Commissioner Lady Newlove says staff fail to show compassion and calls for clear guidance on how to provide support
Victims of crime feel let down and ignored by the criminal justice system despite repeated government promises to improve its performance, the victims’ commissioner has warned.
In her first review of compliance with the victims’ code, Lady Newlove said those who had complained about their experiences were still receiving inadequate attention.
Her comments are politically damaging since the Conservative and Labour parties are vying with one another to offer greater support for those who find themselves caught up in police investigations and prosecutions.
Newlove became a campaigner for reforming youth culture after her husband, Garry Newlove, was kicked to death outside their home in Warrington by youths who were vandalising her car. She was appointed victims’ commissioner in 2012.
“Victims told me that they felt staff failed to show warmth, compassion, empathy and patience,” Newlove said. “They felt they were not treated as individuals and that the responses lacked any personal touch.
“It is shocking how many victims told me how ignored, dismissed and confused they felt when they tried to raise concerns about their treatment. All it takes is basic human decency to explain to a victim, in a sensitive and timely way, why something has gone wrong and what they can do about it. I have seen excellent examples of work by agencies across the country but it’s clear that many victims are still not getting the service they deserve.”
The 35-page report drew on the experiences of more than 200 victims. It calls for “clear information from agencies and service providers” on how they support victims, updates on the progress of their complaints and information about how to pursue claims with the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.
Criminal justice agencies should give mandatory training for all staff who deal with victims’ complaints and demonstrate how complaints from victims have led to improvements in service.
The report quotes several victims. One said: “I’m just frightened … I think they will harass me if I complain about the way they have treated me and my daughter.”
Another victim described how daunting the complaints process was: “I raised concerns about the process, the process was almost worse than the actual journey of being a victim.”
The Ministry of Justice stressed that some of Newlove’s recommendations had already been put into effect. Ministers are planning to draw up a victims’ law for the next parliament and to create a single, unified website advising victims on where to lodge their complaints. The department said it aims to double spending on aid to victims from £50m to £100m a year through increases in the victim surcharge, which is levied in courtroom fines.
The victims’ minister, Mike Penning, said: “I want to put the highest emphasis on the needs of victims and an important part of that is making sure the criminal justice system always listens to what they have to say and treats them with the utmost respect and sensitivity.
“To help achieve this I have already committed to enshrining their rights in law. We have also significantly strengthened their entitlements in the Victims’ Code and are reviewing whether new powers are needed so that they can better hold the system to account.
“We are also soon launching the first-ever one-stop shop for all the information they might need as it is currently scattered across different organisations and pages of the internet. I welcome Baroness Newlove’s dedication and hard work supporting my goal to make the system better for victims. She recommends many sensible new standards in this important report, which I will carefully consider.”
Sadiq Khan MP, the shadow justice secretary, said: “This report by the government-appointed victims’ commissioner is a damning indictment of the way victims and witnesses have been let down by David Cameron’s government.
“We cannot go on treating victims as an afterthought or, worse still, ignoring them altogether. Victims losing confidence in our justice system leads to crimes going unreported and witnesses not providing evidence. If victims give up on reporting matters and helping in prosecutions it could lead to the wheels of our justice system grinding to a halt, leaving criminals roaming the streets.
“We are clear that more needs to be done, which is why the next Labour government will introduce the country’s first-ever victims’ law.”
The Labour party has established a victims’ taskforce, led by the former director of public prosecutions and Labour candidate, Sir Keir Starmer QC, Lady Lawrence and former chief constable Peter Neyroud. It is due to report shortly.
