Kent PCC says cuts to victim support have 'come at the worst time'
The Police and Crime commissioner is 'very disappointed' about the cut
Kent’s PCC say he’ll do all he can to mitigate against the government’s 4.2% cut to victim services funding.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed a £2,073,216 funding settlement for 2025/6, which is about £90,000 less than last year.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Matthew Scott said "I'm very disappointed that this is the government's priority.
Cutting funding for victims of crime couldn't have come at a worse time, charities are struggling, victims need support, particularly when we have challenges in our court service.
This is the wrong choice to make."
The cuts come as some victims are facing waits of between two and five years to see a case go to trial.
Matthew is urging victims to carry on reporting crime, adding "we are working really hard within the police to investigate more crimes and get more outcomes for you.
We have a victim and witness care team that we have invested more resources into to support people going through the court process, and we are working with charities to fund services for victims of crime.
Those lengths of time that you're hearing about in our court service are a problem and it's something that I've been raising at the highest level now for a number of years.
We need extra support for our courts.
We need more judges, we need more legal advisors in our Magistrates Court so that we can start to bring those backlogs down, so that victims and defendants get their day in court."
With rising wages and national insurance costs putting a strain on charities, we asked Matthew what the police are doing to support victims, he told us "we provide a comprehensive level of support for victims of crime.
My team worked with 102,000 people last year, whether that's through Victim Support and the initial support and guidance you see when you're a victim of crime, regardless of what type of crime it is you've experienced.
We have specialist, independent sexual violence advisors., the same with domestic violence advisors as well.
No matter what type of crime you've experienced. We have got an organisation that we work with that can help you."
A government spokesperson said:
“We are determined to ensure police have the resources they need to protect our communities.
That is why the Home Secretary recently announced an increase of over half a billion pounds in funding for policing and confirmed that forces will be fully compensated for the changes to employer National Insurance contributions.
Full details of police funding will be confirmed in the police funding settlement in mid-December.”