The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (Mike Penning)
One of my priorities is to ensure that victims and witnesses have the support and information they need as they give evidence to the court. Support for witnesses at criminal courts across England and Wales is currently provided by Victim Support through a grant funded by the Ministry of Justice. This grant comes to an end on 31 March 2015 and the Ministry of Justice has undertaken a publicly competed exercise for funding for the provision of the court-based witness service from 1 April 2015 for a period of two years.
I am today announcing that following this competition, the Ministry of Justice has awarded a 2 year grant totalling £24 million to Citizens Advice to provide the court-based witness service. Citizens Advice will take over the provision of this service from Victim Support with effect from April 2015.
Citizens Advice will deliver a service that provides victims and witnesses with the support and information they need, and will work as a key partner with criminal justice stakeholders to ensure the service plays its part in helping put victims and witnesses at the heart of the criminal justice system.
I would like to record my appreciation to Victim Support for their work in supporting victims and witnesses, and in particular for providing support to witnesses at court over many years.
I look forward to working with Citizens Advice to ensure that victims and witnesses receive the support they need as they give the evidence on which a fair and effective criminal justice system is so dependent.