Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Festus Akinbusoye has secured additional funding to support victims of Domestic Abuse (DA) and Sexual Violence (SV).

The additional investment received from the Ministry of Justice totals £1,759,689.06 spread over three years, helping local support partners provide the most wide-reaching support services for victims.

The Commissioner said “I wholeheartedly welcome this additional funding to support victims of abuse and sexual violence.

“As part of my responsibility as PCC, a key priority of mine is to be able to secure even more funding to support local services. It is instrumental to our communities as there is always more that can be done. The harsh reality is that these types of abuse have devastating consequences.

“The fact that we can increase community-based Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence support means we can offer the tailored support victims deserve at what could be the most traumatic and devastating time in their lives.”

The MoJ confirmed back in April 2022, that they would be providing the funding but had not yet allocated money to individual PCC’s.

They have now confirmed that they will provide a boost of £6.6m per annum nationally. Of this £6.6m, they are increasing funding provided to Police and Crime Commissioners for community-based services by £6m, taking the total for PCCs to commission DA and SV services to £21.7m.

The funding also coincides with the OPCC’s Domestic Abuse bus and audio campaign currently running in Bedfordshire, a county-first campaign to highlight support available for victims.

Simon Powell, Head of Victim Services and Commissioning for the OPCC said: “Bedfordshire OPCC welcomes this allocation of funds to support victims of Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence.

“With the allocation that the MOJ has provided, we have also funded two organisations so that they can ensure there are additional Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Abuse Advisors (IDVAs) in Bedfordshire. The funding received will also increase community-based services and allow services to be even more accessible and responsive to victim’s needs, as we support them in their journey of recovery.”

If you are a partner and would like more information, please contact:

PCC-Commissioning@beds.police.uk

To contact the office about any other queries, please email pcc@beds.police.uk