A WOMEN’S refuge in Carlisle is to close following funding cuts.

Other accommodation for homeless men and young people is also being axed after Cumbria County Council changed the way it funds support for those in need – and cut £500,000 from its budget.

As a result Impact Housing Association, which currently provides the accommodation, did not tender for the new contract – and nobody else came forward.

However, a senior councillor has stressed there is still funding available if a provider wants to take it on.

The women’s refuge, for those who have experienced domestic violence and other problems, is situated in a secret location in Carlisle city centre. It can house about seven women at a time as a temporary stop gap while more permanent solutions are found.

But the facility is destined to close at the end of March.

Impact’s chief executive Mike Muir said they had been gradually phasing out the accommodation so nobody will be left on the streets.

However, it is unclear exactly what will happen to those who need short-term accommodation in future.

Ian Stewart, county cabinet member responsible for public health and community services, said the previous system focused on the properties rather than the people, while support also varied dramatically from town to town – something he hopes will now change.

As a result there were often funded spaces standing empty, meaning the money wasn’t being best used, he said.

“Back in September cabinet agreed to reduce funding allocation to support linked to short term accommodation. We cut the budget from £2.36m to £1.76m a year,” he explained.

“This is a function that is not a statutory duty of Cumbria

County Council. We do it because it’s the right thing but our budgets have gone down so we have taken about half a million out.

“Previously we were funding it on a block booking basis and were finding that in some areas we were paying for services that were not being delivered – there were free spaces inside them.

“We were also finding that there was a facility in one part of the county, but not in another. We wanted to be more equitable.

“When money is tight we’ve got to look at that, so we’ve moved from being property-centred to person-centred.”

He said they put the new system – to provide short-term accommodation in a different way, with a specific payment per person rather than funding an entire building – out to tender, but Impact did not submit a bid. Mr Muir said it didn’t “stack up” financially as it wouldn’t have funded the running of the buildings as they are now.

As a result the women’s refuge is drawing to a close and they are now looking at possible other uses for the property.

He said: “We have known since October we wouldn’t be tendering so people have already moved on or will be ready to. Nobody will be left homeless.”

Impact’s site for single men in Lindisfarne Street, off London Road, is among those affected. Impact is already looking for another use, possibly housing young people with low-level support needs.

Mr Stewart said that they are now working alongside district councils to ensure their is still support for those who need it.