Gloucestershire Hub Mapping Exercise
Task
This piece of work was commissioned to support the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Gloucestershire to explore different delivery models for victim services. The work was undertaken to inform future re-commissioning processes and built on TONIC’s victims’ needs assessment (November 2025 – March 2026).
To ensure victims in Gloucestershire receive accessible and effective support, while also making best use of available funding, the OPCC were exploring opportunities to improve efficiency across the victim support landscape. This included reviewing whether there was scope to combine elements of the existing Police Victim Hub and general victim recovery service.
TONIC was therefore commissioned to complete a Hub Mapping Exercise to better understand how victim hub models are structured and delivered in other force areas, including the balance between police-led and independently commissioned provision, referral pathways, governance and staffing arrangements, and the wider system of support available to victims of crime. The aim was to identify practical learning from other victim hub models and explore opportunities to adapt relevant elements within the Gloucestershire context, in order to inform the future design and commissioning of victim services in Gloucestershire.
Our Approach
TONIC adopted a qualitative, comparative research approach, combining desk-based research with targeted stakeholder engagement across 10 comparator areas. These included Gloucestershire’s most similar force areas, alongside additional areas selected because of their geographical relevance or variation in delivery model.
Desk-based research was undertaken to build an initial understanding of each area’s victim service model, including reviewing OPCC and provider websites, previous victims’ needs assessments, related TONIC projects, service reviews, and relevant national mapping work. This was supplemented by engagement with OPCC representatives and service leads through semi-structured interviews and written responses.
A consistent framework was used to compare each model, covering areas such as governance and independence, access to police systems and data, referral routes, consent models, eligibility criteria, staffing, links with witness care and specialist services, Restorative Justice provision, and wider commissioned support. The findings were then synthesised into a structured comparative table, supported by narrative analysis of the main strengths, challenges, similarities, and differences across the models reviewed.
Outcome
TONIC produced a practical comparative report to support the OPCC’s future service design and commissioning decisions. The mapping exercise highlighted significant variation in how victim hub models operate across different areas, ranging from police-led communication and contact models to broader triage, coordination, and integrated support models. The findings highlighted that effective models rely on clear roles and thresholds, good quality referral information, strong partnership working, and appropriate integration with policing systems and commissioned services.
The report identified a number of opportunities for Gloucestershire to consider as part of future development, including strengthening coordination, improving consistency, streamlining pathways, making better use of data and insight, and ensuring that commissioned and police-led provision work together as effectively as possible. TONIC set out potential options, ranging from targeted improvements to the current approach through to more significant changes in how services are aligned and coordinated. These options provided the OPCC with a clear framework for considering the potential benefits, risks, resource implications, and deliverability of different approaches.