Police board proposes extra help for sex crime victims

Despite being England’s biggest county, North Yorkshire is one of the few areas in the UK not to have a sexual assault referral centre (SARC), which offers counselling, medical care and forensic examinations around the clock.

However, plans to develop an existing forensic medical facility in Bishopthorpe, York, have been unveiled this week, with services also being commissioned from other areas.

And on Friday the North Yorkshire Police policy and planning board is set to make a decision on whether to push ahead with the proposal, which would bring the county in line with national guidelines that state that every area should have a centre.

The board will consider a report, written by the force’s temporary deputy chief constable Tim Madgwick, which asks members to look at the progress towards the provision of a SARC in the county, as well as the cost, which is expected to reach almost £200,000.

Women’s Support Network and Jigsaw chief executive Dilys Davy – who lives in Whitby – welcomed the proposal.

“It’s absolutely great if they do have their own SARC in North Yorkshire, but they have to ensure that they have got ongoing services in place,” she said.

“They have to make sure they have got a really good counselling facility.

“The counselling facility needs to have robust governance in place especially around offering pre-trial therapy.

“They also need independent sexual violence advisors, who will support people from the report stage through the whole court process.

“All those different services need to be co-ordinated.

“There needs to be really solid arrangements between the police, the SARC, the Crown Prosecution Agency and the voluntary sector,” she added.

Mrs Davy, who is also the chair of the Teeside sexual strategy group and a third sector expert on the Department of Health national support team for the response to sexual violence, said she was keen to help North Yorkshire Police and the North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust set up the services.