The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.
Anthony Burgess
Victim Surcharge
11 Apr 2016
Changes to the victim surcharge
Initially the Victim Surcharge was introduced in April 2007 and changes were imposed on 1 October 2012, 1 September 2014 and now there are new changes as of the 8 April 2016.
These changes increase the amount payable. The charge is only imposed when the court passes a sentence. The court must also order that the surcharge is paid. The amount paid by an individual depends on the sentence received and if at the time the offence was committed the offender was an adult or under 18 years of age, or if the offender is an organisation.
A popular misconception is that this charge is compensation to the victim directly; this is not the case, the monies raised from this charge are used to fund victim services through the Victim and Witness General Fund.
The link below to the Sentencing Guidelines Council, shows the amounts a court must order an offender to pay when it passes sentence for offences committed on or after 1 October 2012.
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/about-sentencing/types-of-sentence/other-orders-made-on-sentencing/what-is-the-victim-surcharge/