Provision of a Restorative Justice Service for West Yorkshire

Restorative Justice is defined as the process that brings those harmed by crime, and those responsible for the harm, into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward. The type of communication used can be direct for example face to face, virtual platform and telephone call or indirect via a third party, letter, email. The Mayor of West Yorkshire is committed to providing Restorative Justice to victims of crime and has approved the re-commission a West Yorkshire wide Restorative Justice service with a budget of £280,000 to £300,000 per annum with an initial 3-year contract with optional two 2-year extensions to a maximum of 7 years in total. The requirements are for a West Yorkshire wide Restorative Justice service that will be available for all crime types as no victim should be denied restorative justice on the basis of the type of crime they have experienced. The Restorative Justice service will enable those harmed by crime, and those responsible for that harm, into communication with each other. The service will need to be for all victims of crime of any age where the offender is 18 years old or over, this will include historic crimes. The Mayor, being accountable and responsible for this contract, will need to be assured that services are safe, diverse and localised to meet the needs of victims in West Yorkshire in line with the Equality Act 2010.