Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis says a new approach to supporting victims to be delivered by the well-respected Citizens Advice Bureau will put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Supporting victims and witnesses is one of four key priorities in the Commissioner’s Safer, Fairer United Communities Strategy.
A Citizens Advice consortium led by Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent CAB has been successful in winning a three-and-half-year contract to develop a Staffordshire-wide Victim Gateway which will offer free advice and support to victims, witnesses and their families. From August this will replace the current regional general support service delivered from Birmingham by Victim Support.
The new service will be Staffordshire-based and, unlike current provision, offer help to ALL crime victims – irrespective of whether they wish to report the crime to police or not.
It is estimated that around 60,000 people a year will be offered support through the service.
Victims will get timely, tailored advice and emotional and practical support in the way that suits them best, whether over the phone or face to face.
Mr Ellis said: “Currently, the very services that are there to support victims and witnesses can be anything but user friendly, meaning the experience people have of the courts and criminal justice system can be as taxing and traumatic as the original incident.
“This new service will change that by making sure the system fits the victim rather than the victim having to fit around the system.
“It will put victims at the heart of decision-making, meaning that they are treated as individuals, and will avoid duplication by joining up multiple services regarding victims.
“Victim Support has done a good job for many years for Staffordshire but this is a step-change that will fully focus attention on victims.
“This is about a whole-system approach across services to offer general and specific support to victims and witnesses. CAB has considerable expertise in this area after recently being successful in winning the national contract for court-based witness services. The Staffordshire Gateway will also offer tremendous value for money because of the additional benefits victims will experience, such as better accessibility and local knowledge.”
CAB has centres covering all parts of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent which will provide support to victims as part of the contract.
Simon Harris, Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent CAB’s Chief Executive, said: “CAB is delighted to have been awarded this contract to deliver such an important service.
“Traditionally, a lot of people visiting CAB have experienced crime. From August, they will be able to come to us for support in that area as well as the other issues that they’re used to talking to us about.
“It’s an exciting development that allows us to build on the work which we have done for many years with victims of hate crime in Staffordshire and more recently working with the PCC’s office in hosting victims’ specialists to support vulnerable people.
“The new Gateway is a really good opportunity to extend the range of support that victims receive by giving them access to a broader range of advice and support delivered through CAB in partnership with experts from other organisations.”
