A maternity expert behind a key 2022 report has told Sky News she is “angry” over government inaction after a landmark inquiry found good care “is the exception rather than the rule”.

Donna Ockendon, whose report in March 2022 listed 15 areas for “immediate and essential action”, said families have been “let down” by failure to improve services across England.

Then-health secretary Sajid Javid pledged to “make the changes that are needed” following that report.

But this week, an inquiry into birth trauma found there was “shockingly poor quality” in maternity services, resulting in a system where “poor care is all too frequently tolerated as normal”.

“If we look at the issue that underpins the delivery of all safe maternity care – which is funding, workforce and training – we’ve made really disappointing progress on that,” she said.

“Warm words are no longer enough, action needs to happen and it needed to happen a long time ago.”

Ms Ockendon, who is currently investigating failures at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, said progress on maternity care has been “wholly insufficient” in the 26 months since her report.

She said a minimum of £200m to £350m was needed immediately at the time her report was published, but only £180m has been spent in total so far.

The figure needed today – after inflation “ravaged” the economy – could be as much £1bn, she said.

This funding shortage compounds the strain on staff, she said, citing a Royal College of Midwives claim that staff are working 100,000 hours in unpaid overtime each week.

That has now risen to 118,000 hours, according to her understanding.

“We are significantly less than halfway where we should be in terms of finance,” she said.

“Without finance, we can’t grow our workforce.”

‘Some more equal than others’

While many will still be cared for properly, she said, there is a “postcode lottery” when it comes to quality, with ethnic minorities particularly affected.

“Some women are more equal than others, it would seem,” she said.

There are “persistent inequalities” in outcomes for women living in depravation, she added, and there are “so many inequalities that are persisting”.

“The government promised swift action,” she said, adding she is due to meet health minister Victoria Atkins in around six weeks.

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Each year, around 30,000 women will suffer a negative experience before, during or after delivery, according to this week’s inquiry results.

Led by Tory MP Theo Clarke and Labour MP Rosie Duffield, the Birth Trauma Inquiry considered evidence given by more than 1,300 women and called for a national plan to improve maternity care.

“Behind all of these numbers are accounts of lives that have been changed forever,” Ms Ockendon said.

“I do hear, on a daily basis, accounts of lives that have been torn apart, changed, and I can’t put them back together again.”

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I am determined to improve the quality and consistency of care for women throughout pregnancy, birth and the critical months that follow, and I fully support work to develop a comprehensive national strategy to improve our maternity services.

“We are now investing £186m a year more than in 2021 to improve maternity and neonatal care, and we announced an extra £35m at the Spring Budget to boost maternity safety, with more midwives and better training.”

Almost 900 sexual offences were committed between 2020 and 2022 by people on bail, according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

A Freedom of Information request by Sky News found the figure totalled 887 for the three years and had risen annually, with 184 offences committed in 2020, increasing to 326 in 2021 and 377 in 2022.

Sky News was refused the data for 2023 ahead of broader crime statistics being published on Thursday morning, and has now been told to submit another FOI request to access the information – meaning at least 20 days until the figures are revealed.

However, the trend indicates the number of offences is likely to have tipped over the 1,000 mark for the four-year period.

Charities and legal professionals warned the numbers were a “disastrous consequence” of a “broken” court system, which is seeing those on bail facing record delays before their cases are heard, putting them “at risk of reoffending for extended periods”.

The statistics come after claims defendants deemed “lower risk” could be released on police bail without a court hearing as part of emergency measures triggered on Wednesday to tackle prison overcrowding – with hundreds of bail hearings being delayed in case the defendant is placed on remand but has no prison cell to go to.

An MoJ source told Sky News it would be a decision for the police if they chose to release someone, not an order from the department.

But with police cells being used to house prisoners in overcrowded areas – another emergency procedure triggered last week – there could be pressure to make room.

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The chief executive of The Survivors Trust – a national organisation helping rape and sexual abuse support services – said people who had been attacked by those on bail felt “let down” by the government.

“There can be a lot of fear exactly around that happening,” Fay Maxted told Sky News. “Many, many survivors [of sexual offences and other crimes] report them because they want to protect others.

“They’re not driven by revenge or anything, but they are wanting to make things better and hoping to make the community a safer place.

“So it’s devastating to then find that actually the person that you made the report about is out and about and in the community.”

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Ms Maxted laid much of the blame at the door of delays in the court system, leaving people on bail for longer, and “creating a lot of disastrous consequences”.

“People can be questioned and then released on bail, and it might be a year, it might be two years before they appear in court,” she said. “It’s really unacceptable. We’ve got a broken system at the moment.

“And I’m not always sure that everyone appreciates the impact of sexual violence and abuse – the potentially lifelong impact on someone’s health and well-being.”

The charity chief’s concerns were backed up by the Criminal Bar Association, who said the figures showed “a systemic failure” of government to fix court delays.

Analysis from the organisation used the average time for a rape trial with a bailed defendant to conclude after charge as an example – saying it had risen 80% in five years to around 18 months, with many court dates now being fixed in summer 2026 for charges made last year or early in 2024.

Chair of the CBA, Tana Adkin KC, told Sky News: “The number of sexual offences committed by those on bail for previous untried offences more than doubled between 2020 and 2022.

“This indicates a systemic failure to deliver on a core government duty to protect all citizens from harm.”

She pointed to a lack of investment in the criminal barristers required to prosecute and defend cases saying, without it, charges could not be “swiftly tried” in court and there would be “dire consequences for the innocent unable to clear their name and the culpable at risk of reoffending on bail for extended periods”.

Ms Adkin added: “Years of underfunding in the criminal justice professionals tasked with ensuring offences once charged are litigated has real-life consequences for defendants, witnesses, complainants and victims as well as their families, all caught up in the historic delays in our criminal courts.”

The Survivors Trust is calling for sexual offences to be tried in a court with a panel of judges and lay-people advisers to help victims through the process, as well as speed it up – and Ms Maxted believes this would also cut down the number of offences committed while people are on bail.

“You wouldn’t want a situation where there are unfair trials,” she said. “There has got to be a process where everyone is able to present their case.

“But at the moment we are leaving victims vulnerable and then leaving communities vulnerable and the statistics are proving this.

“If someone’s already been arrested and then released on bail and then they re-offended, how much more do they have to do to prove that they are a danger in the community?”

The MoJ statistics revealed through Sky News’s Freedom of Information request also showed 7,693 offences of violence against a person – ranging from assault to murder – were committed between 2020 and 2022 by someone who was on bail.

And there were a further 17,243 theft offences, along with 1,137 robbery offences, and 411 incidents of criminal damage and arson.

The figures will come as an embarrassment to a department already under pressure over its handling of not just the courts system, but the prison service as well.

As well as the changes to bail hearings mentioned above, ministers have issued orders that prisoners serving sentences of less than four years be freed up to 70 days early from this month, among predictions male institutions could be full by June.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak said no one would be released “if they were deemed a threat to the public” or had committed a “serious offence”.

But Labour accused him of “misleading” the Commons, pointing to fresh reports from the chief inspector of prisons that some prisoners who had already been let out were a “risk to children” and had a “history of stalking, domestic abuse, and being subject to a restraining order”.

Sky News has approached the Ministry of Justice for comment.

This weekend’s undisputed heavyweight clash is “D-Day” for both fighters, Tyson Fury has warned, as he renewed his verbal feud with his opponent.

The British boxer is set to face off against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

While he had nothing but praise for his boxing, ahead of the estimated $240m clash, he restated that he regarded Usyk as “an ugly little rabbit dosser”.

The long-awaited fight will see the unbeaten rivals face each other for the first time as well as an undisputed champion crowned for the first time since 1999.

The fight was originally scheduled for February, but had to be pushed back after Fury suffered a “freak” cut on his face.

With the fight just a few days away, tensions have ratcheted up after an incident at a hotel during a media day this week saw Fury’s dad, John Fury, appear to headbutt a member of Usyk’s entourage.

Speaking to Sky News’s Jacqui Beltrao, Fury said that the fight was his and Usyk’s “D-Day” due to their age.

He said: “I think we’ll find out on Saturday whose destiny it is, mine or his.

“We both can’t have the destiny of being the undisputed in this era, and we won’t be young enough to go into another era undisputed.

“So it’s D-Day for both fighters.”

‘Another day at the office’

However, despite the gravity of the event, Fury said he was unbothered by the pressure and described it as “just another day in the office”.

Having already achieved his childhood ambition of becoming heavyweight champion of the world, Fury said he had been “riding the wave of that” ever since.

Fury said: “For me, it’s just another day in the office, I’m here to get paid… and go home.

“It’s never been about belts and all that sort of stuff, all that sort of stuff is based on someone else’s opinion.

“For me it’s about getting my money, going home, walking the dog, doing the school run, just being left alone really.

“I’m not interested in going into movies and having a successful career after boxing.”

However, he had a few choice words for his opponent, Usyk, despite describing him as a “good fighter” and “accomplished boxer”.

“I’ve never said Usyk isn’t a good boxer, I’ve called him an ugly little rabbit dosser. That’s what I’ve called him. But I’ve never said his boxing was bad,” Fury told Sky News.

However, Fury admitted his days fighting in the UK were likely behind him – due to what he claimed were the lengthy delays getting a bout organised and off the ground in his home country.

Despite Fury’s strong words, Usyk has claimed he isn’t being drawn on anything said this week.

“I’m doing good, I’m happy and I’m hungry. I don’t care how Tyson will be this week. I’m ready,” he said.

He continued: “For me 18 May is important, what Tyson does in the press conferences doesn’t matter.”

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How to watch the fight

Ring walks for the main fight are expected to take place at 11pm on 18 May, with coverage of the build-up starting at 4pm on Sky Sports Box Office.

Two hours of the undercard are also available on Sky Sports Action from 4pm.

The main event will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office HD.

The event is £24.95 for Sky customers in the UK and €27.95 for Sky (and Virgin Media) customers in the Republic of Ireland.