The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, with justice sector leaders during her visit to Liverpool on 29 September 2026, where she announced the nationwide rollout. Image: gov.uk (Open Government Licence v3.0).

Every Domestic Abuse Victim to Get a Dedicated CPS Liaison Officer in Nationwide Rollout

Every victim and survivor of domestic abuse in England and Wales will now have a dedicated victim liaison officer at the Crown Prosecution Service, under a nationwide expansion of victim support announced today by the Attorney General.

The rollout makes two CPS services permanent across every CPS Area. The Universal Service will give all victims more frequent and better quality communication. The Enhanced Service, aimed specifically at domestic abuse victims, provides a named liaison officer to support them from the point a case is charged through to trial.

Key facts

• What: The CPS is making its Universal Service for victims and its Enhanced Service for domestic abuse survivors permanent in every CPS Area in England and Wales.
• Who announced it: Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP, during a visit to Liverpool on 29 September 2026.
• What changes: Victim liaison officers for all domestic abuse victims, a service previously offered only to victims of rape and serious sexual offences.
• Background: Both services were piloted from 2023 as part of the CPS Victim Transformation Programme, launched in 2022.
• Policy context: The move supports the government's Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and its mission to halve VAWG within a decade.

What the announcement means for victims

Under the Enhanced Service, domestic abuse victims will get a consistent point of contact inside the CPS, someone they can turn to while a prosecution works its way through the system. Too often, victims have said they feel lost between charge and trial. The liaison officer is meant to fix that.

There is also a change to how the CPS communicates. For the first time, victims will be able to choose their preferred method of contact with the prosecution, whether that is by phone, email or post. The CPS says victims can also expect faster and better quality correspondence.

The Universal Service covers every victim of crime, not just domestic abuse cases, and focuses on clearer and more regular updates. The Enhanced Service goes further for domestic abuse survivors, with the dedicated officer providing additional support from charge to trial.

Who is behind the announcement

The announcement was made by Ellie Reeves KC MP, the Attorney General, during a visit to Liverpool. She met senior leaders from JUSTICE North, a regional initiative of the law reform charity JUSTICE, before joining a roundtable with local and national charities and campaign groups that work with victims of crime, including survivors of domestic abuse.

Reeves said the criminal justice system only works if victims' voices are at its heart. She said she had heard time and again from victims and frontline organisations about what good communication looks like, and where the system still falls short.

"That is why I was recently pleased to announce an enhanced service for victims of domestic abuse, where for the first time survivors will be provided with a dedicated victim liaison officer," she said. "These liaison officers will provide survivors with better support from charge to trial and is a key part of the Crown Prosecution Service's national rollout of its Victim Transformation Programme. As Attorney General, tackling violence against women and girls is my number one priority."

She also said trust in the justice system depends on victims being able to see and feel that it works for them, wherever they live. Today's visit was part of her ongoing work to hear directly from frontline charities and services to restore public trust in the criminal justice system.

The pilots behind the rollout

The two services have been tested since 2023. The Universal Service was piloted in Yorkshire and Humberside, Mersey-Cheshire and Wessex. The Enhanced Service for domestic abuse victims ran in Mersey-Cheshire, Wessex (Hampshire only), Yorkshire and Humberside, and the London boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth and Westminster.

The CPS launched its Victim Transformation Programme in 2022 after evidence showed victims wanted clearer, more timely and more empathetic communication from prosecutors. The programme is the wider effort behind the liaison officer expansion.

Reeves also visited CPS frontline teams in Mersey-Cheshire today, one of the pilot areas, to meet the staff who helped deliver the trial services. She said the decision to roll out both services nationally reflected what victims had consistently told her about the importance of good communication and a clearer understanding of their case.

Reaction from the sector

Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive of JUSTICE North, said the organisation was delighted to welcome the Attorney General to discuss victims' experiences. She said JUSTICE North exists to bridge the gap between Westminster and the region, and that the North is at the forefront of justice innovation, as shown by the decision to make the Mersey-Cheshire pilots permanent. Expanding these initiatives, she said, should help ensure victims across the country receive badly needed additional support.

Ayla Nasuh, Chief Executive of Merseyside Domestic Violence Service, said it was vital that survivors who reach out for help are believed and given support urgently. She said survivors too often face the exhausting burden of repeatedly reporting and evidencing abuse without seeing meaningful action to disrupt the behaviour causing the harm. "We hope the Government will work alongside us to ensure the justice system recognises cumulative harm and acts swiftly to protect them," she said.

The wider policy picture

The announcement sits inside the government's Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, which sets a mission to halve VAWG within a decade. Related measures announced earlier include Raneem's Law, which places domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and has been rolled out across 17 police forces including Merseyside Police. A further five million pounds in funding secured earlier this year included a pilot of pre-trial meetings at the Crown Court for adult victims of domestic abuse, in three CPS areas including Mersey-Cheshire.

The Enhanced Service builds on support the CPS already provides to families bereaved by crime and to victims of rape and serious sexual offences, who already have access to dedicated liaison officers.

What is known and what remains unknown

What is confirmed: both services will become the standard offer for victims in every CPS Area in England and Wales. The Attorney General announced the national rollout today in Liverpool. The pilots ran from 2023 in the named areas. The policy ties into the VAWG strategy's goal of halving violence against women and girls within a decade.

What has not been published in the announcement: the government release does not give a timetable for when the rollout will reach every area, nor a figure for how many liaison officers will be recruited, nor a budget for the expansion. Those details matter, because a promise of a named officer for every victim stands or falls on staffing and funding.

What happens next

The CPS will now extend both services to all of its Areas, replacing the patchwork of pilot coverage with a single national standard. Charities and campaign groups will be watching for the staffing numbers and the timeline, and for evidence that the liaison officers translate into faster, clearer communication for victims rather than another layer of process.

Conclusion

This is a concrete policy change with a clear test. Victims of domestic abuse have long said the period between charge and trial is where the justice system loses them. A named liaison officer, and the simple step of letting victims choose how they are contacted, should narrow that gap. The pilots suggest the model works. The question now is whether the national rollout is staffed and funded well enough to deliver it.

Sources

• GOV.UK: CPS to give all domestic abuse victims a dedicated liaison officer nationwide (29 September 2026)
• GOV.UK: CPS to give every domestic abuse victim a dedicated liaison officer nationwide (press release)