Victim Code Compliance
IICSA · The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · Issued 20 October 2022 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, K.6
The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its Interim Report, dated April 2018) that the UK government commissions a joint inspection of compliance with the Victims' Code in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, to be undertaken by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, His Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation.
IICSA, The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · 20 Oct 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 placed the Victims' Code on a statutory footing with compliance duties for criminal justice bodies (Victims and Prisoners Act 2024).
- No published joint inspection report specifically examining compliance with the Victims' Code in CSA cases has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
We accept the need to ensure compliance with the Victims Code. The Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates have included an inspection on the ‘experiences of victims of child sexual abuse of the criminal justice system’ in their 2023-25 inspection programme, with Code compliance proposed to feature. We will also consider this recommendation through the Victims and Prisoners Bill, with complementary measures to improve victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system.
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 8 Apr 2025 Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates commissioned for priority inspection on Victims' Code compliance. Business plan inclusion expected spring 2025, with inspection in 2025-27 period. Source →
- 21 Jan 2025 · Home Affairs Select Committee Professor Alexis Jay told Home Affairs Committee that £187m was spent on IICSA and "to date none of its final recommendations had been implemented." Called for "full implementation" saying "get it done." View source → No Meaningful Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.