Question reference: S6W-25305
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 6 February 2024
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 February 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what objectives it set for any funding that it provided to Central Advocacy Partners since 2019.
Answer
Since 2019, the Scottish Government has provided funding to Central Advocacy Partners from the Victim Centred Approach Fund and from the Victim Surcharge Fund.
Victim Centred Approach Fund
Organisations that receive support from VCAF are required to demonstrate how the services they provide, or propose to provide, can contribute towards delivery of one or more of the following priorities:
- Priority 1 - Victims will have access to practical and emotional support, regardless of: whereabouts in Scotland they live; the nature or severity of the crime; whether it has been reported; or what stage of the justice journey they are at.
- Priority 2 - Victims will have access to joined-up services that are inclusive and accessible to all, are trauma-informed, provide streamlined support, and reduce the need for victims to recount their experiences to several different organisations.
- Priority 3 - Families bereaved by crime committed in Scotland or abroad will have access to specialist practical and emotional support.
- Priority 4 - Victims / survivors of gender based violence will have access to consistent and specialist criminal justice advocacy support.
- Priority 5 - Adult victims of human trafficking and/or slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour will have access to support and assistance.
Full details on the terms and conditions for the Victim Centred Approach Fund are set out in the application guidance .
Victim Surcharge Fund
The Victim Surcharge Fund (VSF) supplements and enhances support core services that the victim support organisations (VSO) already provide to victims of crime
The VSF is intended to meet:
- costs that would not have been incurred if the person was not a victim of crime;
- costs which cannot be met reasonably by any other source.
In many cases, this will mean using the fund to pay for one-off expenses or services incurred by the victim or their relative within the first 6 months of the victim engaging with the VSO. However, VSOs have flexibility to determine on a case-by-case basis how long after initial engagement support can be provided.
Funding provided is to allow VSOs to make payments to third parties, contractors, etc for goods and services provided.
Full details on the terms and conditions are set out in the Victim Surcharge Fund Guidance .