Victim surcharge fund pays out a fraction of sum promised
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Liam McArthur
The Scottish government’s Victim Surcharge Fund has awarded less than £420,000 to organisations, despite previously promising up to £1.2m a year, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have said.
The government had claimed: “A total of £413,727 has been awarded to organisations, including Victim Support Scotland, trauma and loss centre the Manda Centre and Scottish women’s aid groups, since the Scottish government launched the Victim Surcharge Fund in 2019.”
However, in 2013, it estimated such a scheme could raise in excess of £1.2 million a year, while in 2014 a now-deleted Scottish government press release claimed the figure was more than £1m a year.
Commenting on the figures, justice spokesperson Liam McArthur, said: “It took six years from Parliament approving legislation to support victims before any payments from the fund were made so we shouldn’t be surprised that the Scottish government have once again over-promised and under-delivered.
“Perhaps this will give pause for thought for those nationalists who claimed they could set up a newly independent Scotland in 18 months.
“Victim Support Scotland and others are doing excellent work with the funds that have been distributed but victims of crime have missed out on millions of pounds of criminals’ cash as a result of the SNP’s dithering.”
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