Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms will hold (a) police, (b) CPS, (c) courts, and (d) other government agencies accountable if they fail to meet the minimum standards for domestic abuse victims set out in the new Victims Code.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of crime, including victims of domestic abuse, receive the entitlements they can expect under the Victims’ Code. This is why in 2025 a new statutory duty was commenced from the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 which requires agencies who provide Code services to comply with the Code unless there is a good reason to not. The 2024 Act also enhances the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner by requiring relevant agencies to respond to recommendations made in the Commissioner’s reports, and to cooperate, where appropriate and reasonably practicable to do so, with requests from the Commissioner such as requests for data or for meetings.

The 2024 Act also establishes a framework to monitor criminal justice agencies' compliance with the Code. Once commenced, certain criminal justice bodies (including the police, the CPS and HMCTS) will be required to keep under review whether and how services are provided in accordance with the Code, including collecting and sharing certain Code compliance information. The framework has not yet been commenced but preparatory work is underway with criminal justice agencies to improve the quality of the underlying victims’ data that will support the development of prescribed metrics which will underpin the framework.

The Victims and Courts Act 2026 strengthened the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner within that framework by requiring the Commissioner to produce their own report on Code compliance to enable independent oversight of the criminal justice agencies compliance with the Code.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice ran a public consultation on a new Victims’ Code, which closed on 30 April. The Department is now taking the time to consider the responses it has received and will respond publicly in due course, ahead of bringing a new Code into force.

Finally, where victims feel that they have not received the services they can expect as set out in the Code, there are formal complaints processes that service providers are required to provide. If victims are not happy with a service provider’s complaint response, complaints can be directly sent to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman without going through an MP.