Finished Symphony...
Grand unveiling of £13m project to revamp jewel in crown
BIRMINGHAM’S new-look Symphony Hall has finally been unveiled after a huge reconstruction project throughout lockdown.
The £13 million project has extended and remodelled the hall’s entrance and public spaces to create a building that is more vibrant and better connected to the new Centenary Square.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has now committed £256,000 towards the final touches to the landmark.
The unveiling of the foyer was marked by a performance by an allfemale jazz group.
The redevelopment will hundreds of jobs and apprenticeships.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street, a former vice-chair of Performances Birmingham, which runs both Symphony Hall and the Town Hall, said: “Symphony Hall is one of the West Midlands’ best landmarks and a real jewel in Birmingham’s crown, and so it is brilliant to see the venue swing open its doors to musicians again after undergoing a stunning transformation.
“As a born-and-bred Brummie and former vice-chair of Performances Birmingham, I know firsthand just how truly special Symphony create several
Hall is. I am therefore delighted that the WMCA could play its part in helping the transformation happen, and I cannot wait until the public can start taking their seats again.”
Home of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the venue is one of the world’s most outstanding concert halls, renowned for its acoustic excellence and diverse programming.
Originally designed in the late 1980s, the 3,000-capacity hall opened in 1991. Following a recent
competition, architects Page\Park were appointed to deliver the new entrance and foyer.
Performances Birmingham, the trust which manages the Town Hall and Symphony Hall, presents more than 600 events a year.
Chief executive Nick Reed said: “I am thrilled we can share the first glimpses of the new Symphony Hall following the completion of the ‘Making an Entrance’ project. The redevelopment of Birmingham’s world-renowned concert hall would
not have been possible without the generous funding provided by the WMCA. We thank the combined authority for its financial contribution and its continued support of the arts and culture throughout the city.
“Over the past 18 months we have worked with various teams to transform the public spaces of our iconic concert hall to create new spaces for performance and learning, giving new opportunities for local musicians, and supporting our local community in musical discoveries.”
THE Nightingale Hospitals in Birmingham will be permanently decommissioned by the end of March alongside those in Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate.
London and Sunderland facilities are set to be used for vaccinations.
The temporary hospital was created in halls at the NEC in April last year, but has never been used.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said in December there was
“no current intention” to bring it into use, despite an impending third lockdown.
He said its use would be a “last resort” but it was “reassuring to have it”.
The NEC Nightingale was capable of providing more than 2,000 emergency beds and was officially opened by Prince William last year.
More than 400 employees and contractors, supported by 60 Gurkhas from the British Army,
worked more than 100,000 construction hours to create the venue.
But no patients have ever been admitted.
The Nightingale sites came at a cost of around £220 million and were hailed as the nation’s saving grace when they opened.
Dr Nick Scriven, former president of the Society for Acute Medicine, warned in October it “there were simply no staff to run as them as originally intended”.
VICTIMS who have suffered the most traumatic sex crimes are waiting more than two years for justice amid pandemic delays and court backlogs, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has revealed.
The time taken from the report of a sexual crime to court “can be significant”, a stretch only worsened by Covid’s impact on legal proceedings, according to David Jamieson.
In 2020 West Midlands Police saw the highest number of victims in four years to report serious sexual offences, but a Freedom of Information request found only six per cent led to successful outcomes.
Such outcomes could mean a charge, a summons to court – where the offender may have been jailed – community resolutions, cautions or further action taken by another body.
Mr Jamieson said: “The time taken from report to court can be significant and, exacerbated by the pandemic and court backlogs, also has an impact on rates.
“Some of these delays have been over two years, which clearly has an impact. The current situation is not only incredibly frustrating for the victims who have suffered, but also for the police who are desperate to prosecute the perpetrators.”
The force had recruited extra officers to deal with sexual offences in a bid to reduce the time taken on each investigation as reports continue to rise every year.
However, Mr Jamieson admitted criminal justice did not ‘always work for victims’ amid national flaws in the system.
“Serious sexual offences, including rape, are among the most traumatic crimes and can have life-long impacts,” he said. “Unfortunately, the criminal justice does not always work for victims.”
Last year, a total of 6,447 serious sex offences were recorded by West Midlands Police, the highest number in at least four years. Rape reports of females aged 16 and over soared by almost a third since 2017.
But the true scale of offending is likely to be much higher once offences not reported are taken into consideration.
“There are many reasons why a victim may not continue with a case so we must acknowledge how difficult the reporting process can be for victims, having to re-tell the violence or abuse they have been subjected,” Mr Jamieson added.
“The threshold required by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to charge a perpetrator for these offences is particularly high.
“Evidence gathering by police to meet this charge threshold can be very intrusive and can include gathering of physical evidence, reviewing information from digital devices as well as other personal information. This can have the effect of discouraging some victims to proceed.” The CPS should review processes to deal with rapes and the government must do more to ensure victims can access justice quicker, Mr Jamieson said. “This is a national, criminal justice system-wide issue,” he stressed.
Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Midlands region, Grace Ononiwu CBE, said: “We take the prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences very seriously.
“All decisions to charge are made in accordance with The Code for Crown Prosecutors, which sets out the legal tests that must be met when reviewing the cases referred to us by the police.
“We are working closely with police officers and partners across the criminal justice system to drive up performance which includes the development of a local action plan operating alongside a joint national action plan between the CPS and National Police Chiefs’ Council.
“In the West Midlands region, this has already contributed to a 33 per ceent rise in charges since December 2018, with the conviction rate in rape cases increasing from 60 per cent to 79.5 per cent over the same time period.”