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TLC’s response to the 2025 Autumn Budget

No announcement of funding to reduce violence against women and girls.

The Autumn Budget contained some welcome measures but no mention of funding to tackle abuse.

Concrete funding measures to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) must follow soon.

There were some positive measures announced in yesterday’s (26 November) Autumn Budget that will make a difference for the people we support.

We’re pleased to hear that the government will invest £18 million in revamping 200 playgrounds across England. Third spaces have been in decline for over a decade in spite of the fact that they provide a vital developmental opportunity for children and young people. Play within a third space improves mental and emotional health, and reinvigorating playgrounds will give young people an opportunity to grow, learn, and explore beyond home and school.

The Chancellor also announced that from April 2026, the current two-child benefit cap will be scrapped. It’s a bold move that will lift 350,000 children out of poverty and have a significant positive impact on many of the young people we support.

It also means mothers who’ve had children as a result of rape no longer need to recount traumatic experiences just to receive benefits. Currently, a ‘rape clause’ in tax credit law means women must prove their child was conceived without consent to receive additional benefits, which can be incredibly distressing for victim-survivors.

It’s concerning, however, that the budget announcement did not contain anything about reducing gender-based violence. This is despite its delivery during the UN 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and in light of the government’s 2024 manifesto pledge to halve VAWG in a decade.

With the national VAWG strategy severely delayed, too, it raises concerns that this important topic has slipped off the government’s radar. More and more people are slowly sliding into poverty which exacerbates the risk of facing violence for women.

We’re calling on the government to publish a national VAWG strategy with full funding details, allocating long-term funding for early intervention initiatives and perpetrator programmes for adults and young people.

With the potential risk of VAWG on the rise, it’s imperative we cut it off as or before it starts. Our programmes have proven to reduce violence and abuse but we must have adequate funding to ensure they’re open to all who need to change their behaviour.

"Living standards in the UK are projected to fall across the board in 2030, which means more people sliding into poverty, and more women and girls at risk of abuse. It's vital that both perpetrator and victim services receive the funding they need to protect women and girls from violence. Only then will the government come close to meeting its goal of halving VAWG."
Michelle Hill, TLC Group CEO

Where to next?