| answer text |
<p>The Government is committed to putting victims and witnesses first in the criminal
justice system. We have considerably improved support given to victims, including
revamping the Victims’ Code to ensure victims of the most serious crimes get access
to vital services like counselling to help cope with and, where possible, recover
from what they have been through.</p><p> </p><p>Our statutory Victim Contact Scheme
(VCS) is offered to all victims where the offender has committed a violent or sexual
offence and received a sentence of 12 months or more. The scheme enables victims to
be kept informed by victim liaison officers of key stages of the offender’s sentence,
including release, and to make representations on conditions to which the offender
may be subject on release.</p><p> </p><p>This entitlement is outlined in the Government’s
Victims’ Code, which came into force in December 2013. The Victims’ Code gives victims
of crime clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and better tailors services
to individual need.</p><p> </p><p>The National Offender Management Service Domestic
Abuse Policy Strategy sets out that it is best practice to offer the VCS to domestic
abuse victims, regardless of the length of the offender’s sentence and whether the
offender will be subject to licensed supervision in the community. Such decisions
are made on a case by case basis. This is outlined in the guidance for victim liaison
officers.</p>
|
|
