Protective Orders Support Service Grant Early Engagement

Descriptions

The government provides grant funding to support survivors to apply for protective orders, which forms an important part of our ambition to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) within a decade. The Ministry of Justice currently fund this grant stream via an existing provider. Through this early market engagement, we wish to test the appetite and ability of other providers in the market to deliver it. Please note that providing feedback as part of this early engagement exercise does not constitute a formal application for this grant. In addition, this early engagement notice does not guarantee that the competition will go ahead. The MoJ invites interested organisations to complete a short questionnaire for the Protective Orders Support Service grant. This questionnaire will cover some elements of the grant, including potential grant period duration, and seek feedback on potential barriers organisations may have to applying so that these can be factored in to grant design. The MoJ wishes to flag that both individual applications as well as applications through consortia (two or more organisations coming together to apply for this grant) are welcomed. The current provider is FLOWS (Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors), a national service delivered by the RCJ Advice - Citizens Advice and Law Centre (RCJ Advice) in collaboration with Rights of Women. The grant to the current provider is due to end on 31st March 2026. The service will need to provide legal advice and assistance to victims and survivors of domestic abuse to apply for a protective order, primarily in the family court (Non-Molestation Orders, Occupation Orders and the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in areas where available). The legal support offered should be survivor-centered, and aim to empower individuals by giving them a clear understanding of their legal rights and options. The service will need to cover England and Wales, assisting all survivors, whether or not they are eligible for legal aid. In 2023-24, over 26,000 survivors engaged with the current services.