Victims of crimes like domestic abuse and sexual assault will be better protected following arrests of perpetrators under new provisions collectively known as ‘Kay’s Law’, Safeguarding Minister Mims Davis announced today (25 October).

The reforms, which will come into force this week, will mean police have a duty to take into account the views of victims before releasing someone on bail. Police will be encouraged to use pre-charge bail instead of releasing suspects under investigation, where it is necessary and proportionate.

Kay’s Law, named after a victim of domestic violence, is one of many measures the government has taken to support victims, bring perpetrators to justice and protect women and girls across the country. This includes the ‘ENOUGH’ campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, the second phase of which has launched today (25 October).

The campaign aims to provide bystanders with a range of safe ways to intervene if they witness an incident of violence against women and girls, ranging from sexual harassment on the street, public transport or at work, to unwanted touching, sharing intimate images of someone without their consent and coercive control in a relationship.

The Minister for Safeguarding, Mims Davies said:

There is no place in our society for cowardly acts of violence against women and girls.

Abuse comes in many forms, and by standing against all of them, and holding perpetrators accountable, we can create a society where women and girls are safe.​

This campaign, as well as our crucial reforms to pre-charge bail under Kay’s Law, is part of this vision. However, there is more to be done, and I am committed to continuing this vital work.

‘Kay’s Law’ is named after Kay Richardson, who was tragically murdered by her estranged husband after he was released under investigation, following his arrest for sexual offences against Kay. In 2019, the government launched a review of pre-charge bail legislation which led to the reforms being implemented this week, including the new duty which aims to provide better protection for victims like Kay. The measures were introduced as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.

Following the publication of the government’s Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in 2021, the government launched the ‘ENOUGH’ campaign in March 2022.

The second phase of the campaign includes television adverts, billboards, social media and radio advertising which highlight different forms of violence against women and girls and the simple acts that anyone can take to challenge perpetrators of abuse.

Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, National Police Chiefs’ Council Violence Against Women and Girls Coordinator said:

Policing has a key role of going after the violent people who commit these awful crimes but we cannot arrest our way out of the societal issues that lead to this behaviour. If we are serious about long-term change then we need to prevent harm and violence to women and girls by changing attitudes and behaviour across society.

Deniz Uğur, Deputy Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:

We welcome this next phase of the government’s Enough campaign to tackle male violence against women and girls, something the End Violence Against Women Coalition has campaigned for for years. We know that without shifting the attitudes behind male violence against women, this violence won’t end.

We’re pleased to see the Enough campaign focus on what everyone in society can do to end violence against women, because too often, campaigns are targeted at women and wrongly place the responsibility on us to ‘keep ourselves safe’. But ending violence against women is everyone’s business. We want to see men and boys actively engaged in this conversation, because we should all be able to take action and hold each other accountable.

Preventing violence is always better than waiting until harm has been done to act. Achieving this requires a genuine commitment, because this work takes time and needs dedicated and long-term resourcing.

Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid said:

We were pleased to help support the development of the Home Office’s Enough campaign, to raise awareness of violence against women and girls and encourage people to stop everyday abuse and harassment. Everyone has a role to play in ending violence against women – whether it takes place in the home or in public – and we must all step up and play our part. By changing public attitudes and challenging everyday misogyny and sexism, we can all help to make society a safer place for women and girls.

Graham Goulden, international leadership and bystander trainer and retired Scottish police officer said:

The Enough campaign provides focus on a very important group of people who can make a difference. Bystanders are often present in the build up to incidents, at the time of an incident or afterwards.

When one person speaks up they signal that a behaviour is wrong. They also make it ok for others to intervene as well. Therefore it’s important we communicate this message as well as giving friends, colleagues, neighbours and other bystanders the tools to act.

One person can make a difference. The Enough campaign will make a difference.

Through the campaign, the department is working with organisations involved in the night time economy and fitness industry, like gyms, as these are places where violence against women and girls can often occur.

The violence against women and girls Enough campaign has information and examples of how to intervene safely if you witness violence against women and girls. It also provides information on support services, how to report violence to the police and offers guidance for individuals worried about their own behaviour.

Over the coming weeks, the website will include a dedicated page for teachers with educational materials for use in schools on violence against women and girls.

The campaign has been developed with an advisory group of over 40 voluntary sector organisations, survivors and academics who have given their expert insight.

The Sentor group of companies, comprising Sentor Solutions Commercial Ltd, Fabcourt Developments Ltd, Sentor Solutions Advisory Ltd and Sentor Solutions Ltd have been wound up by the High Court. The Official Receiver has been appointed liquidator of the companies.

The latter two companies changed their names and most recently traded as Hall Contracting Services Ltd and Clarkson Murphy Partners Ltd respectively.

Promotional material provided by Fabcourt Developments to investors stated that Sentor Solutions Commercial and Clarkson Murphy Partners were the Security Trustee for the investment scheme, which promised fixed rate investment products known as ‘convertible loan notes’ with high monthly or quarterly interest rates for a duration of 2-3 years.

Fabcourt Developments was in fact the successor to Sampson Property Developments Ltd, previously known as Texmoore Limited, which had operated the same scam until it entered into compulsory liquidation on 23 March 2022 following a creditors petition.

Between them, the companies took over £2 million from investors, plus a further $500,000.

Both Clarkson Murphy Partners and Hall Contracting Services had also been said to be Security Trustees for Sampson Property Developments scam.

In addition, the companies also told investors that the loan notes were “government-backed”, and even that their investments were covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (which would have entitled them to compensation if the investment failed).

The Insolvency Service investigation into the companies established that the Sampson Property Developments and Fabcourt Developments schemes were part of an investment fraud collectively operated by the companies.

The investigation found that, having received funds from would-be investors in the Sampson Property Developments and Fabcourt Developments schemes, the companies would make a handful of monthly interest payments on their investments before going silent and leaving investors substantially out of pocket.

The properties set out in promotional materials were found to be owned by unrelated entities, and videos promoting the investment schemes had been cloned.

Edna Okhiria, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

It is undeniably in the public interest for these companies to be prevented from continuing to trade, which will enable the Official Receiver to carry out further investigations into the activities of the Companies to establish the extent of its liabilities, the position as regards any assets, the whereabouts and conduct of the directors and any other culpable parties.

These companies operated a fraudulent scheme whereby they mislead the public, falsely claiming that the Texmoore and Fabcourt investment schemes were regulated to provide the veneer that funds invested were protected when in fact they were not. These claims induced investors to invest substantial sums. The companies then failed to make more than a few monthly interest payments, leaving investors substantially out of pocket.

The Insolvency Service, alongside our partner agencies, continues to investigate schemes such as these and to pursue enforcement against those responsible for facilitating them.

Notes to editors

Sentor Solutions Commercial Ltd (company no. 12309797)

Hall Contracting Services Limited formerly known as Sentor Solutions Advisory Ltd (company no. 12139495)

Clarkson Murphy Partners Limited formerly known as Sentor Solutions Ltd (company no. 08327930)

Fabcourt Developments Limited (company no. 08890452)

The petitions were presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 20 and 22 June 2022 at the High Court of Justice.

All enquiries concerning the affairs of both the 4 companies and SPD should be made to:

• The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ
• Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk

Investors in both these and other schemes are being contacted by suspected fraudsters, falsely representing that recoveries may be made if an advance fee is paid. Please note this general advice, which follows for any instance where an advance fee is requested

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Further information about live company investigations is available here.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available here.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The reviews find that most schools prioritised English and maths tuition, while further education providers offered English and maths alongside a range of other subjects. Teaching staff and pupils were positive about their tutoring programmes. However, the quality of tuition varied greatly depending on the school or provider, and most teachers did not know the extent to which tutoring was having an impact.

Ofsted was commissioned by the Department of Education to look at the overall quality of tutoring provided, how it was integrated into schools’ curriculum planning and delivery, and the likelihood that it will help pupils catch up.

The reviews draw evidence from visits to 63 schools and 21 further education and skills providers.

Ofsted Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, said:

Tuition is an expensive intervention, but used well it can help pupils who fall behind. The government’s tutoring programme is potentially an important part of helping pupils catch up after the pandemic. There is evidence of tuition working effectively, but most schools and colleges lack a system to assess it properly and so do not know if that’s the case.

I hope these reviews help the government develop its tuition programme and help school leaders implement tutoring better.

Schools

Most leaders in the 63 schools visited had chosen to use existing staff to tutor pupils through a school-led route, rather than external tutors or academic mentors, because this gave them greater control and oversight of quality.

Schools that had strong tutoring in place used assessments, supplemented by teachers’ knowledge, to identify the pupils who could benefit most from tuition. Ofsted found that sessions taught by qualified teachers tended to be of higher quality than those taught by other types of tutors.

Nevertheless, inspectors saw that tutoring cannot really work without a well-considered and constructed curriculum in place. In the stronger schools, teachers and tutors were able to use the curriculum to identify the core knowledge that pupils had either missed, or did not fully understand, and made sure this could be covered in tutoring sessions. Tutors and class teachers collaborated to keep one another informed of a pupil’s progress.

In a minority of schools, the tuition provided was haphazard and poorly planned. These schools had not understood the purpose of having small tutoring groups and frequent sessions. Most schools had not yet found a good way to assess pupils’ progress and to decide when to stop tuition for individual pupils.

Some leaders found it difficult to extend the school day for tutoring, leading to many providing tutoring during school hours. Some schools had mitigations in place to minimise the impact of tuition on other lessons and extra-curricular activities. However, leaders in one fifth of the schools visited had not thought through the risks of disrupting children’s learning by taking them out of regular classes.

Despite some of the issues, leaders, staff and pupils were positive about the tutoring provided, and overall, the national tutoring programme, particularly the school-led tutoring route, has been well received by schools.

Further education and skills

The review found that 16 to 19 providers used the funding differently and had interpreted ‘tuition’ activities in a variety of ways.

In the stronger examples, tutors used regular assessment to understand learners’ progress and identify specific subject areas where they needed further assistance. Collaboration between teachers and tutors was strong.

Tutors were often recruited from existing teaching staff, which meant they already knew and taught the curriculum well. Sometimes there were challenges in recruiting specialist teachers, with some providers commissioning industry experts to deliver vocational tutoring sessions.

Learner groups were too large in some cases, which limited the ability of the tutor to tailor sessions to specific learners’ needs.

In a minority of cases, tutors did not set clear goals for learners, there was poor collaboration between tutors and teachers, and tutors did not refer back to the core knowledge in the course curriculum. This meant they did not always address an individual’s learning gaps.

Overall, leaders, staff and learners saw the value in the tutoring provided. Many suggested that tuition had re-engaged learners, increased their confidence and resilience, and changed their attitudes to learning. However, many providers acknowledged that they had not fully developed arrangements for overseeing and monitoring tuition.