Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 27
27
Accepted
Paragraph: 99
Expand duty to collaborate to include children's services and victims outside the CJS.
Recommendation
We welcome the duty to collaborate. This duty, however, should also include providers of children’s services to ensure the needs of child victims are met and to help facilitate the flow of necessary information between agencies. It is unclear whether the duty to collaborate is intended to support the provision of victim support services to those who do not make contact with or have withdrawn from the criminal justice system. We call on the Government to ensure that those people are included.
Government Response Summary
The government will update the Bill to require commissioners to specifically consider child victims' needs in their strategies and states the Bill's current definition of a victim already ensures support for those not in contact with the criminal justice system.
Paragraph Reference:
99
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
41. To improve strategic commissioning, the Bill rightly requires collaboration between groups responsible for that commissioning. The Government recognises the important role that providers, including providers of children’s services, play in the commissioning process, and that they give insight into demand and what works when delivering victims services. This is why the Bill already requires commissioners to consult providers when preparing the joint commissioning strategy, including those that provide services for children. However, it would be inappropriate to collaborate with providers when making strategic commissioning decisions, in the context of fair and transparent procurement. We therefore do not consider that it would be appropriate to extend the duty to collaborate when commissioning to include the providers of services alongside commissioners. 42. The Government also acknowledges the Committee’s point that considering the needs of children is important. Those bodies responsible for commissioning services for child victims are PCCs, local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), which are already specified in the Bill under the duty to collaborate. To emphasise that children’s support needs are distinct from those of adults, we will update the Bill to require commissioners to specifically have regard to any assessments they have carried out that reflect the needs of child victims when preparing their joint commissioning strategy. 16 Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Victims Bill: Government Response 43. The Government supports the aim of the recommendation to ensure the duty to collaborate supports the provision of victim support services to all victims, regardless of whether they are in contact with the criminal justice system. The Bill already enables this through its definition of a victim (Clause 1), which is explicit in that it does not require the crime to have been reported or proven. Therefore, we do not consider that any changes are required to reflect this.