The criminal justice system is not providing the highest quality
service to many victims and does not always invest the time and
attention needed in cases, a new report has found.
An inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and
Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), His Majesty’s Crown
Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) and His Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) found that a
combination of competing demands, high workloads, poor
communication and lack of experience were contributing to victims
not always receiving the best service.
Their joint report, Meeting the Needs of Victims in the
Criminal Justice System, assessed whether the police, Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS) and Probation Service understand what
victims need, if they meet those needs and if they provide a good
service.
It said that rather than trying to meet the individual needs of
victims, the police, CPS and Probation Service focused more on
whether they were complying with the Victims’ Code. In some
cases, where victims’ rights had been met, the report said this
was a ‘box-ticking’ exercise with no evidence of the quality of
the support.
The inspectorates also heard about some positive practice,
including victims’ hubs that provide tailored support to victims,
and online portals to access information about cases. Inspectors
said these initiatives have the potential to improve the
experience of all victims, but often they are developed in
isolation at a local level.
The report made six recommendations:
- Commissioning a broader and fundamental review of the
experience of victims of crime, involving other Government
departments.
- Development of Victims’ Code performance metrics and
reporting systems, including metrics on how criminal justice
bodies engage with victims and the quality of the engagement.
- Development of minimum standards for the completion of victim
needs assessments, including for timeliness of completion and
clarity on the information to be recorded.
- Agreement of minimum standards and consistent processes for
how witness care communicates with the police, CPS, and victims
to help effective, agile and timely information-sharing.
- Ensuring all eligible victims are referred to the Victim
Contact Scheme.
- Provision of training on the work of the Victim Contact
Scheme to all probation practitioners.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Wendy Williams,
said:
“Becoming a victim of crime is often a traumatic, as well as
confusing and frustrating, experience. The criminal justice
system should be able to support people in these situations, yet
the findings in this report are depressingly familiar – once
again victims are too often not getting the service they are
entitled to.
“It is vital the whole of the criminal justice system works
together to improve the service it offers to victims.
“If the recommendations in our report are implemented I am
confident they will help to make sure that quality support for
victims of crime is placed at the heart of the criminal justice
system, where it belongs.”
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution
Service, Andrew Cayley KC CMG, said:
“Victims of crime deserve a better service. We found that the
police, CPS and the Probation Service all recognise the
importance of victims and are committed to improving the service
they deliver.
“However, heavy workloads, loss of experience, poor communication
and lack of consistent support has all contributed to poor victim
experiences. This is unacceptable, and together with my fellow
Chief Inspectors, we are strongly urging the Government, police,
CPS and probation service to come together and implement our
recommendations as soon as possible.”
His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation, Sue
McAllister said:
“Improving services to victims of crime is crucial and this joint
inspection has showed that there is much work to be done.
“We have found that, for those victims who were allocated a
victim liaison officer, they benefited from having one person
working with them to keep them informed. Although this applies to
only a small number of victims, it helps victims to have their
voice heard after the offender has been sentenced.”
