Campaigners have handed in a petition containing 30,000 signatures in support of the Brighton domestic violence and abuse charity RISE which lost two key contracts.
But the woman who started the petition was threatened by Brighton and Hove City Council as she weighed up whether to take legal action.
Nicola Benge said that the council “threatened to pursue me for costs” despite a series of concerns and questions from councillors about the contract process.
But “as a single mum recovering from domestic abuse”, she felt unable to take the financial risk which could have meant losing her home.
She and fellow campaigners handed in their record-breaking petition to Brighton and Hove City Council outside Brighton Town Hall yesterday (Wednesday 17 March).
They also met the council’s chief executive Geoff Raw to put forward a series of proposals to support RISE.
The campaigners said: “This follows the shocking news that contracts for key domestic abuse provision have been awarded to two separate national organisations without specialist focus.
“Amid serious concerns, domestic abuse survivors and fellow campaigners at the meeting asked for a commitment that they would be involved in monitoring and overseeing the new contracts.
“A further request was that RISE is supported financially and treated as a full partner in the city’s domestic abuse strategy while it continues to deliver aspects of this essential work.
The petition was started by Nicola Benge who said: “When I heard RISE had lost funding from this council I was devastated. I am shaken by this decision and confused about why it should have happened.
“RISE has run a vital, specialist, trauma-focused service for so many for so long. I spoke to others in my position to look at how we could help.
“There are so many other concerned survivors. We felt we had to act – our support services are being dismantled.
“We have had to fight so hard to be heard. The break up of these services leaves us seriously worried about safeguarding and survivor needs aren’t being taken into account.
“Our focus now is on securing proper scrutiny in place for these council contracts going forward. Lack of oversight or care has been the problem. We must be part of the solution.”
Services are to be split between three providers, with RISE still providing some services but missing out on two contracts worth about £5 million over seven years from April.
The campaigners said that the decision to split domestic abuse provision among three providers had caused waves of protest locally.
It had also made national media headlines against a backdrop of cuts to the “violence against women and girls” sector, they said, condemning “this short-sighted decision”.
Ms Benge added: “Our goal was to overturn the decision-making. A litany of errors in the procurement process going back to 2018 saw me starting the process of taking the council to a judicial review.
“I was prepared for tight deadlines and my legal team were supportive but, without access to key documentation, we couldn’t proceed further.
“Brighton council also threatened to pursue me for costs and, as a single mum recovering from domestic abuse, I couldn’t risk my child’s home and security.”
The public outcry has had one positive outcome, the campaigners said, with councillors pledging a thorough investigation of the procurement process.
Campaigners called on the council to build on this by committing to
- a fully transparent investigation, with key documents made available to the public
- urgent action to help RISE find new premises where survivors can meet workers in privacy
- priority for locally provided specialist services for women when additional funding from the government is allocated later this year
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The RiseUp! Campaign team was also due to present its petition to a virtual meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources Committee this afternoon (Thursday 18 March).
Campaigner Ali Ceesay said: “We appreciate that the councillors of our city take their duties seriously and we thank those who have been so helpful in trying to correct this obvious wrong.
“We know that our requests are practical, reasonable and achievable and look forward to working with the council to implement real change.”
