Get your act together or victims of crime will suffer, Mayor urges Government

Unacceptable and unwarranted funding delays are endangering services to victims of crime in Greater Manchester, the Mayor and Police & Crime Commissioner has warned.

The Ministry of Justice allocates money each year to Police and Crime Commissioners to support victims of crime in local areas – but has still not said how much cash will be made available in the coming year. This is jeopardising radical work that has been taking place in Greater Manchester to improve the services provided to victims of crime.

Tony Lloyd, Greater Manchester’s Mayor and Police & Crime Commissioner said: “Here in Greater Manchester we are in the middle of a radical transformation of the services available to victims of crime which will put victims at the heart of everything we do. We’re putting victims first so I have got to ask – why isn’t the Government.

“The Ministry of Justice needs to get its act together. It’s just unacceptable that we don’t know what funding we will have next year to provide these vital services for people who are often in desperate need of help.

“This lack of information isn’t just problematic for me as Victims’ Commissioner – it’s disrespectful to victims themselves. They should not be kept waiting - the Government needs to sort it out.”

In 2016/16, Greater Manchester received £3.1m to support victims from a national pot of £63m.

Since Tony took over responsibility for the commissioning of victims services in 2013, a significant programme of work has been taking place to improve these services.

This includes the launch of a new website – www.gmvictims.org.uk – which has advice for victims and a directory of services available for them.

Behind the scenes, a radical programme of transformation has been taking places, with service providers, victims and other agencies giving their views on how to make real and lasting improvements. However, this work is being jeopardised by the lack of clarity from central Government.