Victim's Code complaints

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request dated 1 October 2015 in which you asked to PHSO:

“To list the number of complaints processed by the Ombudsman relating to the Victims’ Code in each of the past five years”.

As you may be aware the code of practice for victims of crime (the Victims' Code) places a statutory obligation on criminal justice agencies to provide a standard of service to victims of crime or, where the victim died as a result of the criminal conduct, their relatives.

Since 3 April 2006, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has had a statutory responsibility to consider complaints, referred by MPs, from those who complain that a body has not met its obligations under the Victims’ Code.

The obligations the Victims' Code places on the agencies concerned include that:

• They provide victims, or their relatives, with information about the crime, including about arrests, prosecutions and court decisions;
• They provide information about eligibility for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme;
• Victims be told about Victim Support and either be referred on to them or offered their service;
• Bereaved relatives be assigned a family liaison police officer; and
• Victims of an offender who receives a sentence of 12 months or more after being convicted of a sexual or violent offence have the opportunity to make representations about what license conditions or supervision requirements the offender should be subject to on release from prison.

Individuals are expected to put their complaint first direct to the agency concerned. If they remain unhappy after that then they should contact an MP and ask them to refer their complaint to the ombudsman.

Once a complaint is received it will undergo an assessment process, in line with our normal casework processes, in order to decide whether or not the ombudsman should investigate it. For further details about our investigation process, please visit our website: www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Please find below the number of complaints we have received and closed between 2010/11 and 2014/15. Please be aware that the two tables will not correlate as the cases we received are not necessarily closed in the same year.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide you details about specific cases as this information is exempt from disclosure under section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Our investigations are conducted in private, and information is provided to us on the basis that it will only be disclosed under the circumstances set out in the law that governs our work (please see section 11 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 and section 15 of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993). This is key to maintaining confidence in the service that we offer and making sure that we can do our work effectively and efficiently.

Complaints in relation to the Victim’s Code

Table 1

I hope the information is helpful. If you have any questions about the data released please do not hesitate to contact me. However, if you are unhappy with how I have processed your information request you can request an internal review by writing to foiofficer@ombudsman.org.uk.

Yours sincerely

FOI/DP Officer