Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of relevant cases were victim impact statements submitted to Crown courts in criminal proceedings in each of the last five years.

We published a new Victims’ Code in December 2013 which sets out in plain language what support and information people should expect from the moment they report a crime to the end of a trial and beyond and who to demand help from if they are not receiving it. Significantly, for the first time it entitles victims and bereaved relatives to ask to read out their Victim Personal Statement (VPS) to the court before an offender is sentenced. This gives them the opportunity to explain in their own words how the crime has affected them and their family.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not record information in relation to the number and proportion of cases in which victim personal statements are submitted in criminal proceedings. The Government has made a commitment to monitor criminal justice agencies’ compliance with the Victims’ Code and in Our Commitment to Victims, published on 15 September 2014, we announced that criminal justice agencies will publish information on how they have improved services for victims by April 2015.