Latest news with #independentreview
BBC News
20-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Sheffield Council offers apology to more tree campaigners
Sheffield City Council has accepted an independent review's recommendation for a full apology for its "heavy-handed" legal threats against four tree 2017, several protestors were threatened with injunctions which would have stopped them from disrupting the council's controversial tree-felling programme, or encouraging others to do council issued a full apology for its failings over the scandal after an independent review in 2023, but the complaints of the four campaigners were not considered in that said it accepted the recommendations of the latest investigation "in full" and had issued apologies. The review said the council issued legal letters to some Sheffield residents setting out their intention to obtain injunctions preventing them from continuing to protest against its £2.2bn street improvement who received the letters were given the opportunity to agree to stop campaigning in terms set out by the authority as an alternative to not proceeding to court."In broad terms, it meant the complainants would not have to risk the granting of an injunction and the costs consequences for them personally of proceeding to a contested hearing in the High Court," the report new information about the scandal came to light in 2020 and 2021, the individuals made several complaints about the council's "intimidating" legal threats, which they said went "further than was reasonably necessary". 'Bunker mentality' Several complaints were upheld following the independent investigation by legal firm VWV that concluded in February, with its findings published ahead of a meeting on report described the legal basis against the complainants as "sound", but concluded the authority's action "was a result of the bunker mentality at the council at the time and the desire to 'get the job done'."It also labelled the authority's approach as "heavy-handed".It said the impact on the complainants "cannot be underestimated" and criticised the delay."The handling of the complaints means there are four residents who have been let down," the report added."It will not be enough to simply apologise again."The council admitted the process had "taken longer than necessary, and an external investigator should have been commissioned earlier".As well as calling for "full and complete apologies", the report's other recommendations related to governance, how the council's legal team works, and the authority's have advised councillors to accept its findings in full and endorse an action plan when they meet on Monday.A previous independent review of the council's behaviour during dispute, known as the the Lowcock Inquiry, said there had been a "failure of strategic leadership".In response, the authority acknowledged its "poor" behaviour towards campaigners and residents and issued personal apologies to some individuals. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
The Independent
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Foreign Office promise Dunn family publication of final review report
The Foreign Office have said the final report from a review into how the government handled the case of Harry Dunn will be published in full after his family raised concerns. Foreign Secretary David Lammy officially launched the independent review on Monday – saying it would 'ensure lessons are learned'. The Dunn family were heavily critical of the Foreign Office in 2019 after senior officials told the US government they should 'feel able' to put their son's killer Anne Sacoolas on the next flight home following a fatal road crash. The US state department asserted diplomatic immunity on behalf of Sacoolas – who left the UK 19 days after the incident outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019. A parliamentary review, which will be led by Dame Anne Owers, will scrutinise the role of the Foreign Office in supporting the Dunn family following the crash, but will not look at the actions of the US government. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the report would be published in full, subject to redactions relating to national security or personal information. The findings will also be laid before Parliament alongside a written statement from Mr Lammy. Following the review's official launch, Dame Anne said: 'I believe it is crucially important that public authorities are ready to learn lessons from difficult and traumatic events, so they can reflect on and improve the way they work and communicate. 'This is something that I have been committed to in all the roles I have held. 'I am pleased to have been asked by the Foreign Secretary to carry out this work in the context of the tragic death of Harry Dunn, and to identify any lessons for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 'I very much hope that this will provide some assurance to Harry's family.' Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, alongside other family members, met with Mr Lammy on Wednesday following an invitation for him to 'hear the family's views and concerns'. She said: 'It is our sincere hope that her work will help ensure that no other family is ever treated in the way that ours was. 'This review is yet another step in our long journey towards ensuring that Harry's loss was not in vain and that the world is a better and safer place.' In his own statement, Mr Lammy said: 'I am confident the review into how the case was handled by the previous government has the remit required to properly address the family's concerns and to ensure lessons are learned. 'Having worked previously with Dame Anne Owers on the Lammy Review in 2017, I don't believe anyone is better qualified to undertake this important piece of work.'
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Foreign Office promise Dunn family publication of final review report
The Foreign Office have said the final report from a review into how the government handled the case of Harry Dunn will be published in full after his family raised concerns. Foreign Secretary David Lammy officially launched the independent review on Monday – saying it would 'ensure lessons are learned'. The Dunn family were heavily critical of the Foreign Office in 2019 after senior officials told the US government they should 'feel able' to put their son's killer Anne Sacoolas on the next flight home following a fatal road crash. The US state department asserted diplomatic immunity on behalf of Sacoolas – who left the UK 19 days after the incident outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019. A parliamentary review, which will be led by Dame Anne Owers, will scrutinise the role of the Foreign Office in supporting the Dunn family following the crash, but will not look at the actions of the US government. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the report would be published in full, subject to redactions relating to national security or personal information. The findings will also be laid before Parliament alongside a written statement from Mr Lammy. Following the review's official launch, Dame Anne said: 'I believe it is crucially important that public authorities are ready to learn lessons from difficult and traumatic events, so they can reflect on and improve the way they work and communicate. 'This is something that I have been committed to in all the roles I have held. 'I am pleased to have been asked by the Foreign Secretary to carry out this work in the context of the tragic death of Harry Dunn, and to identify any lessons for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 'I very much hope that this will provide some assurance to Harry's family.' Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, alongside other family members, met with Mr Lammy on Wednesday following an invitation for him to 'hear the family's views and concerns'. She said: 'It is our sincere hope that her work will help ensure that no other family is ever treated in the way that ours was. 'This review is yet another step in our long journey towards ensuring that Harry's loss was not in vain and that the world is a better and safer place.' In his own statement, Mr Lammy said: 'I am confident the review into how the case was handled by the previous government has the remit required to properly address the family's concerns and to ensure lessons are learned. 'Having worked previously with Dame Anne Owers on the Lammy Review in 2017, I don't believe anyone is better qualified to undertake this important piece of work.'
Sky News
14-06-2025
- Sky News
Why many victims will welcome a national inquiry into grooming gangs
In 2019, nine men were jailed for raping and abusing two teenage girls living in a children's home in Bradford. One of the victims, Fiona Goddard, says more than 50 men raped her. When the government began to talk about offering councils money for local inquiries, Fiona hoped Bradford would be one of the first to take up the offer. But there didn't seem to be much enthusiasm. The council was quick to point out that there had already been an independent case review into Fiona's case, along with four other victims. This, then, was Fiona's first reasoning for wanting a national inquiry: The council felt it had done all that needed to be done. Fiona didn't. The Independent review, published in July 2021, found that while in the children's home, Fiona "went missing almost on a daily basis". The police attitude was that she could look after herself - she was "street-wise". There was "agreement by all agencies that Fiona was either at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) or actively being sexually abused and exploited". But "this was not addressed by any single agency". And "when Fiona became pregnant at the age of 15, there was little curiosity or enquiry who the father was". So, obvious failings were discovered. The predictable response was that lessons had been learned and new processes put in place. But no one seemed to be held accountable. 3:07 Ms Goddard told Sky News: "In my serious case review she [Jane Booth, the independent chair] found seven incidences at least, in them records that she found, of them not reporting sexual abuse or rape or assault, from as young as eight years old, and one of the incidences I literally turned up covered in blood and they didn't report it. "That is not just misunderstanding a crime, that is making intentional decisions not to report the sexual abuse of a child." She adds: "Let's not forget, these people still work within social services and the police force." Not only did this Independent review not satisfy Fiona, but it also didn't begin to reflect the levels and scale of abuse Fiona had experienced outside of Bradford. Asked where she was trafficked to, Fiona rattles off a list of cities. "Blackburn, Rotherham, Rochdale, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Oldham - never Telford, I'd never even heard of Telford until it all came out if I'm honest - Nottingham, Oxford." Then she remembers she didn't go to Oxford - men from Oxford came to her - but the point is made. Local enquiries can't possibly begin to explore the networks of men who traffic women, often down routes of drug trafficking being done by the same gangs. Bradford Council told Sky News it contributed to the national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and published more than 70 reports where child sexual exploitation was discussed and has implemented findings from the independent local review which included Fiona's case. Fiona believes there are numerous connections leading back to Bradford - but victims from each city often believe their abusers are at the centre of it. We've spoken to grooming victims across the country, and in 2022, a case was reopened in Humberside after a Sky News investigation, where we found diary entries, texts, photos, and school reports all indicating that teenage victims had been abused. One of them was "Anna", who also wants a national inquiry. She believes there is a national pattern of police forces not believing victims or even criminalising them instead. Obtaining her own police records using a Subject Access Request (SAR), Anna found officers' attitudes towards her were similar to what we heard with Fiona in Bradford, blaming her abuse and injuries on "lifestyle choices of her own". Anna said: "Every time I look at my Subject Access Request, I still think it's shocking. "It was the same sort of terminology - lifestyle choices, liar, attention seeker, and the majority of it was negative. "It was really rare that I'd come across something where they were actually listening or they were concerned." Humberside Police told us: "As the investigation is active, it is imperative we protect its integrity; as such are unable to comment on aspects of the investigation as this could impact or jeopardise any criminal or judicial proceedings." But it is years now since Anna first reported her abuse, and she believes the police have left it too late to gather evidence. She told Sky News: "I think it's either happening everywhere, or young people have been taken everywhere. "I think the attitudes of the professionals, the police, social services, from what I've heard and seen, they seem very similar in every area." The government-commissioned rapid review by Baroness Casey is due to be published next week and is expected to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. Like Anna and Fiona, many victims will welcome Sir Keir Starmer's early response accepting the recommendation. They will want the inquiry to probe into the operations of the perpetrators - who they are and how they are connected. But they will also want clear accountability of the people and organisations who failed to act when they reported their abuse - and an understanding of why, so often, authorities fail to protect these vulnerable girls.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Plymouth tree felling fiasco cost more than £3.3m
A Devon council's decision to cut down more than 100 trees at night has cost more than £3.3m, a damning report has "shock to the organisation" of the tree-felling carried out by Plymouth City Council in March 2023 "still reverberates today", according to an independent review into the council's review said there were still "significant tensions" as a result of the tree felling, both within the council and "between the groups and individuals involved" with "wounds still to be healed".Plymouth City Council acknowledged weaknesses in the delivery of the project and said lessons would be learned. The council provided an estimate of the costs involved including legal costs, inflationary increases, staff time and the £130,000 spent on the review review's authors said there had been no quantification of the "reputational damage or the cost of re-building trust" which "have the potential to add costs to future council projects and endeavours". The report added: "More significantly, no assessment has been made of the costs to business and the lost revenue to the local economy from having the key artery of the city centre so impacted."It said the £3.3m figure was "the lower end of the likely cost" and said this showed the importance of major projects being "adequately resourced with "thorough political and senior officer oversight".The original scheme was set to cost £12.7m. Plymouth City Council has brought forward a new scheme for Armada Way at a cost of about £30m which is currently being worked on. 'Too little, too late' The review was highly critical of the management of the council by both politicians and the paid said "sustained managerial grip by senior politicians and officers" was "lacking at crucial points".The report said: "When issues came to a head, senior politicians ducked and senior officers failed to anticipate the media frenzy and the impact of [anticipated] legal action."It said staff did not feel protected by managers and said: "In this instance, the reflection was almost unanimous that the managerial response was both too little and too late." 'Guilt, blame and defiance' The review explored how decisions were made, how the project was managed and how the council communicated with the brought a case to the High Court in March 2024 claiming that Plymouth City Council had acted case was dismissed but Judge David Elvin KC was scathing of the council's conduct relating to the hearing and said the local authority's production of evidence had been "highly unsatisfactory".The review published on Thursday said it was "apparent that there are wounds still to be healed for those individuals most directly impacted". It said there were "pockets of regret, remorse, guilt, blame and defiance" and the council needed to find a way "to rebuild trust, internally and externally". The city council's £185,000-a-year chief executive, Tracey Lee, apologised and said the authority "came up short of where we needed to be".She said the issues in the report were "not reflective of the vast majority of what we do" but showed where improvement was said: "We are committed to being a learning organisation - one that reflects honestly, adapts and grows from experience."That's not just important for us as a council - it's vital for the people we serve. "When we learn, we improve and when we improve, we deliver better outcomes for our communities."Ms Lee said Plymouth was not "anti-tree" and she added that there were now "35,000 new trees growing and establishing across the city".
