Victims Taskforce papers: June 2024

Victim/Survivor Advisory Board issues tracker – November 2024 

Section 1: Communication 

Issue no: 1a 

Date of initial input: 15 March 2023

Issue: Individuals often do not know what rights they have and what they are entitled to, and are unaware of the Standards of Service.

Proposed change:  

• Victims should be given a leaflet setting out their rights, what to do if those rights aren’t met, who to contact for more information.  

• Further promotion of the new Care Card is required, as many victims/survivors of crime are unaware of this.  

• The recommendation from Lady Dorrian’s review of the charter of rights for sexual offence complainers should be implemented.

Current position/proposed action:  

Police Scotland 

• Legislation places a duty on the Chief Constable to ensure victims are informed of: their right to request a copy of the Victims Code, info relating to victims’ rights and to request a referral to support services or be advised that they can contact providers directly without referral.  

• The Victim Care Card contains signposting to all of this information and was introduced by Police Scotland to enable them to meet these obligations. The card contains brief details with links to the relevant Police Scotland internet pages. 

• Feedback from public consultation work highlighted the need to refresh the VCC and make it more accessible to victims. An updated version ‘Your Care Card’ has been approved and work is ongoing to roll this out.  

• A collaborative engagement project with Victim Support Scotland is ongoing to raise awareness amongst officers about the importance of offering the Care Card to victims and the work of support agencies.  

• To further support this, Executive approval has also been given to automate the process to allow for an electronic version to be generated. This is intended to improve compliance and accessibility however the timescales for the system upgrade have still to be confirmed. 

• The new ‘Your Care Card’ has now been translated into 20 languages. Work ongoing to allow for electronic provision through the hand held devices prior to the rollout which will focus on internal communications to raise awareness amongst frontline officers to better inform victims/survivors.  

• The Police Scotland Victims and Witnesses Intranet page has been reviewed. Discussions have been ongoing with The First Word to assist with updating the site to make it more accessible and user friendly. Await approval to include this work in phase 2 of the ‘People at heart’ project. Opportunities to better promote victim’s rights through this work.   

COPFS 

• COPFS publishes information on victims’ rights and other guidance for victims and links to this information could be included on support agency websites: 

  • Your rights as a victim | COPFS 

  • Victim Services | COPFS 

  • Bereaved Relatives | COPFS 

• Criminal justice and support agencies have agreed to work together to improve support for victims and witnesses. Please see: Working together for victims and witnesses | COPFS. 

SG 

• SG is working with victim organisations’ reference groups to arrange initial sessions with victims/survivors in the summer, so that they can help shape the creation of the Charter.  

Action lead: Police Scotland, SG, COPFS 

Last updated: 29 May 2024

Update provided by: Police Scotland, COPFS, SG, VSAB (Victim-Survivor Advisory Board). 

 

Issue no: 1b 

Date of initial input: 15 March 2023

Issue: Individuals unaware of how to give feedback/make complaints. 

Proposed change:   

• Clear processes in place for victims/survivors/ witnesses/family members to have opportunities to tell the justice system how they experienced it.  

• Child-friendly processes for child victims.  

• Joint working and accountability between agencies about their complaints review processes so that there is not the situation that victims/survivors who make complaints to one justice agency are told to go to another justice agency and vice versa. 

Current position/proposed action:  

SG 

• Justice agencies are currently working with Scottish Government to design new ‘live’ feedback loops.  

• This recognises the need to understand the experience of victims and survivors going through the criminal justice process.  

COPFS 

• The VIA Modernisation Programme is looking at how we can improve our services for and communication with victims, witnesses and bereaved relatives.

• COPFS has an agreement with Rape Crisis Scotland so that we can hear anonymous feedback in sexual offences cases and learn from the feedback to improve our services. 

• The HMIPS report on the prosecution of summary domestic abuse cases has recommended the introduction of further feedback loops. COPFS is scoping the creation of feedback loops with other partner agencies. This will feed into the work of the VIA modernisation programme to inform wider national roll out. 

• Information about how to provide feedback or make a complaint to COPFS is available at: Feedback and complaints | COPFS 

Police Scotland 

• Police Scotland conduct a monthly external ‘User Experience Survey for Local Policing’ intended to capture people’s experiences from point of contact and throughout officer engagement. 

The service also has an engagement hub which hosts engagement activities, surveys and consultations on a variety of themes. It also facilitates a feedback mechanism for domestic abuse, rape and sexual crime which invites victim/ survivors to provide anonymous feedback on the service they received. 

Action lead: SG, COPFS, Police Scotland  

Last updated: 27 May 2024

Update provided by: SG, Police Scotland, COPFS 

 

Issue no: 1c 

Date of initial input: 9 March 2023

Issue: Issues raised around communication channels and feelings of safety for victims/ survivors who are awaiting trial, where the accused has received bail and where the victim/survivor feels there is a continued threat from the accused. 

Proposed change 

• Clarity for individuals about how their rights to protection, information and participation will be protected in situations where the accused has on bail until a trial. The safety of victims needs to be prioritised, so they can feel safe if the accused is given bail. 

• Clear information about who is responsible for responding to breaches and what they should do. 

Current position/proposed action:  

COPFS 

• COPFS makes full use of opportunities, including in solemn sexual offence cases through our Victim Strategies, to communicate with victims and witnesses, to ensure that they remain engaged in the prosecution process and are able to ask questions about safety concerns.  

• Where concerns are raised COPFS may provide information, refer the victim or witness to support services or support the victim or witness to report their concerns to the police for investigation.  

• Where an individual is reported for breaching conditions of bail Police Scotland would undertake the necessary investigations and report any breaches to COPFS. 

Action lead: COPFS

Last updated: 13 November 2023

Update provided by: COPFS 

 

Issue no: 1d 

Date of initial input: 9 March 2023

Issue: Victims/survivors receive often distressing communications out of the blue from agencies, and some individuals report receiving confusing communications without explanation of the information and expected actions within the communications. 

Proposed change:  

• Trauma informed training and communications - ensure all communications are clear and trauma informed, and that individuals can access support to navigate the system. 

• Implement a system of warning about content of written communications that could be upsetting, for example a separate internal envelope with the contents. 

Current position/proposed action:  

People at Heart Approach 

• The First Word has created People at heart, a person-centred, trauma-informed approach to communication and has been working with criminal justice agencies to improve written communications. 

• The First Word has run training with criminal justice agencies and developed an e-module shared with justice partners, as well as a public-facing style guide. 

• The First Word have carried out an initial round of individual consultations to identify further opportunities for training and tailored support such as re-writes of public facing literature. 

• Workstream 3 has been established to support and monitor roll out of the Improving Communications for Victims workstream outputs across the criminal justice sector. 

• The Workstream’s first phase of work will be to develop an implementation plan for the People at Heart approach, and is attended by justice partners, victim support organisations, and victim representatives. 

VNS Review 

• The VNS review made recommendations about improving communications.  We think the proposals here could be incorporated into work on those recommendations. The recommendations were informed by what victims told the review; we will make sure to continue this by include victims’ voices in future work on this.  

• The forthcoming response to the review will set out our intended approach to these recommendations in more detail.  

• The work on the response is well progressed, and we expect to publish this very soon.  

COPFS 

• The VIA Modernisation Programme is also looking at how COPFS can improve its communication with victims, witnesses and bereaved relatives.  

Action lead: Victims Taskforce: Trauma Informed Workforce & Comms w/streams 

Last updated: 29 May 2024

Update provided by: SG, COPFS 

 

Section 2: delays 

Issue no: 2a 

Date of initial input: 9 March 2023

Issue: Continued trial adjournments, often multiple times, continue to cause distress and practical disruption for witnesses 

Proposed change:  

• Reduction in numbers of adjournments/ length of wait for individuals 

• Clear communication and explanation as to why adjournments are taking place when they must occur. 

• Reps raised that there should be standards for how quickly trials will go to court 

Current position/proposed action:  

TCP 3 – Summary Case Management 

• Reducing churn and journey times is a key focus for TCP 3 Criminal Justice System Efficiency. As a part of this programme the work of the Judicially led summary case management pilot is going well and is looking to achieve:  

  • Increase in cases resolved as early as possible.

  • Reduction in witness citations first and repeat.

  • Reduction in intermediate diets held.

  • Reduced case journey times.

• The pilot is established in Dundee, Hamilton, Paisley, Glasgow and Perth. The interim evaluation showed: 

  • 250 summary trials did not require to be assigned in the Pilot courts.  

  • A 25% reduction in the first citation of civilian witnesses. 

  • A 34% reduction in the first citation of police witnesses.  

• The full pilot evaluation in the summer will inform future roll out plans. 

• In order for the pilot to work in an optimum way the plan is for this rollout to go in parallel with the rollout of the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) so that the evidence needed is always available for the trial or hearing to proceed. 

TCP 3 – System Health Check

• The aim of this project is to work towards having clear KPIs which the system is moving towards and can measure and evidence.  To support the programme delivery these will be in the first instance focused around reducing the journey times for a case. 

COPFS 

• The VIA Modernisation Programme is looking at how COPFS can improve communication with victims, and witnesses.  

Action lead: TCP 3: Criminal Justice System Efficiency  

Last updated: 29 May 2024

Update provided by: SG, SCTS 

 

Issue no: 2b 

Date of initial input: not recorded.

Issue: Floating trial diets are causing considerable distress and disruption.

Proposed change: Floating trial diets should not be used in sexual offence cases.

Current position/proposed action:  

Action Now Closed 

• No intention to move away from floating trials, which minimise trial journey times, by maximising utilisation of trial courts. 

• 76% of High Court trials are categorised as sexual offence cases.  

• 98% of all High Court trials that start do so within the float period.  

• A move to a fixed trial system would add an estimated minimum of 24 weeks to the current 43-week High Court journey times. 

• Continued expansion of evidence by commission is essential to reduce journey times. Currently this can reduce the evidence giving journey times by 28-32 weeks.

• Certain provisions in the Victims, Witnesses & Justice Reform (Scotland) relate to court scheduling, which will continue to be assessed as the bill progresses. 

Action lead: SCTS 

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Update provided by: SCTS 

 

Section 3: trauma informed justice 

Issue no: 3a  

Date of initial input: 9 March 2023

Issue: Need for all personnel in the court system and wider justice system to have trauma informed training and to adopt trauma informed practice including the judiciary and defence agents. Specialist training for the judiciary also highlighted as necessary around areas such as domestic abuse, sexual crime and stalking.

Proposed change:  

• Trauma informed and VAWG competent training for all justice personnel. 

• Consideration should be given to how victim-survivors might input into training. 

• Accountability plan - how will we know improvement is happening?  What behaviours need changing and to what?  Who is responsible for monitoring and responding if improvement is not evident? 

Current position/proposed action:  

• WS2 recognises the importance of TI and gender competency training, and that these should be considered separate issues. Whilst a TI approach covers some of the gender competencies, specific training should be considered and delivered by experts in VAWG training. 

• NES has launched training resources which are consistent with the aims of the framework. Further e-modules are in production. 

• NES have also been supporting justice partners with Scottish Trauma Informed Leaders Training developed for the Justice Framework. 

• Workstream 2 has reconvened to drive forward implementation of the Framework across the justice sector. Justice Analytical Services (JAS) are working with NES to design a monitoring and evaluation strategy for the implementation. 

• Within the context of both the Victims Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill and Transformational Change Programme 1, JAS colleagues are exploring the options for measuring the experiences of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system. Possible options for measuring experiences will be shared internally before a decision is made on next steps. (see also: 4a) 

• Part 2 of the Victims, Witnesses & Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill adds trauma-informed practice as a principle to the standards of service in the Victims & Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014.  

Action lead: Victims Taskforce W/stream 2: Trauma Informed Workforce 

Last updated: 15 November 2023

Update provided by: SG 

 

Issue no: 3b 

Date of initial input: 9 March 2023

Issue: People going through civil court processes have raised issues around the support available there compared to the criminal courts. 

Proposed change:  

• Support for victim-survivors in civil cases including special measures and emotional support options.

• Better co-ordination and sharing of evidence/information between the civil and criminal courts.

• Remove means testing for legal aid for protective orders.

• Improve access to legal services where solicitors are hard to find.

Current position/proposed action:  

Support for victims/better civil-criminal coordination

• Children (Scotland) Act 2020 contains provision to establish advocacy service for children going through contact/ residence cases. This has not yet been implemented, given the pressures on resources.  Considering next steps, which may include some initial discussions with key stakeholders on how best to implement once resources are available. 

• The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 also contains provisions to enhance special measures in some family cases. Part 3 of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is currently at Stage 2 in the Parliament, will, if enacted, extend these provisions to cover civil cases generally.                                                                    

• Following SG funded SCCJR research on Domestic Abuse & Child Contact: The Interface Between Criminal & Civil Proceedings, a workshop took place on 8 May 2024 with Justice agencies to consider improvements. A further workshop is planned, with voluntary sector bodies, on 3 October 2024.   

• These workshops will inform a planned discussion paper on improving interaction between criminal & civil courts – an SG commitment in the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy 

Legal aid means-testing for protective orders

• No intention of removing the legal aid means test in relation to civil protection orders - would have significant resource considerations, at time of budgetary constraints. 

• As well as stand-alone applications for civil protection orders, removing the means test could impact on multi-crave family actions where the granting of a civil protection order is just one of the craves. Would have further resource implications. 

• If free legal aid provided for person seeking a civil protection order, might also need to give free legal to any person arguing the order should not be granted, to ensure equality of arms.  

• A Discussion Paper (consultation) by the (independent) Scottish Law Commission on the law on civil protection orders is expected in summer 2024, as part of their project on the law in relation to civil remedies against domestic abuse.  

Access to legal services

• Civil legal aid is available in a wide scope of actions with generous eligibility thresholds. 

• SG supports the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, which offers free legal information & advice to women experiencing gender based violence. 

• Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill introduced to Parliament and currently at Stage 2. The Bill removes restrictions preventing charities, law centres & citizen’s advice bodies from directly employing solicitors to provide certain legal services to some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens. 

• A pilot project through the Scottish Legal Aid Board over 3 years, to support Scottish Women’s Aid for the provision of legal advice to those affected by domestic abuse.   

• The ‘Future of the Legal Profession’ working group will, among other things, look at capacity within the legal profession.  

• Additional SG funding and increased remuneration for legal aid providers - with the most recent increase in April 2023 resulting in an £11 million package of legal aid reforms and uplift worth 10.25% overall.  

Action lead: SG 

Last updated: 17 May 2024

Update provided by: SG 

 

Issue no: 3c 

Date of initial input: 20 March 2024

Issue: Inaccuracies in police statements – complainers being asked to approve accuracy immediately after giving statement when they are not in an emotional position to do so. 

Proposed change: Exploration of improvement around systems to check the accuracy of Police statements with the individuals who have given their statement.  

Current position/proposed action:  

• There is ongoing work looking at how to improve this area.  

• The first is looking at the complete roll out of VRI for rape and sexual crime cases that should significantly reduce errors within the statement. 

• The second part will look at consultation with survivors of abuse to ascertain an appropriate time to check for accuracy within the police statement to avoid re-traumatisation.   

Action lead: Police Scotland 

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Update provided by: not recorded  

 

Issue no: 3d 

Date of initial input: 20 March 2024

Issue:  

• Lack of support to complete Victim Impact Statements.

• Victim/witnesses not given option of reading statements out in court.

Proposed change: More support to be put in place around Victim Impact Statements and exploration of the option for them to be read out in court. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• SG is committed to expanding the scope of the Victim Statement scheme and looking at different ways statements could be delivered to the court, and the project is included in Transformational Change Programme 1. 

• We consulted on expanding the scheme in 2019 and then made regulations in 2021 which enable the Scottish Ministers to pilot changes to the Scheme and provide more victims with the opportunity to make a victim statement. 

• Progress has not been at the pace we would have hoped due to a range of factors, including competing priorities but also owing to dependencies with the Witness Gateway.  

• We will keep the VSAB updated on developments as work on this project picks up again. 

Action lead: SG 

Last updated: 4 June 2024

Update provided by: SG 

 

Issue no: 3e 

Date of initial input: 20 March 2024

Issue: Victims being asked by the police to approach other possible complainers. 

Proposed change: This is not a trauma informed approach and should cease. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• Proactive Approach to Potential Victims Of Crime Guidance document is being reintroduced. 

Action lead: Police Scotland  

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Update provided by: Police Scotland 

 

Section 4: data 

Issue no: 4a  

Date of initial input: 15 March 2023

Issue: Need more  qualitative data about lived experiences of the justice system. 

Proposed change:  

• Improved data and research.

• Improve intersectional data supply. If current IT systems can’t accommodate, design snapshot data collection strategies until systems can be improved. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• Justice agencies are currently working with Scottish Government to design new ‘live’ feedback loops.  

• This recognises the need to understand the experience of victims and survivors going through the criminal justice process now.  

• As part of WS2’s work in implementing the Trama Informed Justice Knowledge and Skills Framework, participating justice agencies will seek to embed opportunities for feedback from victims and witnesses ensuring that their experiences are heard (see also: 3a). 

Action lead: SG/CJA analytical services 

Last updated: 10 November 2023

Update provided by: SG 

 

Issue no: 4b  

Date of initial input: 15 March 2023

Issue: Need for better quantitative data about convictions, attrition etc for sexual offence and domestic abuse cases. 

Proposed change: Re-consideration of the data in the two statistical bulletins - Recorded Crime and Criminal Proceedings, to enable us to have information about the number of reported rapes leading to a prosecution and then a conviction, with specific figures for single complainer rape cases. Information to be given on gender, age and ethnicity where possible. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• It is not possible to track cases through the Justice systems in the way outlined. 

• There are several reasons for this, incl. differences in how data is recorded to reflect the operational needs of different parts of the system.  

• This means the Recorded Crime publication is based on recorded crimes and offences whereas Criminal Proceedings is based on number of individuals who are proceeded against. Both datasets are used and maintained by Police Scotland. 

• A short-life working group which includes academics and key stakeholders has been established by JAS to better understand what the user need is for conviction rate data to help improve our understanding of how cases involving rape and attempted rape are dealt with in the criminal justice system.  

• JAS will complete a thorough examination of the data we have (and don’t have) on rape and rape convictions, either answering key questions of interest or highlighting data limitations, creating a conclusive summary of our rape and attempted rape conviction data and making recommendations for further work that could be undertaken to address unmet needs.  

• The second meeting of the group was on Thursday 23 May.

Action lead: SG/CJA analytical services 

Last updated: 20 May 2024

Update provided by: SG 

 

Issue no: 4c 

Date of initial input: 15 March 2023

Issue: Accessing transcripts of trials is something that some people desire but it is prohibitively expensive for people to request. 

Proposed change: Transcripts should be made available free of charge in defined circumstances e.g. for complainers of sexual offences. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• On 1 March 2024, the Scottish Government commenced a funded pilot for free access to transcripts for complainers in rape and sexual offence cases heard in the High Court of Justiciary. Cases that began on or after 31 December 2006 are eligible. 

• The pilot scheme will run for 12 months and will be evaluated. 

• Guidance and application form can be accessed on the SCTS website.   

• As at 22 May, 51 applications have been received, 4 of which were not eligible for the pilot and 1 was withdrawn. Reasons for applications have been shared with SG for evaluation.  

• Of the 46 eligible applications, 41 have full digital recordings which are being processed. 3 do not have complete audio recording due to recording failure during the trial, 1 cannot be transcribed due to the quality of the audio and 1 has been subject to a data loss of 3 days of the 4-day trial during the backup process. The application guidance advises that transcription may not be possible in every case. 

Action lead: SG/SCTS 

(SCTS continue to facilitate the pilot. SG beginning evaluation of pilot and considering next steps.) 

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Update provided by: SG/SCTS 

 

Issue no: 4d 

Date of initial input: 26 July 2023

Issue: Clarity needed from agencies around data rights for individuals around the evidence that is held to do with them in their case, what agencies it is held by, how long it is held, and the access rights that individuals have. 

Proposed change:  

• Victims should be given information about what data is held by whom and what rights they have to access this. 

• Further update from VSAB – this relates to the Police also. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• COPFS provides details on our website in relation to the retention of personal data by COPFS and the process for individuals to accesses this information and this link could be shared on support agency websites: Request personal data | COPFS 

• Police Scotland provides details on its website in relation to access to information. You can find out what personal information PS hold by making a ‘subject access request’. Access to Information - Police Scotland 

 Action lead: COPFS, Police Scotland 

Last updated: 29 May 2024

Update provided by: Police Scotland  

 

Section 5: miscellaneous  

Issue no: 5a 

Date of initial input: 26 July 2023

Issue: Issues with court expenses particularly childcare and inability to claim expenses for attending sentencing hearings. 

Proposed change: Expenses provision should be reviewed. (Further info from VSAB: There are currently no expenses available for victims/survivors to attend sentencing hearings. VSOs have had to cover the costs of victims/survivors travelling to sentencing hearings, including from as far afield as Shetland, the cost of which is considerable but is v. important for victims/ survivors to be able to attend.) 

Current position/proposed action: SG to explore this issue further (in light of additional info from VSAB) and keep VSAB/Taskforce updated via Issues Tracker.  

Action lead: SG 

Last updated: 5 June 2024

Update provided by: SG 

 

Issue no: 5b 

Date of initial input: 19 February 2024

Issue: Issues raised with safety within court settings and also in travel to and from court. 

Proposed change: Active management in court settings to prevent interaction between complainers and accused, as well as complainers and other witnesses or family members where relevant. (Additional information from VSAB: Travel to and from court is particularly an issue for complainers from rural areas where there may be only one train getting in in time for court starting.) 

Current position/proposed action:  

Safety within court setting: 

• Police Scotland are responsible for public order in court buildings, providing a dedicated policing response to any conduct that may interfere with the court process. 

• We are extending our remote sites with VSS and Bairns Hoose and expanding evidence by commission facilities, to minimise vulnerable witnesses coming to court. With the increasing level of solemn prosecutions this is particularly important. 

• Where possible separate entrances are provided for vulnerable witnesses, however, with our diverse estate, a number only have one entrance, and facilities vary across locations.  

• There are also practical difficulties as court staff will be unaware of who the complainers/witnesses are until they check in. Similarly, staff won’t always be aware who accused persons are when they enter the building. Avoiding interaction without prior notification enabling arrangements to be put in place, where possible, is challenging.   

Issues with travel to and from court:  

• COPFS to explore this issue further, in the context of discussing arrangements with complainers for attending court.  

Action lead: Police/ SCTS (safety within court setting), COPFS (issues with travel to and from court) 

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Update provided by: SCTS, COPFS 

 

Issue no: 5c 

Date of initial input: 19 February 2024

Issue: Victims/survivors and their families do not often know the meaning of sentences given. 

Proposed change: Development of the content and delivery of Sentencing statements, and the information and support made available post-sentencing. 

Current position/proposed action:  

• The VIA modernisation programme is reviewing all COPFS victim communication to ensure needs are met. 

• A pilot in Grampian, Highlands and Islands is providing depute follow-up with victims of domestic abuse post-trial to answer any questions they may have about the trial. 

Sentencing is a matter for the court and this needs holistic response – SG to liaise with the Sentencing Council on information/guidance available. 

Action lead: SG, COPFS 

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Update provided by: COPFS, SG