Sue Lambert Trust - the leading specialist therapeutic service provider for survivors of rape, sexual violence, and sexual abuse in the county - said it will have to reduce the number of people it can accept for new referrals on April 1.

The charity said a decision by Norfolk's police and crime commissioner Sarah Taylor to reduce funding from £420,000 to £144,000 over a two-year period puts its support services “on the brink”.

Sue Lambert Trust chief executive Clive Evans said the funding cut meant a ‘real and immediate reduction in access to support for people who have experienced rape, sexual abuse and sexual violence (Image: Mary Doggett)

Chief executive Clive Evans said the slash in funding risked “letting down victim survivors” and “poses serious public safety risks”.

He said: “This decision sends out a message that support for victim survivors does not matter, I am speaking out to be clear – victim survivors of rape, sexual assault and abuse must be heard and have the right to be supported.

“This huge, proposed reduction in PCC funding will, if it goes ahead, severely impact Sue Lambert Trust’s ability to plan for the long-term and our capacity to support victims now and in the future.”

PCC Sarah Taylor said the decision to reduce funding was “not made in isolation” and came after discussions with Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) which is set to increase its financial support.

Norfolk PCC Sarah Taylor said the cuts would be balanced by additional healthcare funding (Image: Jason Bye)

She said: “The funding committed by the ICB is more than the reduction of funding from the PCC over the next two years.”

But the charity said it had been told the PCC had to make savings of £300,000 to support local government devolution.

It comes after PCC also faced criticism for not renewing a £35,000 grant to Norfolk Community Law Service’s free legal advice service for victims of domestic violence.

In that case Norfolk County Council stepped in to provide £72,000 over the next two years.

Mr Evans said: “The ICB contract was secured through a competitive tender to allow us to expand capacity to meet rising demand: it was never intended to replace existing victim support funding.

Sue Lambert Trust said it would have to cut referrals from up to 90 a month to just 10 (Image: Julian Claxton)

“Over a two-year period, PCC funding to Sue Lambert Trust is reducing from £420,000 to £144,000 which is not a rebalancing of funding. It is a significant reduction.

“As a result, instead of supporting more people, we will actually be able to support far fewer.

“We currently receive 85 to 90 referrals each month. We will now only be able to accept around 10.

“That means up to 80 survivors every month will be turned away from specialist support.”

© Eastern Daily Press