Extracts from Victims and Prisoners Bill committee stage - Jun 27
Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab):...Some Police and Crime
Commissioners offer support to antisocial behaviour victims
through discretionary funds, because they cannot do so from
Ministry of Justice victim funds, but that is pot luck:
some Police and Crime Commissioners do not. That means that
whether support services are provided for victims of ASB depends on
where they live, which creates a concern that some victims who are
suffering significant stress...Request free trial
Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab):...Some Police and Crime Commissioners offer support to antisocial behaviour victims through discretionary funds, because they cannot do so from Ministry of Justice victim funds, but that is pot luck: some Police and Crime Commissioners do not. That means that whether support services are provided for victims of ASB depends on where they live, which creates a concern that some victims who are suffering significant stress from persistent ASB do not get the emotional and practical support that they need to cope and recover. Victims of persistent ASB whose suffering has entitled them to activate the community trigger must be recognised as victims of crime in their own right, with all that that entails...
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Edward Argar):...That does not mean that
individuals who have suffered as a result of harmful but not
criminal antisocial behaviour are prevented from seeking support.
Outside the Bill and the victims code, they can still access
support services in their local area. Police and
Crime Commissioners as well as local authorities,
can and do commission support for victims of all types of
antisocial behaviour, and can help victims of all kinds of ASB,
both criminal and non-criminal, to resolve their issues. Some of
the funding they receive is rightly ringfenced for particular
criteria and causes, but they do have a degree of overall
discretion in their budget as to whether they wish to fund such
services. ...More broadly, the Government are taking clear action to crack down on antisocial behaviour and to build confidence that it will be taken seriously and, where appropriate, punished. Backed by £160 million of funding, our antisocial behaviour action plan, published in March this year, will give Police and Crime Commissioners local authorities and other agencies more tools to tackle the blight of antisocial behaviour across communities in England and Wales. That includes increasing policing in hotspot areas and a new immediate justice programme to make sure that offenders are made to undertake practical, reparative activity to make good the loss or damage sustained by victims, or to visibly support the local community in other ways, such as by litter picking. If things go wrong, the antisocial behaviour case review is there to ensure that those affected can seek a solution from the appropriate agency.... ...The Ministry of Justice provides Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding to commission local, practical, emotional and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types, based on their assessment of needs... ...On addressing non-compliance, the Bill places a new duty on criminal justice bodies to collect and share code compliance information with Police and Crime Commissioners who in turn are under a new duty to share information with the Secretary of State. We also intend for information to be shared within national oversight structures, and there is a duty on the Secretary of State to publish information, which will allow the public to assess, through greater transparency, the compliance of public bodies with the code. Where issues are identified by Police and Crime Commissioners or others, operational agencies can take action to address them and enforce standards. Should local solutions fail, senior figures in the criminal justice system will provide national oversight to drive improvements at a system level. Ministers already have powers to intervene where systemic failures occur, such as the ability to direct inspections or direct measures to remedy failures... ...Under the current code, victims are entitled to be given information about the offender following a conviction and to be told about how to make a victim personal statement. That is delivered through the referral of eligible victims to the victim contact service, and they are then assigned a victim liaison officer. That means that compliance with those entitlements can be monitored and reported on via clauses 6 and 7. The clauses place a duty on HMPPS to collect and share information on the delivery of victims code entitlements and to jointly review this with Police and Crime Commissioners and on Police and Crime Commissioners to report to the Secretary of State, who will publish relevant information... ...We support local agencies providing restorative justice in the devolved model that came in a few years ago. We looked to Police and Crime Commissioners to fund services locally, as they are best placed to assess local need. We are encouraging greater co-commissioning between Police and Crime Commissioners and regional probation directors... For context... |