Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill

Strategic plan

16.—(1) The Commissioner must prepare a strategic plan as soon as reasonably practicable after the Commissioner's appointment.

(2) A strategic plan is a plan setting out how the Commissioner proposes to exercise the Commissioner's functions during the Commissioner’s term of office.

(3) A strategic plan must in particular set out—

(a) the Commissioner's objectives and priorities for the Commissioner’s term of office,

(b) how the Commissioner proposes to achieve them, and

(c) the outcomes by reference to which the achievement of the objectives and priorities is to be measured.

(4) In setting out the objectives and priorities, the Commissioner must—

(a) specify one or more groups of victims or witnesses to whom the Commissioner will have particular regard, and

(b) give clear reasons for specifying the group or groups in question.

(5) In deciding which group or groups to specify, the Commissioner must —

(a) seek the views of the Department,

(b) take those views into account, and

(c) if the Commissioner decides to depart from those views, give clear reasons for doing so.

(6) The Commissioner may review and revise the strategic plan at any time during the Commissioner’s term of office.

(7) In preparing or revising a strategic plan, the Commissioner must consult—

(a) the Department;

(b) such other persons as the Commissioner considers appropriate.

(8) The Commissioner must—

(a) publish any plan prepared or revised under this section, and

(b) send a copy of any such plan to the Department.

(9) The Department must lay a copy of any plan sent to it under this section before the Assembly.

Business plans

17.—(1) The Commissioner must prepare and send to the Department a business plan in respect of each financial year.

(2) A business plan is a plan setting out how the Commissioner proposes to exercise the Commissioner’s functions during the year to which it relates.

(3) A business plan must in particular set out—

(a) the actions the Commissioner proposes to take during the year to which it relates to achieve the Commissioner’s objectives and priorities,

(b) what the timetable is for doing so,

(c) what the estimated costs are of doing so, and

(d) what, if any, the expected outcomes are.

(4) The Commissioner may review and revise any business plan prepared under this section.

(5) The first business plan of the Commissioner’s term of office must be prepared and sent to the Department as soon as reasonably practicable after the Commissioner's appointment.

(6) Each successive business plan must be prepared and sent to the Department at least 1 month before the beginning of the financial year to which it relates.

(7) In subsection (3)(a), “objectives and priorities” means the objectives and priorities set out in the strategic plan prepared under section 16.

Annual reports

18.—(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year, the Commissioner must prepare and publish an annual report on the exercise of the Commissioner's functions during that year.

(2) The annual report must include—

(a) an assessment of the extent to which the Commissioner's objectives and priorities were met in the financial year;

(b) a review of—

(i) the steps taken by the Commissioner in that year to fulfil each of the Commissioner’s functions;

(ii) issues identified by the Commissioner in that year as being relevant to victims and witnesses;

(iii) any statistics provided to the Commissioner in that year under section 11;

(iv) any reports on complaints sent to the Commissioner under section 14 and relating to that year;

(c) any recommendations made by the Commissioner in connection with—

(i) the exercise of the Commissioner's monitoring function under section 10 in that year;

(ii) any other matter relating to the Commissioner’s functions.

(3) The Commissioner must, as soon as reasonably practicable after preparing an annual report, send a copy to—

(a) the Department;

(b) any charter service provider named in the report.

(4) The Department must lay a copy of any report sent to it under this section before the Assembly.

(5) In subsection (2)(a), “objectives and priorities” means the objectives and priorities set out in the strategic plan prepared under section 16.

Duty to respond to annual reports

19.—(1) This section applies where the Commissioner publishes a report under section 18(1) containing a recommendation in relation to a charter service provider.

(2) The charter service provider must prepare comments on the report.

(3) The comments must include, in respect of each recommendation made in the report and relating to the charter service provider, an explanation of—

(a) the action which the charter service provider has taken, or proposes to take, in response to the recommendation, or

(b) why the charter service provider has not taken, or does not propose to take, any action in response.

(4) The charter service provider must arrange for the comments to be published in such manner as the provider considers appropriate.

(5) The comments must be published before the end of the period of 56 days beginning with the day on which the report is published.

(6) Where the comments are not published in accordance with subsection (5) the charter service provider must provide the Commissioner with an explanation as to the delay.

(7) The charter service provider must send a copy of anything published under subsection (4) to—

(a) the Commissioner, and

(b) the Department.