CUTS to funding for victims’ services is a false economy that costs more to the taxpayer than it saves, a charity has warned.

Analysis by Victim Support, which helps people affected by crime in England and Wales, suggests that for every £1 invested in the charity’s services up to £10.80 is saved, for example in reduced cost to health services, keeping people in work and better wellbeing.

The charity has warned that fewer victims will receive support this financial year after government cuts have left services at a crisis point on top of rising costs and increased employers’ National Insurance contributions.

The Ministry of Justice announced a 4.2 per cent cut to core police and crime commissioner budgets, which commissions victim services, and a freeze on ring-fenced domestic abuse and sexual violence funding in December last year.

At the time Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones said that the government had inherited a criminal justice system under immense pressure and a “black hole” in the nation’s finances. “We must now make difficult decisions to ensure we can deliver the justice victims deserve through our courts and across the system,” she said.

But Victim Support chief executive Katie Kempen has branded the cuts “ethically wrong and economically reckless.”

She said: “What I’m seeing when I’m out in my services is that my staff are stretched, that our services are stretched, that everything is just stretched to the point where we’re really on the brink.”

The charity is calling for the cuts to be reversed and for sustainable long-term investment into the service amid the rising demand for help.

The Ministry of Justice was asked for comment.