The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Dominic Raab)
Today the Government are publishing a draft Victims Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny, ensuring we will deliver on our manifesto commitment to pass and implement a victims law.
We are also publishing a wider package of measures that put victims firmly at the heart of the criminal justice system. These are set out in the Government’s response to the consultation “Delivering justice for victims - a consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system”. The consultation launched in December 2021 and ran for eight weeks. It received over 600 responses, alongside important feedback gathered through 39 engagement events with frontline professionals and victims.
In response, we have set out a wide range of measures to send a clear signal that the justice system must deliver justice for victims. The Government are also announcing the new cross-Government victims funding strategy, which will drive better outcomes for victims by tackling barriers to sustainable funding and ensuring consistent commissioning.
Collectively these measures will amplify victims’ voices in the criminal justice process, improve the support victims receive, and strengthen oversight of criminal justice agencies. In doing so, they will help victims to have confidence that there is the right support available and that if they report crime, the criminal justice system will treat them in the way they should rightly expect.
The draft Victims Bill will:
Enshrine the overarching principles of the Victims’ Code in primary legislation and set out key entitlements in secondary legislation, to send a clear signal about what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system.
Introduce a joint statutory duty on PCCs, health and local authorities to collaborate when commissioning support services for victims of sexual, domestic, violence, and serious violence so that services are more holistic and better co-ordinated.
Introduce a statutory definition of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs), accompanied by statutory guidance at a later date, to increase awareness and consistency of these roles.
Place a duty on criminal justice agencies to collect data and keep under review their compliance with the Victims’ Code and to take into account feedback from victims about their experiences. It will also introduce a duty for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to take a convening role in monitoring compliance locally so that there can be a better view of how the system treats victims. As a result, the Victims’ Commissioner will no longer be responsible for reviewing the operation of the Victims’ Code but will still be able to engage on compliance at a national level through their other functions.
Provide the Justice Secretary, Home Secretary and Attorney General with the power to require criminal justice inspectorates to undertake regular joint thematic inspections on victims’ issues, to ensure clearer and sharper focus on how victims are treated.
Require the Victims’ Commissioner to lay their annual report in Parliament, and require relevant agencies and Departments to respond to recommendations in that report, to enhance scrutiny of the actions being taken.
Remove the need for victims of crime to raise a complaint via an MP before it can be investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, to simplify the process for victims wanting to escalate complaints against public bodies. This will be an exception for victims of crime, for whom approaching an MP to share a potentially traumatic experience is more likely to be a barrier to making a complaint and does not constitute an indication that the Government intend to remove the ‘MP filter’ more widely.
The accompanying measures announced within the consultation response will:
Increase the victim surcharge by 20% so that offenders pay more towards vital victim support services. This change is being made via statutory instrument.
Introduce a duty in the Victims’ Code requiring the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to meet victims in certain cases before a hearing takes place, where the victim is willing to do so.
Work with criminal justice inspectorates to enhance their oversight of victims’ experiences and use ratings to improve performance, including more regular focus on victims’ issues and experiences in all inspections.
Improve agencies’ communications on complaints, ensuring clear and accessible points of contact to help victims make and progress their complaints.
Raise the profile and professional standing of ISVAs and IDVAs, through the introduction of a non-public register, a network for support providers and an annual report.
Include information about community impact statements in the Victims’ Code to promote their use in appropriate cases and amplify the voices of communities impacted by crime.
Work with the judiciary to introduce a Victims’ Code entitlement for victim personal statements in the Mental Health Tribunal where the release of offenders is being considered, so that victims are able to explain the impact of the crime on them.
Give victims the right to attend a parole hearing in full for the first time, should they wish to and subject to the circumstances of the case and agreement of the Parole Board.
Allow victims to ask questions within submissions to the Parole Board and require that the Board takes account of these when reaching their decision, so that victims’ voices are amplified in the process.
Together these measures will contribute to our plan to give victims the justice they deserve, and build back a better, stronger, fairer country.
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