by Lamiat Sabin
Parliamentary reporter

CHARITIES are calling on peers to make councils legally obliged to provide counselling for children affected by domestic abuse during coronavirus lockdowns.

Phone calls made by adults worried about children’s welfare to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC) helpline have risen 50 per cent during the pandemic, the charity has said.

It comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the government is a “long, long, long way” from being able to lift lockdown restrictions in England.

NSPCC warned the situation for children is likely to get worse as lockdown continues, and is calling on peers to make extra provisions for child victims in its Domestic Abuse Bill being returned to the House of Lords today to start its committee stage.

When the Bill becomes law, councils will have to ensure that those who become homeless as a result of domestic abuse are prioritised for emergency housing.

The NSPCC is calling for the Lords to include an amendment that would legally oblige local authorities to also fund community-based recovery services, such as talk therapy, for affected children.

In a call to the charity, a man said that he heard a couple shouting at one another for several hours a day, often while their children were crying in the background.

He told the NSPCC: “I’ve only really noticed this since I’ve been at home on furlough. I’m worried the kids aren’t being looked after properly.”

Children’s charity Barnardo’s also warned that without a legal provision for community-based services, the Bill risked creating a “two-tier system” with families in refuge having access to specialist services, but the majority of those who remain in the family home falling through the cracks.

People who experience domestic abuse in childhood can experience difficulty learning, depression, eating disorders and addiction as they go through adolescence into adulthood.