Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of funding for organisations in the voluntary community sector working in the area of sexual violence.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding for victim and witness support services, including community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services, in addition to core funding for Police and Crime Commissioners to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.

To ensure these services can continue to be delivered, I have protected dedicated Violence Against Women and Girls victims spending in the Department by maintaining 2024-25 funding levels for ringfenced sexual violence and domestic abuse support this year. This includes the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund grant for specialist sexual violence support services.

Now that the Department has its Spending Review settlement, there will be a process within the Department to allocate this budget to individual areas, including victims funding. This will require difficult and carefully considered decisions to balance priorities within the Ministry of Justice.