Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of victims who have made personal statements at criminal trials in each of the last 10 years.

The Government implemented a new Victims’ Code in December 2013. The Code entitles victims to make a Victim Personal Statement (VPS), which gives the victim a stronger voice in the criminal justice system by allowing them to describe the impact the crime has had on them.

The Ministry of Justice does not record information in relation to the number and proportion of victims who have made personal statements at criminal trials. The Government has made a commitment to monitor criminal justice agencies’ compliance with the Victims’ Code and in “Our Commitment to Victims,” published on 15 September 2014, we announced that criminal justice agencies will publish information on how they have improved services for victims from April 2015.