Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much and what proportion of victim support funding from the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner is spent on support for victims of sexual offences; and on what services this funding is spent.

The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types.

My Department has committed £154 million per annum on a multi-year basis across this spending review period, up to the end of March 2025. For 2024/25 we provided £41 million of ringfenced funding for the recruitment of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors, and £21 million of ringfenced funding for community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services.

These funding commitments have enabled us to provide tailored support to enable victims of sexual violence to cope and recover from the devastating effect of their crimes. Funding amounts for individual PCC areas are not routinely published.

The PCC for Avon and Somerset publishes details on services commissioned in their annual reports available at: https://www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk/reports-publications/annual-reports/.