Written evidence submitted to the Committee highlights the impact that short–term funding settlements can have on locally run services’ ability to provide adequate, specialist support to survivors of VAWG. Women’s Aid told us that single–year finding settlements limit service providers’ ability to recruit and retain specialist staff as they are unable to provide long– term employment security.32 Evidence submitted by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner highlights that short–term funding settlements can lead to service providers recruiting and training staff at very short notice, only to potentially close the service or make staff redundant a year later.33 The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s 2022 mapping of specialist domestic abuse services found that 80% of organisations receive statutory funding as their main source of income, meaning that the majority of organisations are affected by the short–term and insecure nature of funding.34 The Home Office told us that it is expecting the current spending review to be three years’ RDEL and four years’ capital, which moves away from a series of one–year 28 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.5, 2.9 29 C&AG’s Report, para 9 30 Q 28 31 Q 33 32 Q 6 33 VAWG0076 34 VAWG0076 14 spending reviews. Whilst acknowledging that it is a 10–year ambition to halve VAWG, the Home Office told us that it cannot expect a settlement longer than 4–years given the current financial climate.35