Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects on Victim Impact Statements on sentencing decisions made by judges in the criminal justice system.

The Government implemented a new Victims’ Code in December 2013. One of the code’s key entitlements is for victims to make a Victim Personal Statement (VPS), setting out the consequences of the offence on them. This gives victims a stronger voice in the criminal justice system.

We have also made a commitment that next year we will introduce a new law that will set out in statute key entitlements for victims previously set out in the Victims' Code. This will include the right to make a personal statement and ask to read it aloud in court.

In the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), victims are asked a range of questions on the VPS, which includes whether they felt their VPS was taken into account in the criminal justice system. We will look to use this data in monitoring criminal justice agencies’ compliance with their duties on the VPS, as set out in the Victims' Code.

The Government has not made an assessment of the effect the VPS scheme has had on sentencing decisions. The VPS helps the sentencing judge to consider any harm which the offence has caused when determining the seriousness of any offence and the appropriate penalty to be imposed.