On 27 September 2026, the Attorney General's Office announced that every victim of domestic abuse in England and Wales will receive a dedicated victim liaison officer from the Crown Prosecution Service. The change takes effect immediately and makes the CPS Universal Service for victims and Enhanced Service for survivors of domestic abuse permanent across every CPS Area. (gov.uk)
In practical terms, the national offer does two things. For domestic abuse cases, the CPS says victims will have a dedicated liaison officer supporting communication from charge to trial; for all victims, the service now includes a choice of contact channel, with phone, email or post available according to preference, alongside a commitment to faster and better-quality correspondence. (gov.uk)
The announcement turns a pilot into standard operating practice. According to the government press release, the Universal and Enhanced Services have been tested since 2023, and a CPS programme update published on 7 September 2026 said the domestic abuse version of the enhanced service was then operating in four CPS Areas before this wider roll-out. (gov.uk) This sits within the CPS Victims Programme, which was set up to improve the experience of people dealing with prosecutors. A CPS publication says the programme followed inspection work in 2018 and 2020 that identified problems with the timeliness, quality and empathy of communication with victims. (cps.gov.uk)
The structure of the programme matters. The CPS describes its universal offer as a better service for all victims of crime, while the enhanced offer is reserved for victims with greater needs and can include a dedicated victim liaison officer and, where relevant, a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution team. (cps.gov.uk) That model is not entirely new. The CPS has already put an enhanced service for victims of rape and serious sexual offences into all CPS Areas, with at least one dedicated victim liaison officer in each rape and serious sexual offences unit. The domestic abuse decision extends the same service model to another high-need cohort. (cps.gov.uk)
The published evidence base is positive, though still limited. In September 2026, the CPS said Crest Advisory's two-year evaluation found that, where pilot victim services were live, they were delivering an improved service to victims; it also said the enhanced service for victims of rape and serious sexual offences was improving trust and confidence for most victims. (cps.gov.uk) The CPS has also been careful not to present that as a finished picture. Its September update says the programme remains ongoing and that more victim feedback and evidence will be gathered as delivery expands. (cps.gov.uk)
For policy readers, the important point is that this appears to be a service-delivery reform rather than a change to criminal law. On the published material, the announcement does not alter the legal test for charge or the substantive law on domestic abuse; it standardises how the CPS communicates with victims and how support is organised across regional Areas. (gov.uk) That reading is consistent with the CPS's own planning documents. In its delivery plan, the service says Victim Transformation is intended to provide clear, empathetic communication, a more seamless service across criminal justice partners, better victim experience and, ultimately, more victims who continue to support prosecutions. (cps.gov.uk)
For victims and frontline services, the immediate effect should be simpler contact with the prosecution service and clearer expectations about who communicates case updates. A dedicated liaison officer does not remove delays elsewhere in the courts, but it should make responsibility for updates easier to follow in domestic abuse cases. (gov.uk) The implementation test will now be consistency. The national offer removes the pilot postcode distinction; the next question is whether faster, better-quality correspondence and continuity from charge to trial are delivered in practice across every CPS Area in England and Wales. (gov.uk)