PCD 1622 MoJ Funding 2024/25 - SV Local Commissioning Test Fund

PCD 1622 MoJ Funding 2024/25 - SV Local Commissioning Test Fund

The Mayor is determined to see that victims of crime in London are better supported as a result of the steps set out in his Police and Crime Plan 2022-25. He is clear that the police, justice agencies and other partner organisations must work together if support is to be improved for victims pursuing their case through the justice process and for those who choose not to report. 

MOPAC receives funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to contribute to victim and witness support services MOPAC commissions in London. This funding comes to MOPAC via two multi-year grant agreements from the MoJ (known as Core and General) covering financial years 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25.   

In March 2024, the MoJ confirmed elements of funding under MOPAC’s General Grant for 2024/25 – Sexual Violence Local Commissioning Test funding. This now enables MOPAC to formally extend funding for relevant organisations providing services supporting victims and witnesses in London until 31st March 2025.  

The total additional funding now confirmed for 2024/25 is £3,183,094.27 for Sexual Violence Local Commissioning Test. 

This decision seeks approval to accept the confirmed grant funding, sign the MoJ General Grant Addendum, and manage the onward distribution of the funding to victim and witness services.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Accept the now confirmed General Grant funding of £3,183,094.27 from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for victim and witness services in London and for budgets to be updated accordingly. 

2. Approve the onward allocation of this grant funding to all relevant victim and witness services in receipt of this funding. 

3. Delegate authority to the MOPAC Chief Financial Officer to sign the necessary grant addendum to accept this funding from the MoJ. 

4. Delegate authority to the MOPAC Chief Finance Officer to sign the applicable grant modifications to the existing grant agreements to disperse this funding.  

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

1. Since 2014, responsibility for regional commissioning of victim services has been devolved to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). The funding to enable this comes from the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) Victims Fund and Sexual Violence Local Commissioning Test Fund (formerly known as the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund), provided to MOPAC via two grant agreements – Core Grant and General Grant. 

2. This funding has traditionally been used to pay for core victims services including: the London Victim and Witness Service; Children’s and Young People’s Service; Rape Crisis Centres. In addition, the Ministry of Justice has provided additional funding in recent years, including the ringfenced Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence funding (PCD 1235, PCD 1440, PCD 1445, PCD 1600) under its General Grant and additional ‘Core Grant’ funding in September 2022 (PCD 1300) and August 2023 (PCD 1445). 

3. PCD 1526 approved 2024/25 funding and extensions for all sexual violence support services commissioned by MOPAC. This decision noted that whilst the MoJ had confirmed that MOPAC would receive devolved Sexual Violence Local Commissioning Test (SV LCT) funding in 2024/2025, the settlement had not yet been confirmed; and in the event the level of funding assumed is not received, budget allocations for all services would be reduced accordingly. 

4. In March 2024, the MoJ confirmed elements of funding under MOPAC’s General Grant for 2024/25 – SV LCT - which this decision seeks approval to accept, sign the MoJ Grant Addendum, and manage onward distribution of the funds. A breakdown of the additional £3,183,094.27 SV LCT funding is included below in bold: 

2. Issues for consideration  

1. To accept this funding, MOPAC is required to sign an Addendum to its General Grant Agreement from the MoJ which set out the conditions by which this funding is to be spent and the reporting requirements. The Addendum does not require match funding from MOPAC. MOPAC will incorporate these requirements in the grant agreements for services that are funded from this source. 

2. The reporting requirements for this funding include the submission of mid-year and end of year performance returns as well signing a statement confirming compliance with the terms and conditions of the funding. 

3. The funding will be distributed by MOPAC by varying existing grants as laid out below. This decision delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer to sign the variations for the applicable grant agreements to disburse this funding to the relevant organisations. 

4. MOPAC is seeking to allocate £2,860,056 of the 2024/25 SV LCT funding to the following services: 

5. The balance of funding of £323,038.37 will be earmarked for other activity relating to the provision of sexual violence support services in London in 2024/25.  

6. Baroness Casey’s review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the MPS found it to be institutionally misogynistic and homophobic. The de-prioritisation and de-specialisation of public protection, including an overworked and inexperienced workforce and lack of infrastructure, has put women at greater risk than necessary. The MPS is not prioritising the crimes that affect most women and girls. The relationship between London’s LGBTQ+ community has been significantly damaged. Trust in the Met has fallen significantly amongst the LGBTQ+ community. 

7. The MPS’ New Met for London Plan commits to protecting the most vulnerable and those Londoners who are most likely to be at highest risk of harm from crime, focusing resources to protect and remove them from harm. 

8. Providing specialist tailored support to victims of sexual violence and those supporting cases through the criminal justice process is crucial to both ensuring they receive the support and/or criminal justice outcomes they deserve and improving the trust and confidence in the MPS of London’s women and girls and its LGBT+ communities. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. This decision requests authority to accept additional MoJ grant funding of £3,183,094.27 for SV LCT in 2024/25, for the provision of victim and witness services in London. This represents an increase of £323,038.37 to that included in the 2024/25 budget. The annual allocations and ring-fenced amounts are set out in paragraph 1.4 above.  

2. Funding will be allocated in line with the 2024/25 budget assumptions with the additional funding of £323,038.37 earmarked for other activity relating to the provision of sexual violence support services in London in 2024/25.  

3. The grant will increase the total MoJ Grant to be received over the 3 year period 2022/23 – 2024/25 from £63,605,600.38 to £66,788,294.65 as set out in the table below: 

4. The total grant award will be recognised as part of Commissioning and Partnerships budget planning to support service delivery and development over the specified timeline confirmed by MoJ. 

5. It is noted the grant awards require no match funding from MOPAC. 

4. Legal Comments  

1. MOPAC’s general powers are set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). Section 3(6) of the 2011 Act provides that MOPAC must “secure the maintenance of the metropolitan police service and secure that the metropolitan police service is efficient and effective.” Under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 (1) MOPAC has wide incidental powers to “do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office.” Paragraph 7(2) (a) provides that this includes entering into contracts and other agreements. 

2. Section 143 (1) (b) of the Anti-Social, Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides for MOPAC to provide or commission services “intended by the local policing body to help victims or witnesses of, or other persons affected by, offences and anti-social behaviour.” 

3. There are further relevant powers set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 at sections 17(1) (a) to (c) which place MOPAC under a duty to exercise its functions with due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of those functions on, and the need to do all it can to prevent, crime and disorder (including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment), reoffending in its area, and the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in its area. The proposed arrangements are consistent with MOPAC’s duties in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. 

4. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve all offers of grant funding. 

5. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve the award of all individual grants whether to secure or contribute to securing crime reduction in London or for other purposes. 

6. Paragraph 4.6 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the DMPC authority to delegate those functions which are reserved for the DMPC. 

7. These recommendations are in line with the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent. 

8. Officers must ensure the Financial Regulations and Contract Regulations are complied with. 

9. Officers should ensure that the funding agreements are put in place with and executed by MOPAC and the provider before any commitment to fund is made. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. This decision requests approval to accept additional MoJ grant funding of £3,183,094.27 for SV LCT in 2024/25, for the provision of victim and witness services in London. This action will be confirmed in a grant modification with MoJ. In accordance with PCD 778, an assessment has been undertaken and the grant agreement will be signed rather than sealed. 

2. Further, this decision references the modification of grant agreements as set out in Table 2.4 above. Approval for this action was provided in PCD 1526. In accordance with paragraph 4.8 in MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, the DMPC has authority to approve the award of grant agreements.  All grants and contracts which utilise this funding will incorporate the relevant terms from the grant agreement between MOPAC and the Ministry of Justice to ensure compliance. The actions proposed in this Decision can be taken in compliance with procurement legislation and MOPAC’s Contract Regulations. 

3. The actions proposed in this Decision can be taken in compliance with procurement legislation and MOPAC’s Contract Regulations.  

6. Public Health Approach  

1. All grants and contracts which utilise this funding will incorporate the relevant terms from the grant agreement between MOPAC and the MoJ to ensure compliance. 5.2. All variations to existing grants and contracts will be made in line with MOPAC’s Contract Regulations and national procurement regulations. 

7. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.   

2. The extension of funding for the projects and services listed in 2.4 to 2.5 will not alter the data protection measures in place for each. Where required, DPIAs will be updated to reflect the extension of the corresponding project or service. 

8. Equality Comments  

1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

2. As highlighted in Baroness Louise Casey’s review standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), women and girls have been left further behind due to various reasons such as the de-prioritisation and de-specialism of certain areas of public protection. This includes rape and serious sexual offences, crimes that disproportionality impact women and girls. 

3. MOPAC will ensure Equalities considerations form part of all work commissioned with this funding. As part of the quarterly performance monitoring of each service we collect demographics information, which helps us to understand who is accessing each service and how any barriers to accessing may be overcome. 

9. Background/supporting papers 

• PCD 1235 signed July 22 Ministry of Justice Funding for Services to Victims of Crime 

• PCD 1300 signed November 2022 Additional Ministry of Justice Funding 2022/23 for services to victims of crime 

• PCD 1306 signed November 2022 Violence Against Women and Girls Support Services – 23/24 Commissioning Decisions 

• PCD 1440, signed signed July 2023 Ministry of Justice Funding 2023/24 – Sexual Violence Local Commissioning Test and Pre-Trial Outreach Service 

• PCD 1445 signed August 2023 MoJ Funding 2023-24-Additional Funding 

• PCD 1526 signed November 2023 Violence Against Women and Girls Support Services 24/25 Commissioning Decisions 

• PCD 1600 signed February 2024 MoJ Additional ISVA/IDVA Funding 2023/24-2024/25