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Straw to unveil victims' agency National Victims Service launched
(about 13 hours later)
Murder victims' relatives will be the first to benefit from a body to help people afflicted by crime, Justice Secretary Jack Straw is to announce. The relatives of manslaughter and murder victims will be the first to benefit from a new £8m support scheme, Justice Secretary Jack Straw has said.
Mr Straw will say the National Victims Agency will start work in March, before its official 1 April launch, for murder and manslaughter victims' families. The National Victims Service, launching officially in April, will offer victims a dedicated support worker to help them get access to any assistance they need.
He is expected to hail the start of the service as a "a defining moment". Mr Straw called the scheme for England and Wales a "defining moment".
Sara Payne, the government's "Victims' Champion", recommended the creation of the agency in a 2009 report. The service is being created in response to a report from Sara Payne, the government's "Victims' Champion".
Intensive supportIntensive support
In a speech to the Royal Society for the Arts, Mr Straw is expected to promise that the new government agency will make support for victims a "core function" of the criminal justice system rather than an "optional add-on". In a speech to the Royal Society for the Arts, Mr Straw promised the service would make support for victims a "core function" of the criminal justice system rather than an "optional add-on".
He will outline plans to offer victims a "health check" to determine their needs and give the most vulnerable intensive support. He outlined plans to offer victims a "health check" to determine their needs and give the most vulnerable intensive support.
Sara Payne proposed the agency following a nine-month study "The aim is that, for the first time, victims will be given support from the moment they report a crime or anti-social behaviour until the moment they say they no longer need help," he said.
"The aim is that for the first time, victims will be given support from the moment they report a crime or anti-social behaviour until the moment they say they no longer need help," he will say.
"The National Victims Service will provide for anyone who has been a victim of crime and who wants assistance."The National Victims Service will provide for anyone who has been a victim of crime and who wants assistance.
"If victims need help, we will be there for them.""If victims need help, we will be there for them."
Mrs Payne - who is recovering after suffering a brain aneurysm before Christmas - published her report calling for the new service after spending nine months speaking to victims and witnesses and studying front line services. It is a pity that it has taken the common sense approach of a mother who lost her young daughter in tragic circumstances to tell the government the direction it needed to take on this issue David Howarth MP
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Victim Support, said the service would build on the work the charity had been doing for the past 35 years.
However Dominic Grieve, the shadow justice secretary, said: "This re-heated announcement only highlights the gulf between this government's promises and its action.
"Gordon Brown has let over 70,000 criminals out of jail early, and plans to force through lighter sentences for serious criminals - what kind of justice is that for victims?"
'Common sense'
His Liberal Democrat counterpart, David Howarth MP, praised the scheme but said it should have been in place long ago.
He said: "This scheme is excellent in that it recognises the fact that victims of crime need help from the moment they are targeted until they decide it is no longer necessary.
But it is a pity that it has taken the common sense approach of a mother who lost her young daughter in tragic circumstances to tell the government the direction it needed to take on this issue."
Mrs Payne - who is recovering after suffering a brain aneurysm before Christmas - published her report calling for the new service after spending nine months speaking to victims and witnesses and studying front-line services.
Her eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered in 2000 by known paedophile Roy Whiting.Her eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered in 2000 by known paedophile Roy Whiting.
Since then she has campaigned for a "Sarah's Law", giving parents the right to know about convicted sex offenders living near them.Since then she has campaigned for a "Sarah's Law", giving parents the right to know about convicted sex offenders living near them.
The Ministry of Justice has also announced that a review of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime is due to take place.
This code outlines the legal rights victims can expect from UK criminal justice agencies.
The department also said it should now be easier for voluntary agencies that provide services to sexual violence victims to apply for funding from the government.
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