DD2601 New Deal for Young People Recovery Mission – Phase 3: Collaborative Funding

1.1.    Many young Londoners are facing challenges or disadvantages that can negatively affect their development and threaten their future life chances, health, and happiness. Whilst London's growth brings opportunity, it can also mask inequality, reduce engagement and increase perceptions of fear, and this has been worsened by the pandemic. The focus of the New Deal for Young People (NDYP) Mission is targeting those young Londoners most disadvantaged.  
1.2.    Young people, professionals, and a growing evidence base, all emphasise how important and influential a good quality mentor can be, and the difference they can make to a young person's life. But approaches to mentoring can vary significantly across London and not all delivery is as high quality as it should be. Within NDYP, mentoring is defined as any high-quality youth activity that builds a trusted and positive relationship with a young person over time.  A good mentor uses that trust to motivate and equip a young person to change their lives, supporting the development of skills, coping strategies and confidence and the creation of social networks and opportunity.  
1.3.    By focusing on mentoring for those most disadvantaged young Londoners, NDYP aims to grow and develop this important area of the youth and community sector and ensure that as many young people as possible can benefit from high quality mentoring support. 
1.4.    In March 2022, under cover of MD2945 the Mayor approved the next phase of investment to support the London Recovery Board’s New Deal for Young People (NDYP) mission totalling, £23.625m, and delegated authority to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills and the Executive Director of Resources to approve detailed expenditure plans within this budget, subsequent to the commitment of funding to the Collaborative Action for Recovery (CAR) Fund (see section 1.12), and particularly the youth focused fund within that called the Collaborative Fund for Young People (CFYP), from other funders. Through this MD in principle, decision was given to further the aims and objectives of the NDYP mission through phase three delivery; namely to increase the quality, quantity and sustainability of mentoring support available to the most disadvantaged young Londoners.
1.5.    This decision sets out the GLA’s proposed expenditure for phase three of NDYP delivery that will contribute to the NDYP mission aims that by 2024, 100,000 disadvantaged young people will have access to a mentor; and all young Londoners will have access to quality local youth activities. 
1.6.    The NDYP Mission has so far committed investment of over £8.9m in phase one and phase two programming (MD2800 and MD2885). Combined with wider NDYP City Hall Activity the known reach of NDYP by 2024 is that 54,649 disadvantaged young people will have access to a mentor by 2024. The breakdown of current activity is shown in the table below: 

1.7.    The focus of this third delivery phase is ensuring that a further 45,351 disadvantaged young people will have access to a mentor by 2024 and increase the quality, quantity, and sustainability of the sector. This will be achieved through delivery of the approaches outlined in the table below:

1.8.    These detailed expenditure plans have been developed through consultation with young people, community groups and sector specialists, and are built on past experience, research, sector knowledge and the needs/lessons identified through engagement, including with the recovery board. It is acknowledged that in order to be responsive and effective, some details within expenditure plans may need to change, should it become clear that better outcomes can be achieved. To best service the needs of disadvantaged young Londoners this Decision also requests permission to delegate to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills authority to approve, without the need for a further decision form, the redistribution of unused funds within the expenditure envelopes in this form. All decisions with be made in collaboration with the Senior Responsible Officer for the NDYP recovery mission.
1.9.    This delegated decision is required due to the short time frames remaining to achieve NDYP Mission aims by 2024, and the variety and complexity of partnerships involved in delivery. To ensure transparency, accountability and fairness in the delegated decision process the following actions will be followed:
•    strict adherence to GLA funding and contract code
•    recording of clear audit trail; evidencing the need and rationale behind decisions
•    publication of opportunities through required channels and announcement of awards on GLA website
•    update on delivery, decision and progress in quarterly performance and finance report
1.10.    Phase three delivery models will adhere to the key NDYP principles and definitions of mentoring delivery set out below:
•    Building a trusted relationship over time (the length of time is not fixed and must be responsive to the needs of the young person – but as relationships take time to form NDYP mission view is that longer term is better). 
•    Using trust to build skills and opportunity for change (the young person’s journey should be measurable) 
•    Be high quality (encouraging development, adoption, and alignment with the standards within the mentoring framework)
1.11.    Importantly all delivery partners within phase three must commit to completion of the mentoring framework, with only high-quality mentoring activity funded. The process for appraisal will vary slightly dependent on funding mode but will include:
•    Full completion and self-assessment through the mentoring framework
•    Collection and storage of recent evidence (within 18 months)
•    Meet minimum quality expectation of ‘good’ or ‘excellent practice’ for the relevant core indicators
•    Show ‘developing practice’ as a minimum for the relevant non-core indicators
•    No applications showing ‘undeveloped practice’ on the relevant core indicators will be funded
•    Mentoring framework responses will be interrogated at interview stage with more detailed spot checks/appraisal of evidence samples undertaken before formal award.

Collaborative Action for Recovery (CAR)
1.12.    Since September 2021, the GLA has participated in senior-level discussions and workshops with other London funders to progress ambitions for increased and strategic funder collaboration with particular focus on achieving outcomes of the:
•    New Deal for Young People Mission
•    Build Stronger Communities Mission
•    Robust Safety Net Mission
1.13.    Facilitated by London Funders, London’s cross-sector membership network for London-based funders and investors, discussions have centred around a programme that builds on the principles and approach of the London Community Response (MD2623). This focus on developing collaborative, strategic and sustainable investment in the youth sector across London is a fundamental principle of the NDYP mission and its three cross-organisational mission chairs: 
•    Lib Peck, Director of the Violence Reduction Unit
•    Martin Pratt, Executive Director for Supporting People, London Borough of Camden
•    Jeremy Crook, Chief Executive, Action for Race Equality
1.14.    A network of funders committed to the proposed CAR ambitions (CAR Group) has been established and the collaborative approach has been formalised through a partnership statement. The growing funder membership of the CAR currently includes City Bridge Trust, National Lottery Community Fund, John Lyon’s Charity, Trust for London, London Legal Support Trust, Mercers Company, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Bloomberg. Collaboration and long-term systemic change are at the heart of both the design and delivery of future CAR activity, namely collaborative funding programmes focused on key mission priorities. Outcomes for young people will be achieved through the youth focused element of the CAR, currently called the Collaborative Fund for Young People (CFYP), which aligns very closely with the principles and purpose of the NDYP Mission. It should be noted that both Collaborative Action for Recovery (CAR) and Collaborative Fund for Young People (CFYP) are working titles and a more relevant name for the fund will likely be adopted going forwards. 
1.15.    Several CAR members have agreed substantial in-principle contributions alongside the GLA’s proposed investment, aligned to the aims of the NDYP mission; it is anticipated that once this first stage of funding is announced, and then formalised, that other funders will then follow suit. This information is not yet public knowledge and subject to final confirmations and conditions but indicative amounts are:
•    up to £30m contribution from a key funder with a strong preference to focus on young people
•    an initial £3m contribution from a key funder, with commitment to further explore £3m per year for ten years, and a strong focus on young people
•    a further six organisations aligned to make funding contributions this year
•    an additional 18 funders reviewing allocation capacity for 23/24
1.16.    Significant mayoral contribution and overt commitment to the CAR within this first phase of investment will likely act as a catalyst for further investment and substantially increase the profile and reach of both the collaborative fund and the NDYP mission. 
1.17.    Through MD2945 the Mayor approved allocation of resources to further increase strategic and sustainable investment in mentoring across London for the most disadvantaged young people, with the intention that this funding (where sufficiently flexible and responsive) would be developed and co-ordinated through the CAR.
1.18.    This Decision is seeking approval to contribute £16.625 million towards supporting the most disadvantaged young Londoners through the CAR. There are three main components of this contribution:
•    award an infrastructure grant to London Funders to develop and deliver structure and process for both aligned and pooled funding (£402k)
•    deliver support for disadvantaged Young Londoners, specifically focusing on mentoring, through a delivery grant application front end managed by London Funders, including associated GLA management costs (£6.223m) 
•    to develop longer term approaches supporting quality mentoring, youth activities and system change across London’s youth sector, though pooled funding within the CAR, (£10m)
Award an infrastructure grant to London Funders -£402k
1.19.    London Funders is the sole membership network for London’s funders and social investors. Membership provides access to a wide portfolio of expertise and resources, including vital opportunities to network and collaborate with 170+ London-based funders across the public, private and social sectors. London Funders oversaw the coordination of the London Community Response (LCR) and is currently convening the work on the Collaborative Action for Recovery. London Funders are being granted this funding as they are the only organisation of this type, and therefore the only organisation able to fulfil this key role within the CAR.

1.20.    In order to develop the complex infrastructure requirements needed to facilitate the CAR, from initial delivery grants through to pooled funding, over a five-year period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027, London Funders have budgeted costs of up to £1.8million. Just over half of this figure will contribute towards costs for external partners to deliver tech, learning and equity support, with the remaining budget for project activity and support costs. 

1.21.    Further contributions will be split proportionally to organisation size across the main funders with agreement in principle already in place, which leaves a remaining £402k proposed for GLA contribution. 
1.22.    The first output from the work completed by London Funders will be the technical design and development of the portal and application process for managing the first phase of CAR applications. Following grant award, this process will be managed in its entirety by London Funders. GLA and other contributory funders will be kept updated on project spend and progress through bi-monthly reports. Technical design is expected to be completed by October 2022 to allow the first grant processes to be launched and managed from November 2022. 
Award of ‘Deliver and Develop’ grants to provide support for most disadvantaged Young Londoners - £6.223m
1.23.    When the CAR is launched in November 2022, initial funding will be aligned (rather than pooled) towards collaboration, to allow funders to make decisions on how to pool future expenditure after the initial delivery phase has mobilised. The decision-making distinctions between aligned and pooled are outlined in more detail below but essentially the GLA retain ultimate decision making on aligned funding, whilst an alternative shared decision-making model will be agreed for pooled funding (see section 1.28).
1.24.    The first phase of aligned funding will include ‘exploration grants’ which will be under £50,000 for 12 months delivery and likely funded by other CAR funders through aligned funding. The second phase, ‘Deliver and Develop’ grants, will be funded by the GLA and will make a significant contribution towards NDYP quality mentoring targets.
1.25.    Through the ‘Deliver and Develop’ grants the GLA will fund a coordinated London mentoring programme, avoiding duplication with other funders, whilst giving the GLA the flexibility to fund applications that meet NDYP specific priorities. ‘Deliver and Develop’ Grants will:
•    focus on mentoring and include capacity for rapid and high yield delivery (likely with a minimum reach of 250 YP over lifetime of grant) 
•    award grant values of between £50k and £750k per annum
•    be delivery focused on disadvantaged young people aged between 10 and 24
•    award grants to civil society organisations who are working in a collaborative way with other civil society organisations and public sector partners
•    be awarded for 2 years with expectation of evolving into a longer-term funding (through pooled process)
1.26.    ‘Deliver and Develop’ applications will be submitted through the London Funders portal but will be assessed and ultimately awarded by the GLA. A core focus of assessment will be ensuring the quality of mentoring activity, and this application and assessment process is below:
•    grant applications will include a question from young people that will be assessed by young people
•    grant applications will explicitly ask how many disadvantaged young people will have access to a mentor in the life of the grant award
•    grant applications will include a question on outcomes and impact of mentoring
•    organisations will be expected to have completed the mentoring framework, prior to assessment, and this will be quality assured as outlined in section 1.11 
•    interviews with shortlisted applicants will occur (this will allow us to assess quality within the completed mentoring framework and undertake wider due diligence)
•    decision making process will include review, by an advisory group of collaborative funders, but ultimate decision for contract award will remain with the GLA 
•    all providers will adopt NDYP branding, ethos and outcome reporting expectations 
1.27.    A fixed number of awards has not been set to allow the flexibility to award grants based on merit/expected outcomes, but it is anticipated that between 16 and 44 ‘Deliver and Develop’ grants will be awarded, reaching between 8000 and 17,000 disadvantaged young people.
Collaborative Fund - Develop longer term approaches through Pooled Funding - £10m
1.28.    Whilst the ‘Deliver and Develop’ grants will allow a significant and direct response to the challenges that many young Londoners are actively facing now, an important aspect of the vision for CAR is focused on developing longer term and more sustainable approaches towards supporting quality mentoring, youth activities and system change across London’s youth sector. The ambition of CAR is that by applying learning from London Community Response, a large scale and truly transformative funding model for the sector can be developed and sustained.  This is a unique opportunity for the youth sector in London.
1.29.    Review and assessment will be undertaken of the initial aligned grants (described from section 1.23) in order to formalise the direction and process of longer-term pooled funding. Collaboration is the most significant opportunity to enact transformational and sustainable change across the youth sector and pooled funding will enable larger scale, and longer-term funding of key youth activities, ultimately improving outcomes for the most disadvantaged young Londoners and stabilising a much-degraded sector. Further benefits of pooled funding include scale of budget, reduced GLA time and capacity commitments, and increased exposure to key knowledge, ideas and expertise through close working with co-funders.
1.30.    The pooled CAR will provide a single application point for charities and community groups enabling organisations to access funding from multiple funders in a fast and efficient way. Indications from partner funders are that substantial funding will be allocated to the CAR (see section 1.15) but an initial contribution from the Mayor will be vital in ensuring confidence and profile. 
1.31.    Whilst the processes for pooling are still to be finalised, this will be a grant allocation to a third party, in accordance with the GLA Contracts and funding Code, through which GLA retain the status of equal decision maker with other core funders. An amended version of the applications portal will then be utilised to review, assess, award and track funding applications. Pooled grants are initially expected to focus on expanding the reach and length of effective mentoring programmes that have either been funded through the initial grant phases or show exceptional potential, with a final decision being made based on the results of the report and focused on sustainability and impact. 
1.32.    Officer recommendation is that £10m is committed towards the pooled element of the CAR. It is recommended that a delegation is provided to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills, in collaboration with the NDYP Mission Chair, authority to approve, without the need for a further Decision form. The process, timeline and structure for allocation of pooled funding within the Collaborative Fund will be based on continued assurance that the pooled model is sufficiently responsive and flexible to NDYP requirements. Decisions will be made transparently, and an audit trail will be created evidencing the need and rationale behind decisions (as set out in section 1.9).  An appropriate break clause to allow review or alteration of the pooled allocation will be included within the grant agreement. 
Creation of a Mentoring Academy Model - £2m
1.33.    This phase three model will pilot a regional Mentoring Academy, across an agreed geographical area within Greater London, that will address the key challenges facing mentoring organisations in a co-ordinated and systematic way. Managing mentor deployment and access directly into key locations, in partnership with local authorities, health services and the VCS.
1.34.    The key challenges that the Mentoring Academy Model will seek to address include:
•    finding suitable mentors
•    training and retaining suitable mentors
•    ensuring consistency of practice (and outcome reporting)
•    supporting mentors and mentoring organisations to reach the most disadvantaged young people (deploying mentors successfully)
•    developing a clear pathway, for young people, between different mentoring offers 
•    further testing, embedding and increasing profile of the mentoring framework
1.35.    The NDYP team will establish the Mentoring Academy in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code, and officers envisage that the Mentoring Academy will call for a mixture of commissioned services, works and/or supplies and awards of grant funding to existing providers in this sector. 
1.36.    The technical requirements for the Mentoring Academy will be developed further between September and December 2022, including the development of specifications if officers decide to commission services, works and/or supplies. Any commissioning process would then likely commence between December 2022 and March 2023. If services, works and/or supplies are procured, the contracts would commence in April 2023 and officers would seek a term of at least 24 months to allow appropriate development, growth and consideration of future sustainability. 
1.37.    It is possible, in the development of the CAR, that this delivery model could also be managed through the CAR application process as aligned funding, however at this stage the capacity to do so is limited. 
1.38.    Expected reach and final budget for delivery of the Mentoring Academy will depend on the applications received, mode of mentoring adopted, and the cluster of boroughs chosen for the model. However, based on reach and scale of NDYP programmes funded through NDYP phase one and phase two, it is expected that a minimum of 100 mentors will be trained and deployed in each borough, with between 300 and 500 mentors trained and deployed across the Mentoring Academy’s geographical area. 
1.39.    The estimated reach range through this model is between 1000 and 6000 disadvantaged young people.
1.40.    This Decision is seeking approval to spend up to £2m towards creation of a mentoring academy model.
Scaling up existing high quality mentoring programmes - £5m
1.41.    Grant funding support will be provided to existing mentoring activity that has demonstrated effective, high quality or innovative approaches towards mentoring and can be scaled. This approach will contribute significantly to achieving the mayoral target of 100,000 disadvantaged young people having access to a mentor by 2024. 
1.42.    Grant funding support will focus on organisations who can achieve significant reach or focus on a specific priority need. Only organisations demonstrating proven quality, through adoption and appraisal of the mentoring framework will be supported, and grant awards will be distributed fairly and transparently in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. All providers will adopt NDYP branding, ethos and outcome reporting expectations (if not already adopted).
1.43.    Due to existing relationships, and the previous experience of providers, this process should allow rapid deployment and reach. Target outcomes from these programmes are shown in section 2.4. Example programmes to be scaled up are expected to include:
•    mentoring supporting young people at risk of exclusion, experience violence and/or involvement in crime
•    mentoring support for young people transitioning with key school years 
•    mentoring for young people experiencing social isolation
•    mentoring to improve social, emotional and mental health of the most disadvantaged young Londoners 
1.44.    Work is underway, through review of previous performance and expressions of interest in additional grant funding from current providers, to determine the final proposals for scale up activity. This will include an expectation of sufficiently high-quality completion of the mentoring framework. It is expected that the estimated reach range of this scaling up programme is between 8000 and 14,000 disadvantaged young people.
1.45.    Variations to existing grant funding agreements will be for up to two years with expectation of evolving into a longer-term funding (through pooled process). It is anticipated that the grant funding support review process will take place between September and December 2022 with grant variations commencing from November 2022.
1.46.    This Decision is seeking approval to contribute £5m towards scaling existing mentoring activity that has demonstrated effective, high quality or innovative approaches towards mentoring, provided applications are processed in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.
1.47.    The GLA may require the services of a managing agent to manage the process of application for allocation of this grant funding, and an element of the £5m would be used to procure these services in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and in discussion with TfL Procurement and Supply Chain, if required. 
 

2.1.    The LCR demonstrated that collaboration at pace and scale is possible, and that collaborative funding programmes can be beneficial for both recipients and funders, with increased scale (more combined funding); reach (connecting with grassroots or more specialist community and voluntary organisations); and impact when working in collaboration with others. The proposed CAR collaborative funding programmes will build on the LCR and bring together funders across London so that they can invest more strategically; help to sustain the voluntary and community sector; and support communities that face the biggest challenges.
Outcomes
2.2.    The NDYP mission commits to ensuring that by 2024 100,000 disadvantaged young people have access to a mentor and that all young Londoners have access to quality local youth activities. The mission aims to improve the life chances and opportunities by:
•    enabling more disadvantaged young people to benefit from quality mentoring and youth activities
•    improving the quality of mentoring by building capacity of the youth sector
•    increasing strategic investment in London’s youth and mentoring activities
•    empowering system change and sustainability within the youth sector
2.3.    Mentoring is about building a trusted and positive relationship with a young person over time. A good mentor uses that trust to motivate and equip a young person to change their lives, supporting the development of skills, coping strategies and confidence. The skill and drive required to build transformational trusted relationships is a fundamental principle of high-quality youth and community work. The impacts of high-quality mentoring on disadvantaged young people will be demonstrated through quarterly impact reporting. 
2.4.    Projects funded via direct and aligned GLA funding will report on the impact of and the outcomes from their project for young people, for example:

2.5.    The CAR’s activities will build on the partnership work of the Recovery Board with a significant focus on the NDYP mission, funding projects and organisations that: align with its aims and objectives; and meet the three core priorities set out below:
•    improve the quality of mentoring and/or youth activities – the NDYP will ensure that young people are receiving the best-quality mentoring support and/or youth activities, and will help to build the capacity of the youth sector. Organisations funded through the CFYP (that deliver mentoring) will be required to sign up to and implement the Mentoring Framework, an agile tool being developed to help organisations build on their best practice for mentoring and personalised support.
•    targeted at young people facing the biggest challenges – including those at risk of exclusion and/or involvement in crime. An illustrative, not exhaustive, list of disadvantaged young people is outlined below:
o    young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) 
o    those who are excluded from school or college 
o    those who are associated with gangs or impacted by exploitation 
o    those who are not in education, employment, or training 
o    those who are experiencing, or have been impacted by, domestic violence and abuse 
o    young refugees and asylum-seekers 
o    young people with a social worker (looked-after children, those under a Child Protection Plan, children in need and care leavers) 
o    young people from low-income families/living in poverty or significantly affected by the cost-of-living crisis
o    young fathers/parents
o    refugees
o    young carers
o    young people from Gypsy, Romany, Traveller communities
•    support the sustainability of the youth sector – NDYP will support the youth sector to become sustainable and provide long-term support and investment, rather than one-off or short-term funding. On top of decades of funding cuts, organisations providing vital support for young people have been hit hard by Covid-19, whilst having an increased demand for their services. Investment through the CFYP should help to build the capacity and sustainability of the youth sector.
2.6.    Whilst mayoral budget contribution is focussed on delivery of the NDYP mission, establishment of a CAR and collaboration with key funders will also improve resourcing, profile and ultimately outcomes for the Building Stronger Communities and Robust Safety Net Missions. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Equality Act), as a public authority the Mayor must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 
3.2.    Activity and programmes under the Mayor’s NDYP mission will provide support to disadvantaged children and young people. This includes young people with protected characteristics; young people who are more vulnerable; and young people most affected by the impact of Covid-19. Examples of disadvantaged groups that the NDYP programmes will be particularly focussed on include young people with SEND; young refugees and asylum seekers; young people with a social worker; young care leavers; and those who are risk of exclusion, or who have been excluded, from school or college. 
3.3.    The CAR partnership is founded on several guiding principles that will focus and hold to account the CAR’s future programme plan. Several of these are equity-focused including the ‘equitable’ principle that has been selected to ensure that there is focus on unlearning old ways of working, and awareness of biases and lenses, to ensure the design and decision-making processes are inclusive and reflective of London’s diversity.
3.4.    London’s over two million children and young people aged 0-19 face an unequal start in life and the population is growing. London has the highest rate of child poverty in England (after housing costs are taken into account) and rates are expected to increase in coming years. Poorer children are more likely to underachieve at school, be unemployed and have lower incomes. Poverty is significantly worse in Black-Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani families, and more than 50 per cent of families with a disabled child live at the margins of poverty. This has all been exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis. 
3.5.    Young Londoners have lost tens of millions of pounds in funding for youth services since 2011. Informal, non-statutory services have an important preventative role to play. Getting good support to young people in their teenage years is vital – especially to support the most disadvantaged young people. Youth services are vital to young people who have been left behind or marginalised. They enable them to reach their potential and play a valuable role in helping them avoid being sucked into crime.  MOPAC’s data on knife crime demonstrates that BAME young people are over-represented as both victims and perpetrators and are overwhelmingly male with many and complex vulnerabilities.
 

Key risks
4.1.    The key risks are identified in the table below:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.2.    Activity directly contributes to the NDYP Covid-19 recovery mission that by 2024, all young people in need will be entitled to a personal mentor; and all young Londoners will have access to quality local youth activities.
4.3.    The Mayor has made a commitment to build on the work of the Young Londoners Fund and the collaboration forged between leading funders during the pandemic to create a longer-term, multimillion-pound fund to support young people. Committing resources to the CAR will support this commitment. 
4.4.    The CAR Group’s emphasis on developing funding programmes focused on improving systemic and long-term issues will provide much-needed source of sustainable support to voluntary, community and civil society organisations supporting hundreds of thousands of young Londoners.
4.5.    In 2018, the GLA commissioned a review looking at the role of City Hall and its approach to giving. This culminated in the report, “Harnessing the capital’s giving: What is the role of the Mayor and Greater London Authority in enabling civic philanthropy?” (September 2018). One of the key areas of opportunity identified for the Mayor and the GLA was increased and more strategic funder collaboration. Showing support to the CAR will demonstrate the GLA’s activation of this recommendation.
Consultations and impact assessments 
4.6.    The NDYP mission is a partnership of the GLA, London Councils, and the voluntary and community sector. The co-chairs of the NDYP mission have worked with statutory and voluntary-sector partners across London in the development of the mission. They will continue to ensure that the delivery and related funded activity (including the CFYP) meets the needs of young people who face the biggest challenges, and that it supports the sustainability and transformation of the wider youth sector. 
4.7.    The youth sector and young people have been engaged to help shape the NDYP mission and will continue to ensure young people's voices are front and centre of recovery. A number of online roundtables with the voluntary and community sector have been held with organisations identified as delivering best practice mentoring in London, as well as a roundtable with young people to hear their thoughts on the biggest challenges to mentoring, and what good mentoring looks like. These engagement activities are key to ensuring the programme of work is co-produced with the sector and best supports organisations working with disadvantaged young people. Over 270 youth professionals were engaged in recent consultation (July and August) on development of the mentoring framework.
4.8.    The CAR builds on the LCR which, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, brought together 67 funders from across London sectors and geographies. Through five waves of funding, these funders distributed over 3,400 grants with a value of over £57.7m to community organisations, prioritising the most affected communities.
4.9.    With the support of the GLA and others, London Funders commissioned a series of learning reports to evaluate the effectiveness of the LCR. The learning reports covered topics including the processes that support effective collaboration, embedding equitable approaches in funding, and supporting innovation in civil society. These findings will inform the development and delivery of future CAR activity, and similar learning reports are proposed to be commissioned for future collaborative funding programmes. 
4.10.    There are no conflicts of interest to declare for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form. 
 

5.1.    Approval is being sought for expenditure of £23.625m to deliver phase three of the NDYP mission. The planned expenditure breakdown is detailed in the below table.

5.2.    The expenditure approved within this decision will be contained within the NDYP Core Mission Fund Programme within the Children and Young Londoners Unit. 
5.3.    Funding for this programme is held within an earmarked reserve. Budget to match expectation and monitored on this basis. At each year-end, there will be a reserve drawdown to match the actual expenditure.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Director concern the exercise of the Authority’s general powers, falling within the Authority’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or that are facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or improvement of the environment within Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
·    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
·    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
·    consult with appropriate bodies
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested, the Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; to advance equality of opportunity     between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it; and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic.
6.3.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the funding will be used for both grant-funding and the commissioning of activities. In determining whether a procurement (contract) or grant award (funding agreement) is the most appropriate route for the activities described above, officers should have due regard to the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and seek advice from Transport for London (TfL) Procurement and Supply Chain and TfL Legal if required.
6.4.    To the extent a contribution of funding will amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services, section 12.3 of the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code provides that decisions to award grant-funding should generally be made based on the outcome of a transparent, competitive application process. To this end, the officers must ensure that any grant-funding is awarded following such a process. Officers must also ensure that appropriate grant-funding agreements are put in place and executed by the successful recipient and the GLA before the commitment of funding.
6.5.    To the extent that any of the activities described above are commissioned, the services or supplies required must be procured by TfL Procurement and Supply Chain, who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must also ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services.