Scotland’s Deputy First Minister has pledged that no woman looking to flee an abusive relationship will be turned away when seeking financial support, as she announced the cap on a fund providing them with cash is being lifted.
Jenny Gilruth said: “Any woman who needs financial support to leave an abusive man will receive it from the Scottish Government.”
Holyrood ministers had previously promised £2 million in 2026-27 for the Fund to Leave, which provides women with grants to help them escape abusive partners.
Administered by Scottish Women’s Aid, the scheme provides help with the costs incurred when leaving a relationship, such as rent bills for a new property, transport costs or food and clothing for their families.
Ms Gilruth said it had had a “huge impact” but added that the cap meant there was “unmet need”.
Speaking at the SNP conference in Aberdeen she said: “Today I can announce that the SNP Government will be making the Fund to Leave demand-led.
“No woman will be turned away from support.”
The announcement comes after First Minister John Swinney pledged action to tackle the “epidemic” of male violence against women and girls.
As well as lifting the cap on the Fund to Leave, Ms Gilruth revealed the Scottish Government was acting to remove the joint liability for council tax debt for those in abusive relationships.
She told delegates at the party conference: “In cases of domestic abuse we will create a statutory exemption to joint liability for council tax debt.”
Adding that debts can make victims of domestic abuse “think twice about leaving”, Ms Gulruth said: “No more will we allow a debt to the state to tie women to men who abuse them.”
The Deputy First Minister, who is married to former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, spoke out about the “fear” she has experienced as part of the LGBT community.
The Deputy First Minister with her wife, former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale. (Andrew Milligan/PA)
She said there were “growing forces on the far right who don’t like seeing women in positions of power”, adding that “they particularly do not like seeing women like me in power”.
She said being an “openly, proudly, happily married gay woman” in the Scottish Government “seems to enrage some on the right”.
Ms Gilruth said: “I know that some in our LGBT community are feeling scared in Scotland at the moment. I have felt that fear myself.”
She pledged the Scottish Government would “stand up for equality”, saying it would “take on” those who want to “drag us back to the past”.
Ms Gilruth said this response was necessary “because an attack on one minority is an attack on us all”.
She also promised additional investment in a scheme which helps refugee doctors living in Scotland return to practising medicine in the NHS.
Just over £190,000 will be made available for the Refugee Doctors Programme this year, almost doubling the money available.