Extra support for early prison release victims

Enhanced emotional support has been made available for Cambridgeshire-based victims affected by the government's early prison release scheme.

Hundreds of criminals left prisons in England and Wales in October in an attempt to reduce prison overcrowding, and thousands more are due to be released.

A report by the office of Cambridgeshire's police and crime commissioner (OPCC) said it was using almost £200,000 of new funding from the Ministry of Justice to support affected victims.

The support is available to victims of all types of crime through the charity Peterborough Rape Crisis Care Group (PRCCG).

The report, authored by OPCC assistant chief executive Nicky Edwards, said the Ministry of Justice already provided an annual grant to fund victim support services.

It provided a further £195,000 in September "to ensure victims impacted by the early release scheme can access support", Edwards wrote.

The funding has been used to provide "enhanced capacity" in Cambridgeshire Police's victim and witness hub.

"Funding has been ringfenced to enable victim service providers… to swiftly access funding for practical and emotional support for affected victims."

The government has stressed criminals released early will remain subject to strict monitoring arrangements, including the expanded use of electronic tagging.

But the scheme has been strongly criticised by victims and questions have been raised over whether the Probation Service has sufficient resources to monitor thousands more criminals in the community.

Conservative police and crime commissioner Darryl Preston has also agreed a five-year contract for sexual violence support services across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

They will be delivered by PRCCG and another charity – the Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre.

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