Question to the Ministry of Justice:

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that victims of crime receive the help and high-quality support they need to cope and, as far as possible, recover. Last year, we rapidly identified the impact the pandemic would have on victims and took targeted action. In May 2020, we provided over £20m in emergency funding to help domestic abuse and sexual violence support services to meet COVID-19-driven demand. In November 2020, MoJ reallocated £10m from within existing budgets to continue to meet rising levels of demand.

In 2021-22, we will provide just under £151m for victim and witness support services. This includes an extra £51m to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims, building on the emergency funding from this financial year to help services meet COVID-19-driven demand. This compares to a total budget of £48.5m in 2010-2011.

Beyond significant increases in funding to victims’ services, the Government has taken a range of actions to ensure that victims and witnesses receive the support they need in the face of delays caused by the court backlogs. Section 28 was rolled out for vulnerable victims in all Crown Courts at pace, supported by an historic communications campaign to raise awareness of support for victims of sexual violence. We continue to lead work across the criminal justice system to encourage

victim engagement including the new Victims’ Code, which came into force on 1st April. This is a clear and comprehensive framework centered on 12 key rights for victims, setting out the level of service victims can expect to receive from criminal justice agencies. The new Victims’ Code now provides a solid foundation on which we can progress the groundbreaking Victims’ Law, which we will consult on as a priority this summer.