Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to access rape crisis centres in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

We are committed to ensuring that victims get the support they need to cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects of crime.

Rape support centres are funded from a number of different sources, including the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

In 2017/18 the MoJ directly allocated around £7.2m as a contribution to 97 Rape Support Centres across England and Wales to provide independent, specialist support to female and male victims of sexual violence, including victims of child sexual abuse. An additional 4.1% uplift was also allocated to all rape support centres in recognition of the increasing demand for support.

In 2017/18 the MoJ also allocated around £68m to Police and Crime Commissioners to locally commission emotional and practical support services for victims of crime, including services for victims of sexual violence.

In the West Midlands, 4 centres are part-funded nationally by the MoJ, including 1 centre in Coventry.