Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the 2019-20 annual report of the Victims Commissioner, what steps the Attorney General is taking with the Lord Chancellor to (a) promote the updated changes to the unduly lenient scheme and (b) increase the awareness of those changes among victims as part of the upcoming launch of the new Victims’ Code.

The Law Officers promote the unduly lenient sentence scheme and its extension, including in Parliament and on social media. The Lord Chancellor, in the recent Victims’ Code public consultation, sought views on a requirement that witness care officers inform victims of the right to request a review of a sentence, at the time of sentence. The Ministry of Justice are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and aim to publish the revised Victims’ Code later this year. As set out in the consultation, raising awareness of the Victims’ Code will be an important part of the re-launch.