Prior to 2016 victim support services, excluding domestic abuse and sexual abuse, were nationally commissioned and delivered by the national charity Victim Support with automatic referrals for support for victims of specific crime types.
In 2016 the Ministry of Justice devolved funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) so they could commission local victim support services.
Within Cleveland, the OPCC conducted a procurement exercise. The tender was awarded to a local VCSE organisation, Safer Communities, to deliver the Victim Care and Advice Service.
Review of VCAS
In June 2021, the OPCC commissioned the Centre for Public Innovation (CPI) to undertake a review of the VCAS service.
The review also included a comprehensive victim needs assessment in order to inform any re-commissioning exercise.
As per DRF 2022-7485 in October 2021, a procurement exercise took place.
It resulted in Safer Communities being awarded the tender for an altered service specification. Contractual arrangements would run from April 2022 to March 2025 with an option to extend of one year plus one year.
Review of service
During 2024, the OPCC undertook a review of the current service to provide options in relation to future funding arrangements.
The review concluded that the re-commissioned VCAS service had largely delivered on the areas of increased focus required from the OPCC. The key area for further development was the digital offer.
The OPCC had wanted VCAS to develop the digital offer. This was to encourage online referrals and provide victims with a suite of online resources.
Online resources would assist victims with recovery. It would also allow staff to triage support so those with lesser needs could potentially be signposted to the website.
VCAS set aside a budget to undertake this work. However, work needed to provide the full range of changes required by the OPCC exceeded the financial envelope available.
The key work undertaken was a full refresh of the website. This included branding and the introduction of an online referral process for self referral or referral by a professional.
Sections on the website give basic advice for the key crime types supported. However, this falls short of what was originally requested by the OPCC in terms of digital support.
Costs
VCAS have costed what it would take for them to develop digital resources for four of the key crime types they support. They are:
- Fraud
- Violent crime
- Robbery
- Antisocial behaviour
The cost of this work would be £1,950. The advantage of this work is that it would provide a suite of resources for reference victims, who have lower levels of need. This, in turn, would allow Victim Care Officers to more effectively triage victims.
The move would help with the increasing demand faced by VCAS. It would also assist in promoting self help and recovery for victims who are less impacted by the crimes they have faced.
Decision 2024/25 – 014: Victim Care and Advice Service Digital Offer funding (application, 142kB)