PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Crime: Victim Support Schemes (22 July 2020)

The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of crime receive the help and support they need to cope and recover.

We know that many victims of crime are not receiving the rights they are entitled to which is why we will shortly be publishing a revised Victims’ Code and plan to guarantee victims’ rights through a Victims’ Law.

We recognise the importance of adequate and sustainable funding to support victims of crime, and are therefore developing a cross-government Victims’ Funding Strategy to maximise the impact of the support we provide at national and local level.

This year, the MoJ has committed additional funding to support victims of rape and sexual abuse. In April, we increased the funding available to rape support centres across England and Wales by 50%, raising core funding for centres to £12 million per annum. A further £4m per annum until 2022 has been invested to recruit more Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) across England and Wales to help victims feel informed and supported at every stage of their journey.

Measures in the Domestic Abuse Bill, introduced into the House of Lords on 7 July 2020, will also increase the support available for victims of domestic abuse, including through a statutory duty on tier one local authorities to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in safe accommodation. Alongside the Bill, we are providing £35 million to combat domestic abuse. That includes £1.5 million to support migrant victims, £3 million to support children affected by domestic abuse and £15 million for the development and pilot of integrated domestic abuse courts and perpetrator programmes.

We have also increased funding to enable support services to respond to victims’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Justice has allocated £25 million to support domestic abuse and sexual violence support services across England and Wales; to date, over £22 million has been distributed to charities. A further £600k of funding has been awarded to enable the expansion and national roll out of digital and helpline services. We continue to work across government, with the sector and local bodies through our COVID-19 Victims and Witnesses Silver Command to identify ongoing needs and ensure support is available for victims and witnesses.