Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to provide support to victims of crime.

Last May, we published our draft Victims Bill, alongside a wider package of measures to improve victims’ experience of the criminal justice system. The Bill will enshrine the overarching principles of the Victims’ Code in primary legislation; increase oversight of how criminal justice agencies treat victims; and enable improvements in the quality and consistency of support services for victims. Following the Justice Select Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny report on 19 January, we set out our intentions to strengthen the Bill. We will introduce the Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows.

In addition, we have taken strong steps to improve support for victims of rape and serious sexual assault, including:

• In September, we fully rolled out pre-recorded cross examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Court locations across England and Wales. This special measure allows victims to pre-record evidence, spares them the glare of a live courtroom trial and allows them to give evidence in advance of the trial and then move on with their lives more quickly.
• We have more than quadrupled funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10. The funding will allow us to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers by 300 to over 1,000, a 43% increase over the next three years.
• In December, we also launched a single source of 24/7 support for victims of rape and sexual abuse meaning every victim can now access free, confidential emotional support whenever and wherever they need it.