Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support services there are for young people who victims of cybercrime.

Mike Penning

The provision of victim care is a matter for the police and police and crime commissioners, who, since April 2015, have the responsibility for commissioning victim service provision. Where a crime has been reported, the Victims Code (October 2015) sets out key entitlements to victims of all crime. Victims under 18 years of age automatically qualify for enhanced entitlements. The service provider must ensure that this information is passed on as necessary to other services providers with responsibilities under the Code and to victim support services where appropriate.

Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), Government has also invested over £90m over the last five years to increase law enforcement capability and capacity to respond to cyber criminality. This has included funding for bespoke officers within the Regional Organised Crime Units and the Metropolitan Police Service to deliver protective advice and support to victims and those at risk.

It has also included training for all police officers and staff by the College of Policing, which has specific modules on working with young victims. We will look to build on this work over the next five years, as part of the increased investment of £1.9bn to protect the UK from cyber attack.