Forces that fail victims ‘named and shamed’

League tables for police will hold officers to account as new code seeks to restore faith in the justice system

POLICE forces that fail to deliver on victims’ rights are to be identified in league tables under government plans to tackle crime.

The Ministry of Justice is proposing to “name and shame” police forces, prosecutors and courts that do not fulfil their duties under a new legally enforced code that dictates how victims should be treated.

Ministers have drawn up a list of victims’ rights such as being given up-todate information about the progress of an investigation, their case or offender’s release date against which police and other agencies will be judged.

If they “persistently” fail to deliver on victims’ entitlements, they will be issued with a public “non-compliance notification” in order to shame them into improving their performance. The plans will be debated this week as part of the Government’s Victims and Pris- oners Bill when it returns to the Lords for its final stages before Royal Assent.

The Bill enshrines the code in law requiring police, prosecutors and courts to deliver the specified rights.

The plan to measure how the criminal justice system treats victims has been welcomed as a “step in the right direction” by victims’ bodies and Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner, but they have warned it does not go far enough.

More than a quarter of victims drop out of prosecutions, often because of failings by police, prosecutors or courts.

They are demanding the Government set out statutory “minimum standards” against which police and other agencies would be judged, with official watchdogs such as the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary given powers to inspect and enforce them.

It follows research by Victim Support, revealed exclusively by The Telegraph, which found 60 per cent of victims did not receive a clear explanation of what to expect from the criminal justice system after reporting a crime.

One 79-year-old victim of domestic abuse told the charity how she was not even told that police had dropped her case.

She said she was made to feel “like a little old lady who was going insane”.

The research showed more than four in 10 (42 per cent) of victims were not informed about the decision not to investigate or prosecute the suspect, and were not given an explanation as to why, within five working days.

A similar proportion (44 per cent) were not given a chance to make a victim personal statement while one in five (20 per cent) were not referred or offered a referral to support services by the police, according to the survey of 104 victims.

Katie Kempen, the chief executive of Victim Support, said: “Putting victims’ rights into law could be momentous but only if this is coupled with measures to ensure these rights are monitored and enforced. As things stand, the Bill lacks teeth.

“The Government must amend the Bill to include measures which ensure the police and other criminal justice agencies can be held to account if they’re not delivering for victims.”

Lady Newlove said there needed to be the systematic collection of data on compliance coupled with “robust” independent scrutiny of agencies’ performance, underpinned by either statutory guidance or enshrined in the Bill.

“Those who persistently let victims down must be held to account and required to address their shortcomings. If need be, independent inspectors must be asked to identify the failings and recommend solutions,” she told The Telegraph.

“This Bill goes some way to address these issues and is a step in the right direction. That said, it still falls short. Victims need more than good intentions.”

The Government’s proposed “metrics” against which the criminal system will be judged cover 12 victims’ rights such as the timeliness and number of letters sent to them explaining a decision not to prosecute and proportions of crime report numbers delivered within five days.

A government spokesman said: “Publishing compliance information will ensure no agency can hide if they are not providing victims with the support they deserve, and organisations that continue to not comply will be subject to additional, robust scrutiny and expected to provide an action plan for immediate improvement.”

‘The Bill still falls short. Victims need more than good intentions’

‘Publishing compliance information will ensure no agency can hide if they are not providing victims with support they deserve’