Joint inspection of Victims Code compliance

14. The Inquiry raises concerns that victims and survivors of child sexual abuse are not consistently receiving the service to which they are entitled under the Victims’ Code.

15. The cross-government Victims Strategy was published in September and sets out our commitments to improve support for victims of crime. The Strategy commits to hold agencies to account for compliance with the Victims’ Code through improved reporting, monitoring and transparency on whether victims are receiving entitlements. This goes hand in hand with amending the Code to make sure that the entitlements victims receive are the right ones in the first place. At a local level Police and Crime Commissioners will be responsible for regularly monitoring and identifying issues through local criminal justice partnership arrangements so they can determine effective local intervention. The Criminal Justice Board and Ministers will receive reports to monitor delivery at a national level and address cross- cutting issues with national service providers. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is considering the role the Victims’ Commissioner might best play in the process as it is developed.

16. The Criminal Justice Joint Inspection (CJJI) brings together the four relevant Inspectorates in this area: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, and HM Inspectorate of Probation. The CCJI and the relevant Inspectorates are independent, and consult publicly on their programme of work. The Government will discuss the possibility of a joint inspection with the CJJI once the compliance framework is formally commenced.

In conjunction with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and criminal justice agencies, including the police and Crown Prosecution Service, the MoJ has developed a compliance framework for the Victims’ Code focussed on the five entitlements which victims highlighted during work on the Victims Strategy as the most important to them. The framework was launched on 1 April 2019 and monitoring has begun at a local level. PCCs will oversee data collection at local level: each Local Criminal Justice Board will examine its own data, and the national Criminal Justice Board (CJB) will receive a national report and take action to address significant national non-compliance. The CJB is likely to receive the first national report in early 2020 once the draft framework has been in place for 12 months.

On 22 July 2019, the UK Government response stated that the Ministry of Justice had developed and implemented a compliance framework for the Victims’ Code. In early 2020, the Criminal Justice Board will receive the first national compliance report and will take action to address significant non-compliance. In its progress update in December 2018, the Government noted that it would discuss the possibility of a joint inspection with the Criminal Justice Joint Inspection once the compliance framework had formally commenced. On 23 October 2020, the Ministry of Justice stated that the operational demands of the pandemic on both the Ministry of Justice and criminal justice agencies, meant that further development of the Victims' Code compliance monitoring framework had not been possible. Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice was also aware that the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorate had suspended joint inspections. However, subject to the operational capacity of criminal justice agencies, the Ministry of Justice was looking to restart this work and renew its engagement with the Criminal Justice Board. On 25 May 2022, the Ministry of Justice published a response to its consultation on the Victim’s Bill. The Ministry of Justice stated that it would introduce a wide range of measures within the Victims Bill and, as issues raised in the consultation could not be addressed through legislation alone, the Bill would sit alongside additional measures.