Call for 10-year plan to expand education Opportunity Areas Crime victims code includes right to know when offenders leave jail
THE GOVERNMENT has been warned that a pioneering education scheme which has been running in Yorkshire needs to be expanded to help tackle glaring inequalities in attainment across the country.
Education and business leaders in the region have stressed the success of the so-called Opportunity Areas in Bradford, Doncaster and the North Yorkshire coast, where children’s reading, writing and maths scores have risen above the national average, is only a “starting point” and a long-term funding plan and “more ambition” is needed.
Introduced in 2017, the Government’s created Opportunity
VICTIMS OF crime will now always be told when an offender is due to leave prison after a new Victims’ Code came into force.
The code is a charter of rights which dictate the minimum level of service victims can expect at every stage of the justice process, regardless of whether they
Areas are 12 social mobility “coldspots” that have so far received £90m to cover the period up to August this year.
During the initial three years, when £72m was spent, children’s reading, writing and maths scores at primary school level increased in the three Yorkshire areas by 12 per cent above the national average – with Bradford seeing the biggest improvements of 16 per cent.
However, a leading education choose to report the crime or not.
It stipulates that victims of crimes have the right to be given information that is easy to understand, with extra support provided if necessary.
This includes information about the trial process, their role charity has called for more major investment and the increase of Opportunity Areas in the North to tackle the generations of inequalities that are holding back the region’s communities.
Ahead of a funding announcement on the future of Opportunity Areas which is expected in May, the Leeds-based education charity, SHINE, has called for a 10-year plan and the increase of devolved powers.
Fiona Spellman, the chief executive for SHINE, told The Yorkshire Post: “There have been some early signs of promise emerging from these areas but there is much work still to do and lessons to be learned. This was never going to be a quick-fix solution. We are not talking about a one or a two-year plan. If real change is to be achieved, the Government as a witness if necessary and the outcome of the case.
Where appropriate, victims will be referred to the Victim Contact Scheme, which provides updates on the progress of a convicted offender and their eligibility for release or parole.
The new code also ensures victims needs to commit to at least a 10year programme.”
Ms Spellman, a former maths teacher, also questioned the geographical size of the current Opportunity Areas.
She said: “We would encourage the introduction of more Opportunity will have the ability to prerecord their cross-examination away from the courtroom, rather than give evidence in court.
It adds victims of sexual violence will be able to choose the gender of their police interviewer, while victims of foreign national offenders now have the
Areas in the North, ideally focused on smaller areas, where there is the most need.”
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a lobbying group representing northern businesses, said the Government’s plans needed to significantly increase right to know when the perpetrator is deported.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the new code paves the way for a new Victims’ Law, which MPs will consult on this summer. He said: “Our new Code provides victims with a simplified and stronger set of rights – funding across the region to “affect real change” for disadvantaged children and create more opportunities for young people.
Sarah Mulholland, the head of policy at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “Tackling the education disadvantage gap means addressing those issues which take place beyond the school gate.
“We need to grow the list of Opportunity Areas, as well as increasing the funding they receive...Putting locally-elected civic leaders back in the driving seat to affect real change for disadvantaged children and transform their life chances.”
The Department for Education stressed that the Government is committed to ensuring that regional disparities across the country are tackled.
There is much work still to do and lessons to be learned. Fiona Spellman, chief executive of SHINE.
making clear their entitlements at every step of the way as they recover from crime.
“But we are not stopping here and will consult on strengthening these rights even further through a Victims’ Law as we continue to build back confidence in the justice system.”