Written question asked by Margaret Moran (Labour) on Thursday, 12 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 July 2007. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 July 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Victims of Crime and Witnesses: Support

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to make additional support available to victims of crime and witnesses in court proceedings.

Answer: The Government have already done much to support victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings. We have:"Introduced special measures such as live links, video-recorded evidence-in-chief and intermediaries. An independent evaluation in 2004 found that one-third of witnesses would not have been willing or able to give evidence without special measures""Given £30 million annually to Victim Support, who provide the Witness Service in every court""Introduced a statutory Code of Practice to give victims legal rights for the first time""Spent £2.75 million on new court live link systems to help witnesses give evidence since 2006""Met the target of having separate waiting facilities in 90 per cent. of magistrates courts ahead of schedule."

Secondary information