The government announced the multi-year funding package as it publishes local criminal justice scorecards for the first time – shining a light on the work of agencies such as the police and Crown Prosecution Service at a regional level.

At present, funding for victim support services is confirmed annually. The move to a long-term model – with at least £147m per year up to 2025 – will allow charities and service providers to plan for the future, build capacity and strengthen their resilience to help even more victims. It comes as Police and Crime Commissioners report that the number of victims accessing support increased by 15% between 2019/20 and 2020/21.

The money will fund emotional, practical and therapeutic support for victims of crime such as women and girls affected by domestic abuse. This includes helping fund more specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs). The investment will provide greater consistency for people accessing these services and ensure help is always there when needed.

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab said:

We want more victims to have the confidence to come forward, so that more criminals can be prosecuted and victims can get the justice they deserve.

We’re increasing transparency through local scorecards, rolling out pre-recorded cross-examination for rape victims to more Crown Courts, and boosting funding for vital support services to £440 million over the next three years so that victims get the support they need.

The local criminal justice scorecards include information on the time taken for cases to be investigated by the police, for someone to be charged and for the case to be completed at court. The data can be broken down by local police forces, CPS area as well as Local Criminal Justice Boards. The scorecards also include information on victim engagement. Ministers are determined to increase confidence in the criminal justice system so that more victims stick with the process to ensure justice is served. This data will be published alongside scorecards detailing the national picture.

Both the local and national datasets spotlight, specifically, the response to rape and sexual violence – delivering on a key pledge in the government’s Rape Review. The aim is to use this data to help drive a major increase in the number of prosecutions reaching court.

In addition to this, it was also confirmed today that measures which spare victims of rape and modern slavery the trauma of giving evidence in the full glare of a courtroom will be rolled out to the North East of England. Known as Section 28, the measure allows victims – subject to a successful application to the court – to have their cross-examination pre-recorded earlier in the process and outside of the live trial. It can help to reduce stress to ensure they give their best evidence.

The provision will be introduced to Crown Courts in York, Grimsby, Hull, Bradford and Teesside in the coming weeks as part of a phased national roll out. It is already available at Liverpool, Leeds, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Harrow, Isleworth, Wood Green and Durham Crown Courts.

Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, said:

I very much welcome the announcement by the Ministry of Justice about multi-year funding. It’s essential that domestic abuse victims and survivors can rely on getting the long term support they need and deserve.

For too long domestic abuse services have been forced to lurch from one short term financial settlement to another and I delighted to see the Ministry of Justice is addressing this issue.

The Victims’ Commissioner for England & Wales, Dame Vera Baird QC, said:

For many victims of crime, seeking justice can be an unacceptably slow and frustrating experience. But there are marked differences across the country and some areas notably outperform others. These new scorecards will allow us to reveal regional discrepancies, identify best practice and expose weak links.

But scorecards are not a panacea and numerical snapshots do not tell the whole story. They will need to be complemented by the victims’ voice to provide a more rounded picture.

The rollout of section 28 to more courts is a positive move that will help to reduce unnecessary stress and trauma for more victims, and I’m pleased to see this work gather momentum.

Today’s announcement builds on recent government action to increase confidence in the justice system including bringing forward a new Victims’ Bill, ensuring violent and sexual offenders spend longer in prison and investing nearly half a billion pounds to deliver swifter justice through the courts.

It comes as the government relaunches it #ItStillMatters campaign – to help raise awareness of sexual abuse support services so that victims can get the help they need.

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Criminal Justice Lead, David Lloyd PCC said:

Police and Crime Commissioners bring Criminal Justice partners together to improve performance on behalf of victims and our local communities.

Using local scorecards we will gain a greater understanding of the criminal justice system’s performance and we will be able to address issues in a more targeted way.

Fay Maxted OBE, Chief Executive of The Survivors Trust said:

I know from Survivors Trust Members Agencies, who are all specialist voluntary sector rape and sexual abuse support services, that the additional, long-term funding announced is really welcome and will help them to meet the increasing demand for therapy and advocacy that we’ve seen over the past few years.

Alongside this, the wider roll out of Section 28 pre-recorded evidence will make such a difference for rape victims who often tell us that giving evidence in court feels like re-traumatisation instead of the chance to say what happened to them.

Joe Shalam, Policy Director at the Centre for Social Justice, said:

It is welcome to see the government continue to raise the ambitions for victims of crime in the justice system. The CSJ Commission on Sexual Abuse and Exploitation exposed alarming shortfalls in the support available to those affected by heinous criminal acts.

The measures set out today, including local victim scorecards and the wider rollout of pre-recorded evidence, will drive further progress on the protections in place for the most vulnerable victims of crime.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Rape and Serious Sexual Assault, Chief Constable Sarah Crew said:

As the national lead on rape and serious sexual assault I welcome this funding for services that provide such a vital role in helping victims. Policing performs an important role, especially in the pursuit of perpetrators, but it’s vital that the correct funding of services across the criminal justice system is there to support victims of these horrific crimes.

We’re working harder than ever with the Crown Prosecution Service in our joint commitment to increase charging and conviction rates for rape, which remain too low. Operation Soteria, a new and research based approach to rape cases, is being trialled across five forces and the feedback from that is encouraging. Our Joint National Action Plan is already seeing improvement and progress across the board, recognising the importance of our relationship in helping those most in need.

The publication of local scorecards provide an opportunity for greater openness and transparency with victims and the public. The availability of this data across all partners in one place, for the first time, is central to developing a more accessible and understandable system. We will now focus on looking at the data and work on improving our response where needed.

Notes to editors:

• £147m per year over the next three years is the minimum funding that services will receive including those commissioned via Police and Crime Commissioners through core funding. It forms part of last year’s Spending Review commitment to bolster support for victims to £185m by 2024/25. This additional money will go towards increasing the number of ISVAs and IDVAs from 700 to 1000 by 2024/25, establishing a 24/7 service for victims of rape and sexual violence, and ensuring there is flexibility and capacity to respond to emerging support needs and demand for victims of crime.
• The Victims’ Bill consultation closed on 3 February 2022. The government will respond in due course.
• If you’ve ever experienced sexual violence or sexual abuse, you can get confidential support from specialists who will listen to you, believe you and understand how hard it is to talk about. Visit gov.uk/SexualAbuseSupport to see the support on offer.

On Section 28:

• Both the defence and prosecution lawyers will be present in court during the pre-recording as will the judge and the defendant.
• The independent judiciary will be responsible to overseeing the use of s.28 and will have discretion to ensure that the interests of justice are served.
• Pre-recording cross-examination preserves a defendant’s right to a fair trial.
• In 2021 more than 1,800 witnesses used the S.28 provision to pre-record their evidence. It is already available at Liverpool, Leeds, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Harrow, Isleworth, Wood Green and Durham Crown Courts and we are working with the judiciary, police and CPS to phase it in across all Crown Courts as soon as practicable.
• Vulnerable witnesses and victims are defined as all child witnesses under 18 and any witness whose quality of evidence is likely to be diminished because they are suffering from a mental disorder or physical disability or has significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning.
• Intimidated witnesses and victims for the purposes of this pilot are defined as complainants or witnesses of sexual offences and modern slavery offences.

The government-owned company has once again joined Keep Britain Tidy’s national litter-picking effort, which runs from today (25 March) to 10 April, in a push to clear rubbish from the roads.

Litter takes a devastating toll on the environment and costs around £1 billion every year to clean up. It also poses a serious safety risk as road verges and barriers form corridors where litter and debris build up at an alarming rate, creating a hazardous environment for road users, wildlife and the maintenance crews who clean it up.

Freda Rashdi, Head of Customer and Operational Requirements for National Highways, said:   

We’ve taken up Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Big Bag Challenge’ and pledged to pick at least 8,000 bags of litter for this year’s Great British Spring Clean. Over the course of the last six campaigns we’ve collected 60,000 bags, and we’re proud to be joining this vital cause for its seventh year.

Our priority is to keep our roads safe and well maintained, and litter is a huge issue that we’re tackling daily. We value Keep Britain Tidy’s commitment to eliminating litter, as well as their partnership in our efforts to keep litter off our roads.

The simple fact is that if litter wasn’t dropped in the first place it wouldn’t need to be picked up. So, this is an opportunity to remind people that they too can make a difference simply by saving litter for the bin.

Ahead of today’s launch, National Highways has been working closely with local authorities, who are responsible for collecting litter on most A-roads in England. In February, Stoke-on-Trent council joined forces with National Highways, utilising existing road closures to clear over 15 tonnes of litter and debris from the A50. This collaborative effort saved the council around £40,000 while minimising disruption for road users.

Cllr Carl Edwards, cabinet member for housing and the environment, said:

Thanks to our partners at National Highways for once again highlighting the problem of litter on our country’s roads. Litter dropped along roads is dangerous to pick up and a hazard to car drivers and cyclists.

We have a strong sense of civic pride in our city, and the last thing we want to be doing is fining people for dropping litter. But it is a strong deterrent, and we will do so if we need to. The message is simple, leave your litter in your car and pop it in your bin when you get home to keep our roads clean.

National Highways itself is responsible for collecting litter from England’s motorways and a small number of A-roads.

A ‘day of action’ near Manchester at the start of April will see National Highways maintenance teams joined by Keep Britain Tidy for a targeted litter collection on the M56.

And around Sheffield, teams are doing a spring clean of culverts and roadside drainage systems, clearing items dumped by fly tippers to reduce flood risks for local communities.

In the South East, GoPro cameras are being used to monitor litter ‘hot spots’. This technology helps maintenance teams highlight problem areas, and analyse how quickly they fill up again with rubbish after cleaning. The M25 is one of the routes currently being monitored.

Meanwhile National Highways colleagues will also be taking matters into their own hands – quite literally – by litter picking in their local communities.

Allison Ogden-Newton, CEO of Keep Britain Tidy, said:   

We’re delighted that National Highways are once again supporting the Great British Spring Clean by performing dedicated clean-ups of litter hotspots on the road network.

This is often risky work, and we reiterate our message to the public not to be tempted to litter-pick on fast-moving roads because it’s extremely dangerous.

We encourage everybody to respect the fact that highway workers face grave danger when having to collect litter thoughtlessly thrown from vehicles, and to keep their rubbish in their vehicle until they can dispose of it correctly.

While this annual campaign runs for a matter of weeks, National Highways picks litter throughout the year and carries out regular inspections to make sure England’s motorways and major A-roads are in good condition. The company wants to hear from you if you spot something wrong on the road. This could be anything from a broken sign or barrier, to litter, overgrown vegetation or potholes.

You can report a maintenance issue to National Highways online or by calling 0300 123 5000. 

Get more information on the Great British Spring Clean.

Members of the public should contact the National Highways customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Journalists should contact the National Highways press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Latest

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) can confirm that the monitoring periods, for contacts of the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever case who required active monitoring, have now been completed.

No further cases have been identified. We would like to thank our partners in the NHS for their prompt action and all of the contacts for their cooperation.

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Friday 25 March 2022

UKHSA can confirm that a case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has been confirmed in England. The woman had recently travelled to Central Asia.

CCHF is a viral disease usually transmitted by ticks and livestock animals in countries where the disease is endemic.

The patient was diagnosed at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is receiving specialist care at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Dr Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor at UKHSA said:

It’s important to be aware that CCHF is usually spread by tick bites in countries where the disease is endemic, it does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the public is very low.

We are working with NHS EI to contact the individuals who have had close contact with the case prior to confirmation of their infection, to assess them as necessary and provide advice.

UKHSA and the NHS have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be strictly followed.

Dr Sir Michael Jacobs, consultant in infectious diseases at the Royal Free London, said:

The Royal Free Hospital is a specialist centre for treating patients with viral infections such as CCHF. Our high level isolation unit is run by an expert team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff and is designed to ensure we can safely treat patients with these kind of infections.

Prior to this case, there have been 2 cases of CCHF imported to the UK, in 2012 and one in 2014. There was no evidence of onward transmission from either of these cases.

The principal carriers of CCHF are Hyalomma ticks, these are not established in the UK and the virus has never been detected here in a tick.

People living in or visiting endemic areas should use personal protective measures to avoid contact with ticks, including:

• avoiding areas where ticks are abundant at times when they are active
• using tick repellents
• checking clothing and skin carefully for ticks

If I’ve had a ‘peopley’ day I need to sit in a dark room in silence or hide under a blanket when I get home.

This is how Andrew, or AJ as he is known, manages being a principal software engineer in a world-class organisation with the challenges of having Asperger’s Syndrome and dyslexia.

He started working for Dstl 18 years ago and it was through his job that he was first diagnosed – although he already suspected that he had Autism Spectrum Disorder.

He talks about his experience as the organisation marks Neurodiversity Celebration Week.

AJ said:

My story is an unusual one, perhaps since my diagnosis came later in life.

I’ve always known that I wasn’t quite the same as other people, and at school I didn’t really have many friends and I was bullied quite a lot.

I was that boy at school that spent every lunchtime in the library, reading or playing with the computers.

However, it was at school that he developed a passion for science and engineering, and he remembers a favourite book at aged five was on the history of iron and steel manufacturing.

He believes attitudes have changed since he was a child and that Neurodiversity Celebration Week is important as it helps explode prevailing myths and signposts available support.

I think there are lots of stereotypes around all kinds of neurodiversity. Some people think of dyslexic people as being unable to read, or those with autism and Asperger’s as people that have no social skills at all who can’t cope in the real world.

I don’t think any of those are true. There’s an adage that says, ‘If you’ve met one neurodiverse person… you’ve met one neurodiverse person’. We are all different – in the same way everyone is different.

AJ’s Asperger’s also manifests itself in a hypersensitivity to sound, where an almost inaudible hum of electrical equipment can be painful, while travelling on the London Underground is unbearable.

In a work environment the general noise of an office can be very distracting and networking or making small talk is extremely stressful.

People are often surprised to learn AJ is neurodiverse as he has learnt to “mask the symptoms and fake being ‘normal’.” However, he says this coping technique is emotionally and mentally draining.

He went on to say Dstl provided a package of help which included a flexibility around his work station, a screen reader and coaching to help with specific things that he finds difficult.

I think Dstl is a good, supportive employer, I think there’s lots of scope for making appropriate adjustments for people that have needs.

It’s not about curing it, it’s not about taking it away it is about giving people the tools they need to be the best they can. I was surprised at the level of support that was available.

Everyone’s journey is going to be different but the important thing for everyone to realise is that, as an organisation, Dstl really wants you to be yourself and be the individual you are and embrace that diversity.

He feels, with the support of the organisation, his condition makes him better at his job.

He said:

It gives me an ability to concentrate deeply on something technical for long periods, a skill at spotting patterns and following logical sequences.

I’ve always had ‘the knack’ when it comes to electronics and computers – and I have no doubt that my Asperger’s plays a significant part in that.

The way my brain is structured, the way my brain is wired, helps me do better. I still want to know exactly how everything works – but now it’s an asset and Dstl pays me to do it.

If the little boy sat in the corner of the library was to meet me now? I would have loved to have known as a child that I would end up working in an environment like this on things that really matter and things that have really interesting problems to solve.