Commissioning victim services

Background to Victim Services

The Victim’s Code of Practice (VCoP) was introduced by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in October 2013. It governs services to be provided to victims of crime by criminal justice agencies in England and Wales and forms a key part of the wider Government strategy to transform the criminal justice system by putting victims first, making the system more responsive and easier to navigate.

Prior to 2015, Victim Services were commissioned centrally by the Ministry of Justice. Victim Support was the provider nationally for over 40 years. From April 2015, support services for victims were commissioned at a local level for the first time. This decision was driven by central government but implemented and commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner in each area.

The Commissioning Framework 2013 provided by the MOJ focused on outcome based commissioning as an effective approach for achieving the overarching aims of supporting victims to cope with the immediate impacts of crime and recover from the harm experienced.

Since 2015 one of the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner’s key responsibilities is to commission and co-commision services for victims of crime, primarily with funding provided by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). These services are provided to help victims to cope and build resilience to move forward with daily life following the impact of crime. 

These services include:

• Victim Services
• Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) service
• Independent Stalking Advocacy Caseworker (ISAC) service
• Sexual Assult Refferal Centre (SARC) service (co-commisioned, NHSE lead commissioner)
• Domestic Abuse services (co-commisioned, Gloucestershire County Council lead commissioner)