Every domestic abuse victim in England and Wales is to get a named contact
What happened
On 27 September 2026 the Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, announced that every victim and survivor of domestic abuse in England and Wales will be given a dedicated victim liaison officer. A victim liaison officer is a named person at the Crown Prosecution Service whose job is to keep a victim informed about their case - what is happening, what happens next, and why decisions have been made. The change makes permanent and nationwide something that has been running as a pilot since 2023. The CPS calls these its Universal and Enhanced Services. Alongside the named officer, victims will be able to choose how they are contacted - by phone, by email or by post - rather than having a method chosen for them. The CPS says correspondence will also be faster and of better quality. The Attorney General said: 'When I say I want to put victims at the heart of the justice system I mean it.'
Why this matters
Anyone who has been through the criminal justice system, or supported someone through it, will recognise the problem this is trying to fix. A case can take many months. During that time the person at the centre of it is often the last to know anything. Hearings move. Dates change. Decisions get made. Letters arrive that are hard to understand, written in legal language, sometimes about things that have already happened. For most crimes that is frustrating. For domestic abuse it can be genuinely dangerous. Whether a suspect has been released, whether bail conditions have changed, whether a hearing date has moved - these are not administrative details to someone who may be living within a few streets of the person they are afraid of. They are safety information. There is also the simple matter of being believed and being kept in mind. A great many domestic abuse cases collapse because the victim withdraws. The reasons are complex and rarely about the evidence. Feeling abandoned by the process is one of them. Giving someone a named person to contact does not solve any of this by itself. But it changes the basic experience from shouting into a void to having someone whose job it is to answer. The choice of contact method matters more than it sounds, too. For someone who has left an abusive household, a letter arriving at an old address, or a phone call at the wrong moment, is not neutral.
What the evidence actually says
It is worth being precise about what has and has not been announced. What has been announced is the nationwide rollout of a service that has been piloted since 2023. Pilots are usually run in a limited number of CPS areas before being extended. Extending something that has been tested is a more measured step than launching something new, and that is a point in its favour. What has not been published alongside the announcement is a detailed evaluation of how the pilot performed - how many victims it reached, whether it changed case outcomes, or whether fewer people withdrew from cases. Those are the questions that would tell you how much difference it makes. The scope is also worth understanding. This is a CPS service. The CPS handles prosecutions - the stage after the police have investigated and passed a case on. It does not cover the period of the police investigation itself, and it is separate from the Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and refuge services run by charities and local authorities. So this improves communication at one specific stage of a long process. That stage matters, but it is one part of a system where the pressures - court backlogs, police capacity, refuge funding - are wider than any single measure. The announcement covers England and Wales. Criminal justice is devolved differently in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have their own prosecution services.
Practical advice
If you are experiencing domestic abuse, or you are worried about someone, the most useful thing in this article is not the policy. It is the following. In an emergency, call 999. If you cannot speak safely, call 999, listen to the questions, and press 55 when prompted. This is the Silent Solution system and it tells the operator you need police help but cannot talk. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247. It is run by the charity Refuge. Calls do not appear on itemised BT bills. Domestic abuse is not only physical. Controlling behaviour, financial control, isolation from family and friends, threats and coercive control are all recognised forms of abuse, and coercive or controlling behaviour is a criminal offence in England and Wales. Your GP surgery and your pharmacy are safe places to raise it. Many pharmacies take part in schemes where you can ask at the counter for help and be taken somewhere private. Health settings are often the easiest place to have a conversation out of earshot. If a case involving you is with the CPS, you can ask who your victim liaison officer is and how they will contact you. Under this announcement, you should have one, and you should be able to choose the contact method that is safe for you. If you are supporting someone, the most useful thing is usually not advice but patience. Leaving is often the most dangerous moment, and people who are being controlled rarely act on the first conversation. Staying reachable matters more than being right.
What to know
Every victim of domestic abuse in England and Wales will be given a dedicated victim liaison officer at the CPS, and will be able to choose whether they are contacted by phone, email or post. The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, announced this on 27 September 2026, making a pilot that has run since 2023 permanent and nationwide. It is a communication improvement at the prosecution stage - real and worthwhile, but one part of a much larger system, and no detailed evaluation of the pilot has been published alongside it. If you need help now: 999 in an emergency, and press 55 if you cannot speak. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free and open 24 hours on 0808 2000 247. Sources: GOV.UK (Attorney General's Office), 'CPS to give every domestic abuse victim a dedicated liaison officer nationwide', 27 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cps-to-give-every-domestic-abuse-victim-a-dedicated-liaison-officer-nationwide; Refuge, 'National Domestic Abuse Helpline', https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/; NHS, 'Getting help for domestic violence and abuse', https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/getting-help-for-domestic-violence/. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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