New Victims' Hub For Cambridgeshire

1 October 2014, 06:00

Victims of crime in Cambridgeshire to get more enhanced support.

A new police-led Victims' Hub will, from today, be offering support to victims of crime in Cambridgeshire to help them cope and recover from the impact of the crime they have experienced.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary is one of seven forces leading the way nationally to provide a local service for victims from which a range of support can be accessed.

Victims of crime will be assessed to determine the level of support they need and then helped in the most appropriate way, bringing in specialist services as required.   

Funding for this service passed from the Ministry for Justice to Police and Crime Commissioners this month, enabling a far more locally driven provision for victims of crime to be created.

All other Constabularies will have to put in place local services to support victims of crime from April next year.    

Sir Graham Bright, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire, said: "I have long been a believer that the commissioning of support services for the victims of crime is best done at a local, rather than a national, level. By involving local people with local knowledge we are able to develop local solutions which provide the victims with the level of support they need.

"This integrated service allows us to quickly assess the needs of individuals and co-ordinate the delivery of the right services from across a range of agencies – particularly important for the most vulnerable in our society."

The Victims' Hub, which is staffed by a team of victim care co-ordinators, will be led by Steve Welby, who says: "The impact of crime on victims can vary from person to person. This new service will allow support to be offered to those people with the most need.

"This will lead to greater confidence and satisfaction throughout the whole process, from reporting a crime through to attending court and beyond.

"The victim care co-ordinators will have local knowledge of what is available within the county. They will also be able to identify any gaps in service to inform future commissioning."

He added: "The Victims' Hub reflects our aim to keep the victim at the heart of our service. It is part of the force’s wider priorities to protect those most at risk, and to comply with the Victim's Code and the EU directive 29/12 which establishes the minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime."

Further information, click here.