Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Delivering justice for victims: A consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system, and individually granted extensions for accessibility and exceptional pressure, what the process is; how long that process takes; and what steps his Department plans to take in the event that outstanding requests are made after the consultation deadline on 3 February 2022.

We have listened to concerns from the victim sector and key stakeholders about their ability to respond to the consultation. The department is willing to consider individual extension requests of up to 14 days on the grounds of accessibility and exceptional pressure on organisations as a result of COVID-19.

To request an extension, individuals and organisations must contact the official consultation mailbox (victimsbillconsultation@justice.gov.uk) clearly setting out the reason for, and length of the extension, as it will be considered against the application of these criteria to the specific individual/organisation. Officials will consider and respond to requests as soon as possible.

In order to ensure that all responses receive equal consideration, requests should be submitted before the consultation deadline passes. Our extension policy does not apply to outstanding requests submitted after the consultation deadline, which will necessarily be treated differently and considered on a case-by-case basis.