Recommendation 46

Victim and survivor care is one of the basics that policing has to get right. We agree that failure to prioritise the needs of victims and survivors in the past has undermined trust and confidence in policing today. We are pleased to see that an interim Victims’ Commissioner has finally been appointed. It is, to us, wholly unacceptable that the position was vacant from September 2022 until October 2023. The Government has explained that the recent appointment is temporary in order to “enable a new recruitment campaign to be launched which better reflects the new responsibilities the role will have once the Victims and Prisoners Bill is passed.” We invite the Government to explain in its response to this report why an interim commissioner could not have been appointed a year ago.