MD3034 Sport Collaborative Young People Fund

1.1.    The Mayor has consistently demonstrated his commitment to sport in the capital. Under cover of MD2244 and MD2265 the Mayor approved expenditure of up to £8.8m over four years for Sport Unites, his community sport investment programme for London. Sport Unites 2018-21 delivered more than 300 projects benefiting 50,000 vulnerable, inactive and/or isolated Londoners across all 33 London boroughs. Interventions supported under the programme focused on tackling five key social issues affecting Londoners as set out in the Mayor’s statutory strategy, Sport for All of Us. Each social issue – inactivity, mental health, loneliness and isolation, social connectedness, and serious youth violence – had sport or physical activity as the primary means of engagement. MD2777 approved expenditure of up to £830,000 from the Sport Unites 2021-22 budget as a bridging programme to enable community sport initiatives that support Londoners physically and mentally, as well as supporting the community sport sector into pandemic recovery. This bridge programme was put in place whilst further scoping was carried out into the most appropriate future direction for Sport Unites. 
1.2.    Under cover of MD2895 the Mayor approved expenditure of up to £3,670,000 for work contributing to the priority outcomes of London’s recovery missions, including:  Building Strong Communities, with sport organisations acting as community hubs for young Londoners, giving them the opportunity to volunteer, get support and build strong networks, and A New Deal for Young People, with sport as the engagement medium through which young people, and especially those in need, have access to a mentor and to quality youth services. This financial commitment allowed the GLA to leverage up to an additional £2.08m of targeted co-investment which is being contributed by mutual partners including the National Basketball Association, National Football League and Laureus Sport for Good.
1.3.    The Civil Society and Sport team wish to continue their work supporting young people in underserved communities, through a collaborative sports fund. Collaboration is a cross-cutting principle of London’s Recovery Programme. Insight and evidence gathered from the community sport and other sectors has highlighted the importance of collaborative and partnership working in rebuilding a more resilient London post-pandemic – both to benefit more young people, more effectively, in accessing life and employability skills, mental health support, and opportunities for positive diversionary activities; and to help increase the shared expertise, capacity, impact and sustainability of the sector and community organisations working on the frontline. 
1.4.    Launching in early 2023, the SCYPF will provide grants to enable sport and physical activity-based projects that will benefit young Londoners most in need of support. Funded projects will be tailored to and accessible by children and young people in their local areas, engaging them in positive sports-based diversionary activity for improved health and wellbeing, safety, and employability and life skills, particularly in response to any negative impact on their experiences of living and working in the capital, and those arising from the Cost of Living crisis. The fund will prioritise working with young people from underserved backgrounds including, but not limited to, children and young people, aged 4-24 who: 
•    have special educational needs, are deaf or have other physical and learning disabilities
•    have been, or are, excluded from school or college
•    are not in education, employment or training (NEETs)
•    have, or are, associated with gangs or impacted by exploitation
•    are experiencing, or have been impacted by, domestic violence and abuse
•    are refugees or asylum seekers.
1.5.    Building on learnings from the 2020-21 Sport Unites fund approved under MD2777 as well as the London Community Response collaborative fund delivered in crisis response to the pandemic, this programme will award grants with peer learning and developmental support over a period of five years both to enable new projects and to scale tried and tested interventions across the capital. 
1.6.    The fund will also benefit from and contribute to learnings related to grant programmes being delivered under the Building Strong Communities and New Deal for Young people missions, as well as from the wider Collaborative Action for Recovery. The founding partners will bring with them priceless knowledge and experience from their organisations and the sector, all of which will greatly benefit the fund.
1.7.    This decision requests approval for
•    Receipt of up to £7.5m from London Marathon Charitable Trust (Founding partner).
•    Receipt of up to £5m from Sport England (Founding partner).
•    Expenditure of up to £16.5m (comprising of up to £4 from the GLA, £7.5m from the London Marathon Charitable Trust and £5m from Sport England, the three founding partners) in order to provide a programme of grants and wrap-around support for organisations delivering sport and physical activity-based interventions specifically for young Londoners to improve outcomes around mental health, skills and employability, and safety. An additional £500,000 from the Sport Unites budget (£250,000 in 2023-24 and £250,000 in 2024-25) approved under cover of MD2895 will be included in the GLA fund contribution.
•    Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills, to return to seek approval for the receipt and expenditure of further contributions to the fund via an Executive Director Decision form. 

1.8.    Although the GLA is currently making a financial commitment for the initial three financial years of the fund, it will remain a key partner throughout the fund lifetime. Other organisations may wish to join the fund and contribute further funding.

2.1.    The collaboration within this fund is not just from the founding partners, but also across the sector. Representatives from other strategic partners such as London Sport will play a role in guiding the direction of the fund, as will community sport and civil society groups. Importantly, community groups will shape the fund. Their involvement in fund design has already begun during development workshops and will continue during the consultation period, with lessons learned from them in areas such as objectives, outcomes, areas of need and language having been taken into account.
2.2.    The fund will be designed by ‘working groups’, with representatives from each founding organisation playing a role to ensure that the interests and requirements of each organisation are met. These groups will oversee the corporate governance and procurement, monitoring and evaluation, communications, and grant design. The oversight of the fund (fund governance) will be managed by boards, with an internal ‘signatories’ board (the founding partners), and another board with representatives from key sport organisations, civil society organisations and representatives from community groups. This will allow the fund to benefit from the knowledge of other organisations and hear from the voices of those who the fund will serve.
2.3.    The pillars through which the fund will be delivered are: 
•    Pillar 1 – Foundations (c.40% of available funding): Seeks to maintain community sports activities in London through grants of up to £40,000 over 24 months to tried and tested community groups, clubs and organisations to deliver the fund outcomes and to ensure they can build back from the pandemic and weather the cost-of-living crisis. Projects will drive fun, affordable access and sustainable solutions. This funding will enable organisations to continue engaging more young people from underserved backgrounds through sport and physical activity and scale up impactful work.
•    Pillar 2 – Follow-on (c.30% of available funding): Three-year grants of up to £150,000 will scale up innovative approaches or interventions and will create communities of practice between funded organisations. This funding could include long-term progression pathways for participants as well coach and workforce development pathways. The use of technology and gaming could be encouraged. This is where pathways to effectively reaching the very most in need will be tested and trialled. The successful groups will receive development support to help them create more sustainable business models and will be encouraged to share what they are learning with each other and the wider sector. A small proportion of funding will be ringfenced to support young entrepreneurs developing innovative projects and solutions engaging other young people through sport. £15,000 grants will be awarded to up to 30 young people aged 16-24 along with £15,000 of mentoring and business development support to each one of them to develop their sporting ideas over the course of a year. 
•    Pillar 3 – Schools access (c.20% of available funding): Grants to help schools (including pupil referral units) improve and open their sports facilities for community use after the school day, at weekends and during the holidays in order to drive the outcomes. This would build on best practice from the Open Doors programme and the 2021 DfE investment into School Access. This would be highly focused on schools within the least affluent areas. The grants could help the transition from primary to secondary schools. There is also a real need in secondary schools for small scale infrastructure improvements and the purchase of equipment.
•    Pillar 4 - Running and cycling initiatives (c.10% of available funding): Circa 10% of available funding will be used to fund, support, and promote walking, cycling, and running initiatives in London helping to reduce inactivity levels create lifelong positive experiences of being active for young Londoners.
It is possible that these pillars, as well as the grants, may be expanded and adapted throughout the design and lifetime of the fund, in order to respond to learnings, feedback, the changing needs within London, or the receipt of further funding. 
2.4.    A grant management organisation will be procured, appointed in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. This contract will be designed to allow flexibility for the fund, acknowledging that the fund may wish to change, new partners may join, or new needs identified. This contract will be up to the value of £15.13m, profiled as £13.6m to be given out as grants as outlined above and £1.53m as grant management costs. This may vary as the fund changes or within the pillars in order to better benefit the needs of the underserved communities. Any money saved on costs will be added to the grant pot in order to issue more grants. 
2.5.    The fund objectives are:
•    to help build a fairer London by transforming the lives of underserved young Londoners, aged 4-24, through sport and physical activity
•    to strengthen, diversify and enhance the sustainability of the capital’s sport and physical activity sector so that it better meets the needs of underserved young Londoners
•    to reduce the barriers and inequalities underserved young Londoners face in being active to help ensure they are able to fulfil their potential
•    to invest at least £10m by the end of 2024-25 supporting thousands of underserved young Londoners – engaging them in sport and physical activity to transform life chances
•    to share best practice to influence the capital’s sports and physical activity sector to better meet the needs of underserved young Londoners.
2.6.    The outcomes are:
•    improving young Londoner’s mental wellbeing
•    improving young Londoner’s employability skills
•    better connecting young Londoners to their communities and improving their safety
•    providing mentoring to young Londoners
•    reducing the loneliness of young Londoners; getting young Londoners more active and creating lifelong positive experiences of being active
•    systemically changing the sporting landscape in London by opening up school facilities 
•    more efficient funding of activities through a collaborative approach
•    at least 5,000 young Londoners will experience the above benefits 
•    at least 200 organisations will receive funding and support through this programme.
2.7.    The fund will be supported by other services, appointed in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. A budget of £1,870,000 has been allocated to these costs, with a breakdown as below.
2.8.    Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEAL) services will be procured.  A research and evaluation partner will be procured in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code to evaluate the programme. Each grant will reserve a small amount of funding to account for the grantee monitoring costs. The research and evaluation partner will work collaboratively and iteratively with the grantees, other agencies in London and the MEAL working group to:
•    set the overall strategic direction for Fund evaluation
•    create a MEAL framework and outcome pathways for Fund evaluation and monitoring
•    scope and conduct relevant research to better understand the issues young Londoners are facing and the ways in which sport and physical activity can be used to tackle these issues
•    collate, analyse, and synthesise monitoring data to evaluate the fund, identify and share emerging learnings
•    provide recommendations to improve the work of the programme and the funding/community sport landscape in general.
2.9.    A wider sector-focused monitoring and evaluation offer will also be made available to a broad range of organisations in London to improve the overall data collection, analysis and learning on the subject of physical activity for young people provision and community sport in London.
2.10.    Communication services will also be procured. Where possible partners will complete actions themselves, and a procurement exercise will be completed in accordance with the GLA contracts and funding code for further work.  A campaign will be launched to support three main objectives:
•    Increase awareness of services available for young people in the capital thus targeting direct fund beneficiaries.
•    Raise awareness of the funding among the community organisations in London, targeting funding ‘cold spots’, grass roots organisations, and equity-led groups. Through communication and engagement, community groups will be able to direct, shape, and scrutinise the development of the fund, ensuring this investment addresses the needs of the sector.
•    Influence other funders in London to adopt learnings and employ a more collaborative approach. This will raise awareness and attract additional support and investment into the fund.
2.11.    A budget of up to £175,000 will be used for the additional support costs, which include organisational and capacity building support, workforce development, and developing communities of learning and practice. These will strengthen the sustainability and advocacy of community groups in London, enabling them to be more directly involved in decision making and shaping investment, raising awareness of key issues, and improving organisational and financial sustainability of their systems. Competitive exercises will be completed in accordance with the GLA contracts and funding code.
2.12.    These procurement exercises have formed part of the fund strategy after a resource assessment by all partners. Over the duration of the fund these resources may change, and should any partners be able to deliver elements of the items in-house, to the benefit of the fund, then a decision may be made to do so. Any money saved on costs will be added to the fund pot in order to support fund pillars.
 

3.1.    Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
3.2.    Equal opportunities are enshrined within all the projects and programmes delivered against the Mayor’s strategy for sport and physical activity, Sport for All of Us. The Mayor’s investment into community sport aims to ensure that all Londoners can access sport and physical activity opportunities that overcome barriers to active participation; enrich their experiences of living and working in the city; encourage and enable better connection within and across their local communities; and improve physical health and mental wellbeing. Investment over the Mayoral term 2022-25 will focus on achieving those positive strategic outcomes specifically for young Londoners, with a particular focus on improving their life skills, mental health and wellbeing, social connections, and feelings of belonging to where they live and work. 
3.3.    In planning the Mayor’s investment into community sport between 2021 and 2025, the Sport team has consulted stakeholders and partners with proven expertise in engaging and supporting children and young people, particularly those who are disadvantaged, considered to be at risk, and/or face additional barriers to positive participation for personal development and improved life chances. Collaboration with partner organisations has been scoped to ensure that as many young Londoners as possible, particularly those with protected characteristics and/or those who have been worst affected by the pandemic, have been considered and will have the chance to be involved in some way, be that through participating, training, project delivery or volunteering.
3.4.    Projects will also prioritise young Londoners who are under-represented in sport and physical activity. This includes those who face additional barriers to active participation, either in relation to a protected characteristic (i.e. age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage or civil partnership status), or in relation to circumstance (for example, a person who is a carer, or a person who is isolated and/or lonely, or a person who comes from a lower socio-economic background).
3.5.    Under-representation in sport and physical activity is also heavily influenced by intersectionality and Sport Unites will place particular emphasis on young Londoners facing multiple and intersectional barriers and challenges. 
 

Key risks and issues:

4.1.    This fund has a specific focus on positive outcomes for children and young people, thus continuing and building on the work under the Mayor’s £45m Young Londoners Fund, of which Sport Unites received a £3m allocation approved under MD2265. 

4.2.    The programme also aligns with and contributes to the London Recovery Board’s mission-based work, in particular (but not limited to) the goals and priority outcomes of the New Deal for Young People and Building Strong Communities missions respectively: 
•    by 2024, all young people in need are entitled to a personal mentor and all young Londoners have access to quality youth activities
•    by 2025, all Londoners will have access to a community hub ensuring they can volunteer, get support and build strong community networks.

Conflict of Interest:

4.3.    There has been consideration for any potential conflict of interests, with none found including for those involved in the drafting and clearance of this form. 
 

Approval is being sought for receipt of grant funding totalling £12.5m (£7.5m from London Marathon Charitable Trust and £5m from Sport England) as contributions to a new collaborative grant fund, the Sport Collaborative Young People Fund (SCYPF).
5.2    Approval is also being sought for expenditure totalling £16.5m within this decision. The £16.5m will be funded by grant funding income of £7.5 from London Marathon Charitable Trust and £5m from Sport England. The remaining £4m will be funded by the Sport Unites Programme (budget currently held in reserves). 
5.3    The expenditure approved within this decision will be contained within the Sport Unites Programme within the Civil Society & Sport Unit.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or that are facilitative of, or conductive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or improvement of the environment, in Greater London.
6.2.    In implementing the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers should comply with the GLA’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.
6.3.    In taking the decisions requested, as noted in section 3 above, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, 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 to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.4.    Section 1 of this report indicates that part of the sought budget will amount to the provision of funding and not for the payment for services. Officers must ensure that the funding is distributed fairly; transparently; in accordance with the GLA’s equality policy and subsidy control rules; and in a manner that affords value for money in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is put in place and executed by the GLA and the recipient before any commitment to funding is made.