GovWire

This bill is delivering on the manifesto commitment to introduce a Victims Bill and establish an Independent Public Advocate. It will enable implementation of the commitments made in the Root and Branch Review of the Parole System (published 31 March 2022), as well as measures to restrict marriage in prison for those serving whole life orders.

The bill will introduce measures to better serve victims and the public through improving victims experiences of the Criminal Justice System, establishing an Independent Advocate to support victims of major incidents, strengthening the parole system and restricting marriage in prisons for those under whole life orders to ensure that the public and victims are better protected and can have greater confidence in the criminal justice system.

The bill will:

• Introduce measures to help victims have confidence that the right support is available and that, if they report crime, the criminal justice system will treat them in the way they should rightly expect. These measures will place the principles of the Victims Code into law; place a duty on criminal justice bodies with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to review their compliance and raise awareness of the Code; and increase transparency and oversight of criminal justice bodies services to victims. These measures will also enable improvements in the quality and consistency of support services for victims by introducing a duty on local commissioners in England to work together when commissioning support services and introducing guidance on Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) to increase awareness and consistency of these roles.

• Establish an Independent Public Advocate that can be stood up in response to major incidents to provide support and guidance for victims of major incidents to navigate the processes that follow, particularly inquests and inquiries.

• Make reforms to the parole system to help protect the public, keep our streets safe and restore confidence in the parole system. The measures in the bill will strengthen the release test, require parole boards to include those with a law enforcement background, allow for greater ministerial oversight and the power to overturn release decisions for the most serious offenders, reform the role of the Chair of the Parole Board to ensure it is a strategic leadership role that has no influence over the decisions made in individual cases by parole panels.

• Stop prisoners who have committed the most heinous crimes and are subject to a whole life order from being able to marry or form a civil partnership while in prison, subject to an exemption in exceptional circumstances.