Victim support charity reaches out to people affected by crime
The think tank Resolution Foundation suggests people should be allowed to “borrow” from their pension pots before retirement. They believe this could help individuals handle significant events or difficult circumstances.
A new campaign has been launched in the Lothians to raise awareness of victims’ rights and the support available to people affected by crime.
The charity Victim Support Scotland (VSS) is working with Police Scotland and other partner organisations to inform people about the free information and support it provides, helping victims and witnesses of crime to navigate the criminal justice system and cope with the trauma and emotional strain of crime.
The campaign has been launched to coincide with Victims Awareness Week, which runs until Sunday, and today’s European Day for Victims.
The latest data shows that more than 3,660 people in Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders have been referred to the VSS in the past year, which the charity says represents a significant gap between the number of crimes recorded and the number of people receiving support.
Following the change in data protection legislation in May 2018, Police Scotland can no longer automatically refer victims and witnesses to receive the support they are entitled to. The unintended consequence of this legislation has resulted in more than 90 per cent fewer people being automatically offered information and support.
VSS is keen to ensure that no one falls through the cracks by spreading the message that everyone in Scotland has a legal right to support if they are a victim or witness of crime, as do their family members.
Kate Wallace, VSS chief executive, said: “When someone is affected by crime, it can have a massive impact on their life, affecting them emotionally, mentally, physically, financially and practically. It can be very traumatic, so having the right information at the right time is critical.
“In Scotland, anyone affected by crime has a right to support and information, regardless of whether the crime was reported to the police or not.
“While not everyone affected by crime will want to exercise these rights, we are worried about the gap between the number of crimes recorded and the number of people seeking support.
“By working closely with Police Scotland, victim support organisations and directly with victims, we hope to raise more awareness of victims’ rights and reach more people in the year ahead.”
Faroque Hussain, Chief Superintendent at Police Scotland, said: “We understand how distressing it is when someone is a victim of crime, and we are here to support you. We will provide you with a victim care card which will include the name of the officer dealing with your case and information about your rights including access to support services. If you want us to refer you directly then we can do that.
“We would always encourage anyone who has been the victim of crime or who is a witness to crime, to seek the support of Victim Support Scotland.”
VSS supports anyone affected by a crime, no matter what it is or when it happened. The service is free and confidential and designed to assist people who have been directly or indirectly affected by crime, helping them to see life beyond what they have experienced.
Local support offices can be contacted through 0131 668 2556 and victimsupport.edinburgh@victimsupportsco.org.uk.
People should be able to “borrow” money out of their pension pot to cope with pre-retirement financial challenges, a think tank has suggested.
Making pension pots more accessible during people’s working lives would help them to cope with big life events or difficult circumstances, the Resolution Foundation said.
It proposed that a “sidecar savings” scheme should be set up alongside workplace pensions.
The foundation said that people should also be able to borrow money from their pension pots. Under the pension freedoms, people have to wait until they are 55 to access their pots.
The report proposes allowing savers to borrow the lesser of £15,000 or 20 per cent of the value of their pension pots, to help people deal with preretirement financial challenges. These loans would be paid back via higher contributions directly into their pension pot at a later stage.
This more flexible approach already works well in the United States, according to the think tank, which is focused on improving the living standards for those on low to middle incomes.
Families face a “triple savings challenge” of saving more for rainy days, bigger life events and retirement, the foundation said.
The Precautionary Tales report – part of a partnership with the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust – found that around one in three (30 per cent) working age families do not have a basic rainy day savings pot of at least £1,000.
Households with low savings are more likely to rely on credit cards, overdrafts or borrowed money to meet daily expenses, the foundation said.
While modest savings of £1,000 can help with un- expected costs such as broken fridges and car repairs, bigger savings are needed to cope with bigger life events such as unemployment or a family breakdown.
Not enough families have bigger savings pots either, with less than half (49 per cent) of working age families having savings worth at least three months’ income, the foundation said – estimating that Britain has a £74 billion savings shortfall.
Automatic enrolment into workplace pensions has increased the proportion of people saving for their retirement, but many are still not saving enough for an adequate later life income (at least two-thirds of their pre-retirement income).
Around two-fifths of working age people fall into this category, the report found.
The report calls for minimum auto-enrolment contributions to be gradually increased from eight per cent to 12 per cent of qualifying earnings, with employer and employee contributions equally matched at six per cent each.
Currently, the eight per cent minimum comes from employers paying in at least three per cent and employees making up the remaining five per cent.
These 12 per cent contributions should include a two per cent contribution into an easy access “sidecar savings” scheme of up to £1,000, with contributions above this level going into a pension pot, the report suggested.
The foundation said this would revolutionise the number of families with “rainy day” savings in the same way that auto-enrolment has transformed pension saving, while also boosting people’s retirement incomes. Molly Broome, economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Families across Britain face a triple savings challenge – not saving enough for rainy days, bigger life events, or for a decent income in retirement.
“One in three families in the country have less than £1,000 in savings – which left many people exposed during the cost-of-living crisis – while around 13 million individuals aren’t saving enough for an adequate income in retirement.
“We can address all three challenges by building on the success of pensions auto-enrolment to opt more people into both easy access and long-term saving.
Britain has a £74bn shortfall savings
1in3 working age families do not have a basic rainy day savings pot of at least £1,000
55 Age at which people can access their pension pots
Only 49% of working age families have savings worth at least three months’ income
13m individuals aren’t saving enough for an adequate income in retirement