Contribution
My Lords, this group is titled simply “victim support”, but in the debate so far we have heard strikingly different issues in victim support, none of which can really be put together. But what they say generally—I hope to reflect this when I speak to my three amendments in this group—is that, although there is progress in victim support, some of it can be patchy, not well embedded and inconsistent. I know that this Government, at their heart, particularly through their VAWG strategy, are determined to do something about that. I think the Minister is finding that there is pressure from all around the House, saying, “Could you speed that up a bit, please?”
I have three amendments in this group: Amendment 11, on the provision of support for parents and carers of victims of sexual or violent offences, and Amendments 12 and 13 on restorative justice, which I will speak to in a minute.
I have raised the problems that face the parents and carers of some victims of sexual or violent offences on a number of occasions. The problem is that there is a fault line in the current victims framework, which does not understand the role of a parent—it is usually a parent—or carer of a victim of sexual or violent offences who has been traumatised by what has happened to their child. Too often, the distraught victim returns to the family and, not infrequently, family members provide essential support. Sometimes, the trauma is so great that at least one parent has to give up work to look after their adult child. These family members provide an essential safeguarding and recovery role. Research has shown that many carers experience significant psychological, practical and financial difficulties, with no support or redress at all for themselves.
The victims’ code allows parents, guardians or carers to receive rights where the victim is a child, and it provides more limited recognition in cases involving vulnerable adults. In practice, these rights are framed primarily around acting on behalf of the victim, but the code does not establish a clear stand-alone entitlement to support for the parent’s or carer’s own trauma, well- being or capacity to sustain safeguarding. Unfortunately, delivery can be discretionary and inconsistent.
Therefore, this amendment recognises that some parents or carers of adult victims may require some proportionate support as a consequence of the offence and the justice process, and it would require relevant authorities to commission and make that support available, while distinguishing caregiving support from evidential witness support. It does not create new victim categories for sentencing or compensation; nor does it dilute the primacy of the effect on the victim or expand the ISVA role. I am grateful for the conversation I had with the Minister, and I hope she will agree to meet Restitute, the small self-help group trying to help parents and carers navigate a world in which their child has been severely traumatised. The loophole in the law about not qualifying because they are witnesses is very real to them.
Amendment 12 sets out the rights for a victim of an offence to make a referral to restorative justice services. Note that it is only the victim, not the offender—the Minister and I had a debate about that. The amendment is very clear: this would not put the victim at risk of being approached by the offender.
Amendment 13 would give the Secretary of State a duty to report on the use of restorative justice services and to lay the report before Parliament. In Committee, I set out the experience of my honourable friend Paul Kohler MP, who was brutally attacked in his own home, witnessed by his wife and daughters. Somewhat reluctantly, they all went through a restorative justice process, which they actually found helped them all. These amendments are not general, which is why it is important that offenders would not be able to request restorative justice under them. But we know that this helps a number of offenders. There is evidence to show that, when offenders engage in good faith, it can be transformative for them too and can reduce the rate of recidivism.
The final benefit is to society as a whole. Restorative justice works. Not only can it reduce reoffending by up to 27% but it can save society money in future, in reduced costs for the police, courts, prisons and probation services. We Liberal Democrats have championed restorative justice for many years; it has been in our manifesto for as many elections as I can remember, and we support the work of Why Me and the Common Ground Justice Project. We recognise that the criminal justice system is under considerable pressure at the moment, which is why we will not test the opinion of the House on any of these three amendments, but I hope that the Ministry of Justice might look at running a restorative justice pilot to assess the benefit to society, as well as to victims and offenders.