A police and crime commissioner is under investigation following revelations that she allocated £500,000 of victim support funding to her own not-for-profit body.

Vera Baird QC formed Victims First Northumbria, became its director, and awarded it funding. The new body has applied for charitable status but has not yet been registered by the Charity Commission.

Baird is currently under investigation by the Ministry of Justice over conflict of interest breaches.

In a statement to Civil Society News, Baird said she “looked at a number of options” when allocating Ministry of Justice funds, to ensure “excellent value for money”.

“It is clear the model that I have chosen was the best for our region,” she said. “Victims First Northumbria is unique in that it will give victims one point of contact for all their needs and support.”

Baird said “all Ministry of Justice procedures and protocols were adhered to”.

“I am confident the team of coordinators will show that the decisions taken to create Victims First Northumbria were the right ones,” she said.

Baird, a former Labour MP and solicitor general, was elected to the role of police and crime commissioner in 2012. She was able to allocate funds to the proposed charity following a government decision to change rules to allow police crime commissioners to commission services for victims of crime.

According to the Northumbria police crime commissioner website, the newly formed Victims First Northumbria will “make a difference to the lives of vulnerable victims and witnesses”.

“Building upon our enhanced response to victims of crime, police officers will conduct needs assessments when a person reports a crime, and this will help us to identify the impact of each crime on each individual,” it said.

A source from the Northumbria Police and Crime Panel told the Mirror newspaper that it was informed just last month that “the new organisation, called Victims First, will have charitable status”.