Home Office officials attended a meeting with the police, representatives from the hospital and forensic medical examiners from Kent in May this year, to discuss the future of the Darent Valley Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). They advised those present that the SARC model provides the highest level of support for victims of sexual violence. It was on this basis that a start-up grant of £30,000 was provided by the Home Office to Kent police in 2003-04. The ongoing running costs of a SARC are the responsibility of local police forces and primary care trusts, and national service guidelines have been produced for these organisations on developing and sustaining SARCs.