Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made towards development of a cross-justice system victims survey.

The Government recognises the importance of understanding victims' experiences so that their feedback can inform and shape improvements across the criminal justice system.

To inform consideration of how victim feedback might be collected, in October 2023, the Ministry of Justice commissioned Verian to undertake a feasibility study on how feedback could be gathered from victims on their experiences and the delivery of their rights under the Victims’ Code. The findings continue to inform ongoing work to develop approaches for collecting and using victim feedback across the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice recently ran a consultation on the Victims’ Code. The consultation sought the views of sector experts, criminal justice practitioners, young people and victims themselves.

The Department is now taking the time to consider nearly 200 responses and will issue a public response ahead of finalising the new Code and bringing it into force. The findings will also help inform future work to understand and measure victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system and the delivery of Victims’ Code rights.