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Commissioning

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In October 2014, the Police and Crime Commissioner became responsible for commissioning emotional and practical support services for victims of crime
in the Thames Valley.

Current services commissioned to support victims of crime include the Victims First Emotional Support Service (VFESS) and the Victims First Adult Specialist Service (VFSS) delivered by Thames Valley Partnership, and the Young Victims Service, delivered by SAFE!

In June 2023, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed it would be recommissioning the Thames Valley-wide core victims provision with the tender process opening in August 2023.

In January 2024, the OPCC announced the outcome of that tender process.

From 1 April 2024, the Victims First service will be restructured into three new streams of provision – a new Adult Service, a Children and Young People’s Service and a dedicated Sexual Violence Service.

Victim Support will be delivering the Adult Service, SAFE! has been 
recommissioned to deliver the Children and Young People’s Service 
and the Sexual Violence Service will be delivered by Hope After Harm
(formerly Thames Valley Partnership).

The new contracts have been awarded for three years with the option to extend for up to five years at a value of £10,016,588 for five years. 

More information about the new services and the new service providers is available via this link.

Counsellor or support worker holding hands with client.

Before the commissioning process commenced, the OPCC held a series of co-production market engagement events with victims as part of a review into existing victims’ services. The purpose of these events was to understand how the OPCC could best meet the needs of victims and address gaps in provision. These events were supported by a number of public surveys and consultations. We consulted with victims of all crime types including survivors of sexual violence and young victims of crime.

The feedback gathered helped shape the design of the new service model.

You can read more about the impact of this engagement in our “You Said, We Did” document.

Market engagement events (Spring 2023)

In March and April 2023, Victims First held a series of market engagement events to discuss adults provision (23/3), sexual violence support (27/3) and children and young people support (24/4).

During these events, feedback was gathered from attendees on both the commissioning process and the new victims’ services service model.

Below, you can find links to feedback collated from each event as well as a link to the slides used at each event:

Further Information

To contact Victims First call 0300 1234 148

Further information about the support available as well as information on crime can be found on the Victims First website

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