The Department for Transport has announced funding for the National Road Victim Service (NRVS), which provides a vital support service for road crash victims and people supporting them.
The service is operated by Brake and has been helping road crash victims for more than two decades, helping bereaved and injured victims to deal with complex emotional, practical and procedural issues through its confidential support service.
All police refer into the service through the delivery of a comprehensive pack of Brake support information to victims within 24 hours of a crash involving death.
The service provides information, advocacy and emotional support for as long as required.
The Department for Transport has funded Brake £169,685 to support the delivery of the NRVS in 2020/21.
But it has been estimated that the NRVS provides an annual saving to the police of £2.2m, through time saved caring for road crash victims. The service also provides significant savings to other key statutory services, such as health and social care, through reducing the likelihood, or severity, of supported victims developing long-term mental or physical illness.
The NRVS also receives funding from the Scottish Government, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, a number of Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales and corporate supporters of Brake.
Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, said: “Police officers attend thousands of serious and fatal road traffic collisions every year. The scale of suffering for victims and loved ones is immense and the impact on the officers who deal with these traumatic incidents should not be understated.
“Brake’s National Road Victim Service is absolutely central to the work of our Family Liaison Officers who support those victims. In addition the service helps ease the burden on the police and provides officers with vital expert advice and support.”
