Victims and Prisoners Act 2024: Statutory Guidance on Victim Support Roles

In January 2025, this Government commenced the first tranche of victim-related measures in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. This was the first step towards ensuring that victims have the right information and the support they need.

I am pleased to announce that tomorrow we are building on these foundations by commencing section 16 of the 2024 Act, which places a duty on the Secretary of State to issue statutory guidance about victim support roles specified in regulations. Tomorrow we are also bringing into force regulations necessary to specify support roles for the purposes of this measure. Commencing this measure and the connected regulations enables the Government to publish statutory guidance tomorrow on two victim support roles: independent domestic violence advisers and independent sexual violence advisers. The provisions also commit the Government to publishing further guidance on independent stalking advocates in the future.

The statutory guidance intends to standardise the IDVA and ISVA roles, with the aim of ensuring that victims of domestic and sexual abuse consistently receive the support they need to recover and, where they have reported to the police, receive the right support to help them navigate the criminal justice system. The guidance aims to achieve this by setting out the support that the roles provide, the required training and qualifications, and how these roles work alongside other professionals who support victims or who work within the criminal justice system. Criminal justice bodies and others with public functions relating to victims and the wider criminal justice system will be under a statutory duty to have regard to the guidance and the best practice within it.

This measure underscores the Government’s landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade by helping to standardise victim support roles and strengthen multi-agency working to ensure that victims consistently receive the right support.

Copies of the IDVA, ISVA and ISA guidance will be placed in the Library of the House following publication.

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