intervention with children to protect them from future violence and of changing the attitudes and beliefs that lead to VAWG. The commissioning arrangements for the ‘NIDAS’ service were put in place following an open tender exercise and are in place until November 2027.
The ‘NIDAS’ service provides a coordinated, whole-system response to domestic abuse as the city’s core offer. The service is designed to deliver integrated support across adults, children and families, recognising children as victims in their own right. The intention of this integrated model was to enable
the identification of gaps in provision and emerging need across the system; this has highlighted increasing demand for dedicated support for children and young people, which current capacity is insufficient to meet.
We are requesting approval to Directly Award contracts to the providers ‘Action for Children’ and ‘Children North East’.

Decision

The delegated officer, Director of Housing and Communities is recommended to:

• Authorise the Direct Awarding of contracts, to the providers ‘Action for Children’ and ‘Children North East’;

• Authorise the Assistant Director for Law and Governance, to complete the necessary documentation.