Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason his Department is advertising for the role of a Victims Commissioner prior to the introduction of the proposed Victims bill to Parliament; and what assessment he has made of the impact of advertising for that role prior to parliamentary scrutiny of the Bill.

The Government recently launched a recruitment process for the Victims’ Commissioner role as the current incumbent, Dame Vera Baird, reaches the end of her appointment on 23 June 2022. This is in line with the standard public appointments process. It comes as the Government delivers landmark reforms for victims, including new legislation to ensure they are better heard, served, and supported across the criminal justice system.

Given the importance of this public appointment, which entails significant responsibility and a wide-ranging portfolio, we believe advertising the role and opening it up to fair and open competition at the earliest opportunity will ensure we have the best possible candidate in post. The competition will run until 4 April, with the successful candidate taking up the role in due course. Dame Vera Baird has been invited to reapply and has been offered a short extension until 31 July, to ensure her continued role in informing the development of the landmark Victims’ Bill ahead of its introduction in Parliament.