Two domestic abuse charities are launching High Court action over what they describe as unfair procurement practices by Lancashire County Council which could result in their closures.

Preston Domestic Violence Services and Empowerment (formerly known as Lancaster and District Women’s Aid) are taking the council to the High Court in an attempt to challenge its decision to allocate all the funding for domestic abuse work to organisations from outside their areas.

Chief executive of Empowerment, Ellen Miller, said: “We are devastated by the county council’s decision to cut our funding and bring in someone else. We don’t think the process has been at all fair. We’ve been working on short term contracts for the last couple of years and now they’ve tried to rush through a botched process, with terrible consequences for us”

Miller told Civil Society News that the council told them that they were not allowed to challenge the decision as it is under no obligation to let a 'Part B procurement organisation' do so.

She said that it is not just a matter of losing the bid, which was worth over £1m, but that she feels the council did not handle the process correctly.

Miller said: “For example, they changed the rules on what you could apply for after the closing date, and they’ve marked us down because we’ve put in a mix of staff – which is exactly what their specification said we should have!”

Valerie Wise, chief executive of Preston Domestic Violence Services, said that the council’s unfair practices have left them with no choice but to go through the High Court.

She said: “First of all they wouldn’t let us put in a challenge and it took them over a week to give us feedback. The feedback was minimal and showed the process was patently unfair. The reasons they have given do not make sense, do not relate to the specification or to our bid.  

“We feel we have no alternative but to challenge them in the High Court. Lancashire County Council have told us they will take things all the way through the courts – for small charities like us this feels like a bit of David and Goliath. But we risk losing everything here, and we feel too strongly about this to just give up and walk away”

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: “We are committed to providing high-quality domestic abuse services to people of all ages across Lancashire. To that end there was extensive collaboration with stakeholders, including PDVS, before inviting tenders for the service.

“Now that legal proceedings have been issued against the council, it is a matter for the High Court to adjudicate on the merits of the complaints made by PDVS. It would not therefore be appropriate for the council to comment further at this stage.”

Preston Domestic Violence Services and Lancaster Women’s Aid (Empowerment) have been supporting victims and campaigning against abuse for over 20 and 25 years respectively.

PDVS had an income of over £1m last year, while Empowerment’s income was £760,000.