The Victims’ Commissioner has established a Sector Advisory Board comprising senior representatives from national victim support and advocacy organisations.
The Board provides expert advice, insight and support to the Commissioner in the exercise of her statutory functions. Drawing on the collective expertise of victim support organisations, it helps inform the Commissioner’s priorities, policy positions and engagement with government, criminal justice agencies and other stakeholders.
Board membership
- ASB Help
- Barnardo’s
- Brake
- Catch-22
- CST: Community Security Trust
- Halo Project
- Hundred Families
- Imkaan
- Karma Nirvana
- LAWRS: Latin American Women’s Rights Service
- Murdered Abroad
- NAPAC: National Association for People Abused in Childhood
- NSPCC: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
- Rape Crisis England and Wales
- Refuge
- SAMM: Support After Murder and Manslaughter
- Suzy Lamplugh Trust
- Tell Mama
- The Survivors Trust
- Victim Support
- We Are Survivors
- Welsh Women’s Aid
- Women’s Aid
Further information
VCSAB meeting summaries
The Victims’ Commissioner held the inaugural meeting of the Victims’ Commissioner’s Victim Sector Advisory Board (VSAB), bringing together chief executives and leaders from frontline victim services and specialist charities.
Key Items Discussed:
- Board Mandate: Ensuring frontline sector expertise directly shapes national policy, identifies emerging risks, and informs the Victims’ Commissioner’s long-term priorities.
- Improving Victim Support: Reviewing pathways to keep support services easily accessible and ensuring victim needs assessments are consistently delivered.
- Trauma-Informed Communication: Discussing the urgent need for justice agencies to adopt compassionate, accessible communication when sending legal updates or notifications to victims.
- Policy & Systemic Risks: Raising frontline concerns regarding upcoming justice policy changes to ensure victim safety, risk management, and service capacity are fully prioritised.
Sector Priorities: Identifying key focus areas for future meetings, including support for vulnerable groups and gaps in provision for complex cases.
Key Items Discussed:
- Early Release Scheme & Safeguarding: Reviewed the impact of early prison releases on victims, highlighting risks to domestic abuse and stalking victims, probation understaffing, tagging limitations, and the launching of an interim victim support helpline.
- Repeat Victimisation & Systemic Failures: Examining multi-agency risk framework issues and limitations in complex cases – such as Honour-Based Abuse and the structural drivers behind repeat victimisation.
- Road Traffic Collision Victims Report: Discussing the publication of the OVC Forgotten Victims report and the lack of central funding for road collision victims.
- Policy & Systemic Risks: Raising frontline concerns regarding court delays, Police and Crime Commissioner commissioning reforms, and statutory agency coordination.
- Sector Actions & Escalations: Committing to escalate sector concerns to the VC Advisory Board and agreement to share case studies on justice system barriers.