Extra £4.1m for more rape support services in West Midlands

Staffordshire-based Sarac and Axis Counselling in Shropshire, will be directly funded for the next two years

Victims of rape and sexual violence will be offered more support after a £4.1m funding rise for charities in the West Midlands.

Nine charities are to get the investment as part of the government's Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund.

Safeline Warwick, a male focused service, will be funded for two years with the money, the government said.

A two-year review in 2021 found charge rates in rape cases were low and support services underfunded.

Women's groups said the crime had been effectively decriminalised after prosecutions in England and Wales dropped to a record low.

The Ministry of Justice said from July all police forces in England and Wales and rape prosecutors implemented a new approach to deal with cases "ensuring forces conduct thorough investigations which put the focus on the suspect and centre the rights and needs of victims".

The latest funding forms part of a commitment to quadruple funding for victims by 2025 and latest data from the Crown Prosecution Service showed prosecutions had risen in the last quarter, the government said.

Services across the West Midlands will benefit from the investment with Staffordshire-based Sarac, which offers services for adults and young people, and Axis Counselling in Shropshire, which gives one-to-one counselling to victims and their families, being directly funded for the next two years.

Neil Henderson, CEO of Safeline in Warwick, said the money was "core funding" for supporting survivors.

"It's flexible, acknowledging our expertise to maximise its impact for survivors," he said.

"It's multi-year, allowing us to confidentially plan our support, while the increase in funding enables us to provide, timely, long-term support to more survivors."

The full list of recipients in the West Midlands are:

• Birmingham Rape & Sexual Violence Project

• Black Country Women's Aid

• Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre

• Safeline Warwick

• RoSA

• Axis Counselling

• West Mercia Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Centre

• Sarac

• Savana group bid

• Staffordshire Women's Aid