49.Section 18 requires the Commissioner to prepare and publish a report on the Commissioner’s functions each financial year, and to lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament. A copy of the draft report is to be given to each criminal justice body, and any person providing victim support services who is named in the report, at least 5 days before the report is published. The report is to include a review of relevant issues, a review of the Commissioner’s activity, any recommendations by the Commissioner, a summary of any review and revision of the Victims’ Charter that year, and a summary of the Commissioner’s proposed activity for the following year.
50.Subsection (4) sets out examples of matters in relation to which the Commissioner might make recommendations in the annual report. These include training of staff of criminal justice bodies, statutory standards, trauma-informed practice, and the provision of information to victims and witnesses. Subsection (5) provides for the SPCB to give the Commissioner directions in relation to the form and content of the report and prohibits the inclusion in the report of any information which might lead to the identification of an individual.
Crown Application Annual report Section 18 – annual report