The government has today opened applications for specialist, not-for-profit education providers to apply to run the UK’s first Secure School. This provides a custodial setting for young people which is focused on education and health services.

This is the very first example of this establishment in the UK. Based at Medway, it will offer up to 70 places for boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17 and will predominantly serve the South East, including London – a crucial area of demand. Headteachers will be given complete autonomy to run a tailored curriculum.

Justice Minister Edward Argar said:

Today’s publication of the ‘How to Apply Guidance’ is a crucial step in our ongoing commitment to reform youth custody and equip children with the skills they need to live successful, crime-free lives on release.

Secure Schools will lead the way across the youth estate by focusing on tailored early intervention and putting education, healthcare and physical activity at the heart of rehabilitation.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System Lord Agnew said:

All children deserve the chance to fulfil their potential regardless of their background or circumstances – a high quality education can be the key to helping young offenders get their lives back on track.

That is why we have worked with the Ministry of Justice in the development of Secure Schools so that education, care and health are at the heart of youth justice.

Academies are rich in expertise and innovation that could be extended to helping these young people and I hope to see them putting themselves forward for this.

The Ministry of Justice has engaged with and listened to over 150 stakeholders to ensure the Secure Schools model is built on evidence and shaped by best practice.

The application process has been designed to ensure a wide range of organisations is able to make a strong application, including those with less experience of bidding for government contracts – resulting in a provider with genuine expertise and experience in this field. It will run until February 2019 before a provider is announced in the summer – with the aim of the school opening in Autumn 2020.

Applicants will be asked to demonstrate a child focussed ethos and show their experience of working with children who have undergone significant trauma.

£5 million will be invested to redevelop Medway Secure Training Centre in to a Secure School, including extensive refurbishment of the existing classrooms and residential areas as well as improvement to sports provision on the site. This work will benefit from the findings of the review of sport in youth custody and efforts ongoing as part of the Education and Employment Strategy – both published this year.

Secure Schools are just one part of a package of reforms to the youth estate, including developing Enhanced Support Units to provide specialist support to children with the most complex needs. We are also expanding frontline staff capacity in public-sector YOIs by 20% equating to over 120 new recruits.

Notes to editors

• The government is developing a specific inspection regime to robustly monitor the performance of Secure Schools.
• Secure Schools will be run by secure school academy trusts and will be governed and run under the same legislation as children’s homes and academies.

The partnerships, which were announced as part of the Budget 2018, will secure a total of £653 million in grant funding from the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver affordable homes through housing associations. The deals include homes for social rent in areas of high affordability pressures.

The housing associations for this new wave are:

Platform Housing Group (following the merger of Fortis and Waterloo Housing Associations on the 1st October); Guinness and Stonewater (in partnership); Optivo; Southern Housing Group; Orbit; Thirteen; Vivid.

These are in addition to the eight housing association deals announced in early July – bringing the total number of additional affordable homes that will be delivered to 27,755.

Jackie Jacob, Homes England General Manager for Affordable Housing Programmes said:

“Homes England is working with housing associations across England who are prepared to be more ambitious to significantly increase housing delivery and we welcome these seven new partnerships announced in the Budget 2018.

“We have challenged housing associations to respond to a new way of engaging strategically with Homes England and the response has been excellent – we hope to be announcing more partnerships between Homes England and housing associations in the coming months.”

ENDS

For further media information please contact: Homes England press office on 0207 393 2201 or Patsy Cusworth on 0796772328 or patsy.cusworth@homesengland.gov.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

Strategic Partnerships

About Homes England

Homes England is the Government’s housing accelerator. We have the appetite, influence, expertise and resources to drive positive market change.

By releasing more land to developers who want to make a difference, and investing in places of greatest need, to deliver new homes. Homes England welcomes partners who share their ambition to challenge the traditional norms and build better homes faster.

For more information click here or follow us on Twitter.

A man who sexually assaulted a teenage girl has had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.

Tony Baker, now 50, carried out a series of sexual assaults against the victim over a period of several years.

Baker was originally sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in August, where he was given 2 years and 3 months imprisonment. Today, after the Solicitor General’s referral, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 4 years imprisonment.

Commenting on the sentence increase, the Solicitor General said:

“Baker repeatedly sexually abused his victim over a number of years, robbing her of her youth. Thanks to the Court of Appeal’s decision today I am satisfied that justice has been done and seen to be done by those who have suffered at his hands.”

We’re proud the UK is one of the best places in Europe to start a business.

Did you know there are 5.7 million small businesses in the UK and that more than 1,000 start up every single day?

Not only that, but there are about 450,000 16-24 year olds running smaller businesses in the UK, many of whom are taking advantage of the wealth of help and support available.

The top 5 things we’re doing to support young entrepreneurs

1. Making it easier to find the right advice at the right time

Gov.uk provides information on your rights and obligations and signposts sources of information and guidance:

Business Support Helpline: provides free advice to pre-start and start-ups.

2. Building an environment where entrepreneurs and small businesses can continue to thrive

There are 38 Growth Hubs in England. They’re local places where budding business people can get help and advice from those in the know.

3. Making it easier to access finance

Startup Loans provides start up finance and up to 12 months of mentoring support. Over £54 million worth of loans have been accessed by 18 to 24 year-olds since 2012.

Our very own British Business Bank has a new Finance Hub to put businesses in touch with finance options.

4. Working hard to make sure you get paid on time

Unfortunately some businesses make a habit out of paying invoices late, which makes things difficult for a small business. But we’re asking for your opinions on how to tackle this problem, with a consultation open until November 29. We recently introduced new laws to make it easier for small businesses to access invoice finance, providing a £1 billion long-term boost to the economy.

We set up the Office for the Small Business Commissioner to help you resolve payment disputes with larger businesses so you can concentrate on doing your job.

5. Supporting the nation’s innovators

Our Enterprising Britain Awards 2018 honoured a range of projects that support young entrepreneurs all over the UK. These include Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Lancashire and Teeside University where lots of good work is going on.

We are supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs by shaping an environment where they can continue to thrive. This is part of our modern Industrial Strategy. For more information, visit gov.uk.

The funding announced in the Budget will see the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) team up with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) for the pilot project.

Employers and training providers will identify which digital skills are in short supply in the local area and design a targeted approach that can help people prepare to move into digital roles.

Greater Manchester is one of the largest digital clusters in the UK with almost 8,000 digital businesses employing more than 80,0000 people.

Digital Minister Margot James said:

We want everyone to benefit from the digital revolution and by working in partnership with industry we can make sure that we’re giving people the skills they need to succeed in the future.

Greater Manchester has a thriving and growing tech sector and as part of our modern Industrial Strategy we’re helping to make the UK one of the world’s most digitally skilled nations.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said:

Ensuring people in Greater Manchester have the skills they need to access the jobs that are being created in our outstanding digital and tech sector will be a key part of making our post-Brexit future a success.

Greater Manchester is already leading the way with the devolution of adult skills funding and creating our own Local Industrial Strategy, alongside the Government, to ensure everyone here can access good jobs and benefit from the growth in our economy. This project will help take this work even further.

Our devolved administrations are primed and ready to make decisions on key domestic agendas and with further devolution over areas like skills, we can truly make the difference people need.

The project will be co-funded with employers and will particularly look to encourage training provision that is offered flexibly so that those already in work or with other responsibilities can benefit from opportunities to develop new digital skills and move into exciting new roles.

This will support the Local Industrial Strategy for Greater Manchester and complement the devolution of adult skills funding which is making it more responsive to the needs of local employers.

The announcement builds on the other good news for Greater Manchester in the budget, following the plans outlined for the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy.

The The progress statement published this week showcases the work that has been done so far by local leaders in the Northern Powerhouse who are working with the Government and businesses to identify economic opportunities that the region can seize in the years to come.