PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Victims: Criminal Proceedings (21 June 2023)

The Victims Funding Strategy was published in May 2022. It set out a framework which will improve the way we fund victim support services across government, seeking to better align and co-ordinate funding to enable victims to receive the support they need.

In 2018 we published the first ever cross-government Victims Strategy. This clarified the specific support victims can expect, beginning immediately after a crime and ending long after court proceedings.

It also committed to first consult on a revised Victims’ Code before bringing forward proposals for a Victims Law, including strengthening compliance with the Code.

A new Victims’ Code was published in 2021. The Code was restructured into 12 key entitlements in a way which is clear, concise and easy to understand, outlining the minimum levels of service victims can expect at each stage of the criminal justice process.

Additional entitlements for victims in the Code include increased communication between victims and the CPS and promoting the use of Community Impact Statements.

On 29 March, we introduced the Victims and Prisoners Bill to Parliament, to improve victims' experiences of the criminal justice system, strengthen the parole system to ensure that the public and victims are better protected, and prohibit whole life prisoners from marrying or forming civil partnerships to drive up confidence in the justice system.

These changes for victims have been accompanied by a greater investment in victims’ services. We are more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.