PCC welcomes Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove and other criminal justice experts at second Victims’ Conference
Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen hosted a high-profile conference drawing together leading UK justice experts including Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove to help improve outcomes for victims of crime.
The County Durham and Darlington PCC staged her second Bi-Annual Victims’ Conference at The Durham Centre on Thursday (April 3), delivering a packed programme of speeches and workshops to highlight advances in the care and support of victims of crime.
The event, first held in 2022, drew delegates from across health, education, policing, criminal justice, youth justice and the victim support landscape and was aimed at increasing understanding of the new Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 and its implementation locally.
The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, talked to guests about her new powers and responsibilities under the Act, designed to help her hold agencies to account for failing to deliver proper care and support to victims of crime.
Other speakers included Ruth Friskney, representing the University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow, who delivered a workshop on the Rape Victim Impact Assessment Tool and Dr Kelly Henderson and Dr Mercy Denedo from the organisation Addressing Domestic Abuse which undertakes research, evaluation and training on domestic abuse and works with housing providers to improve their response to domestic abuse.
The conference also showcased local best practice with a workshop focused on the innovative work of the PCC’s Victim Care and Advice Service (VCAS).
In opening the conference, the Commissioner told delegates that victims of crime remain ‘front and centre’ of everything she does as PCC and that she is proud of the significant improvements made since she hosted her inaugural Bi-Annual Victims’ Conference, two years ago.
These include the roll out of Victim Impact Assessments – a concept she devised and has now fully implemented – which ensures any policy under development by her office, or Durham Constabulary, must now be assessed for its impact on victims of crime – just as checks are also made against the Equality Act.
Additionally, she told guests about the introduction of routine Root Cause Analysis (RCA) meetings. These meetings see senior criminal justice figures scrutinising real cases through the lens of a victim of crime to understand what happened, what should or could have happened and why to enable recommendations to be forwarded to the Local Criminal Justice Board for implementation.
Speaking after the event, Joy Allen said: “This conference was about putting victims first: placing victims of crime front and centre of everything we do as professionals, as organisations and as people and how the arrival of the Victim and Prisoners Act 2024 will help us to do this.
“For too long, victims of crime have felt overlooked by the agencies responsible for protecting them and securing justice and now – thanks to some very determined and courageous campaigners – we have the law on our side to force change.
“From this point onwards, the Victims’ Code is non-negotiable; organisations are now legally bound to deliver enhanced rights for all victims and will be held accountable.
“This new golden standard will deliver greater consistency across the country and will ensure high-quality victim care does not become a ‘postcode lottery’.
“We have gone to great lengths to understand the victims’ unique experience here in Durham and Darlington. We’ve learned lessons quickly and since my last conference, we have put new measures in place to improve the way we respond and support survivors in the future. But there is always more we can do and learn which is exactly what the conference was all about.”
The Act places a statutory obligation on agencies to deliver the rights outlined in the Victims Code of Practice which sets out the minimum level of service that victims should receive in England and Wales at every stage of their justice journey from reporting a crime to the police to post-trial support.
It also places a new duty on PCCs to bring partners together via their Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJB) to monitor compliance of the Code and report their findings back to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Baroness Newlove said: “I’m grateful to PCC Joy Allen and her team for the opportunity to visit Durham and speak at the victim conference last week. Our criminal justice system is facing many challenges. Yet, we must never lose sight of the needs of victims and look for opportunities to make things better. That commitment – including the dedicated work happening at Durham victim support services – is more important than ever before.”
Chief Constable Rachel Bacon said: “Everyone at Durham Constabulary strives towards delivering a first-class service to victims of crime.
“Of course, we want to prevent any person from becoming a victim, however in reality we know the ever-changing landscape and complexity of crime means we need to continue working together and look for opportunities to improve our service.
“Victims of crime put their trust in the police to listen and respond to their needs and they should be confident that we will do everything we can to bring perpetrators to justice.
“Victims are at the heart of everything we do and it is crucial we continue to listen to their needs to ensure they have a voice, to ensure they get the right support and ensure they get the outcomes they deserve”.
The PCC has prioritised victims of crimes in her Police and Crime Plan, vowing to deliver a ‘first class service’ which includes faster justice, enhanced support and improved contact from the police.
“It is paramount to me that we implement changes that ensure victims remain the priority – and not an afterthought,” she told the conference.
“This means developing better support mechanisms to enhance recovery and prevent re-victimisation, amplifying the victims’ voice so we can continually improve and learn lessons and addressing the many barriers that prevent timely justice and prolong trauma.
“It also means embedding a prevention-first approach. Preventing crime before it happens is not only more cost-effective but also protects people from experiencing unnecessary trauma as victims and reduces demand on all areas of the criminal justice system.”
