PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Victims: Public Consultation (18 January 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2022 to Question 94498 on the Victim's Bill Consultation, if he will publish a list of all the organisations he has had engagement sessions with up to 18 January 2022; and how many organisations have been consulted to date.

Asked by:
Anna McMorrin (Labour)

We recognise the importance of engaging and hearing from victims, frontline staff, and experts on this important topic and this consultation is the result of engagement the department has undertaken over the past six months. This includes fortnightly calls with the sector, which involve at least twenty-seven organisations involved in supporting victims.

As part of the consultation, we are working with partners in the victim sector to deliver a series of engagement events to hear directly from victims on the issues which are most important to them. As of 18th January, the first of these events has been delivered, with a further thirteen events confirmed to take place before 3rd February and plans for six further events being finalised. These events are being delivered in partnership with specialist organisations to ensure a diverse range of voices are heard, including those who work with victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, victims who are women and girls, victims with disabilities, ethnic minority victims and victims who are children and young people.

We are also hosting a series of roundtables with staff of the frontline services which support victims. As of 18th January, we have ten events planned to be delivered before 3rd February, involving four inspectorates, sixteen policing related groups, three court-based organisations, thirty-five commissioning organisations, eighteen advocate organisations and ten community-based services.

These events will provide further opportunities to canvass views, and to speak to groups directly affected by the consultation. We will publish a full list of organisations we have engaged with as part of the consultation response.

Answered by:
Tom Pursglove (Conservative)
21 January 2022