Charities to share £440m government funding to support crime victims

The government has pledged to ensure charities are central to its £440m funding commitment to support victims of crime.

Grants are to be made available as part of ministers’ plans to ensure funding for organisations is more strategic and is better meeting victims’ needs.

The pledge has also been made to ensure that victims support commissioners are funding a wide range of support.

The details have been revealed in the government’s Victims Funding Strategy.

This pledges to “involve organisations who are not already funded by the commissioner - such as charities, trusts, voluntary organisations and otherwise”.

“These organisations will hold expertise and understanding of the support sector, which can be used to help inform the service development process, even if they are not bidding for funding,” states the strategy.

Justice minister Tom Pursglove added that the government wants to “fund the support sector more strategically, so the right services are available for victims”.

This includes investing in hybrid service delivery that offers support remotely and through face-to-face sessions.

In addition, he pledged to ensure that funding is “accessible” to small charities and other support organisations so that they “are not intentionally excluded”.

The £440m funding will be made available for the next three years “so that organisations can plan for the future and build capacity to support even more victims”, added Pursglove.

The funding pledge will also be backed by a new set of national commissioning standards outlining “core outcomes” providers will be expected to achieve to support victims.

The strategy will be overseen by a newly created cross government board and has been created as part of the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto pledge to better support victims of crime.