PCD 1329 Hospital Based Youth Work

PCD 1329 Hospital Based Youth Work

This Decision requests the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime approves a funding award across the hospital-based youth work programme. This includes 4 contract extensions and one grant extension within the 23/24 financial year and 3 direct awards of funding across the 23/24 and 24/25 financial years. This allocation is approved in PCD1149. 

Since Spring 2022, the VRU have been undertaking scoping work, working with stakeholders to understand the current delivery, funding landscape and updated picture of violence to determine how to best to utilise our investment to better support young people presenting at hospital sites in London. 

The contract extensions will enable young people presenting at hospital sites to continue to be supported by youth workers ensuring continuity of service, whilst recommission work is underway. 

The direct awards will allow for existing services to continue to support young people by providers who are embedded in hospital sites, who have match funded for their existing service and have a knowledge of the local site where they are best placed to support young people.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve:  

• The allocation of a further £130,339 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Redthread through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/MOPAC 177-01). This takes the original contract value from £749,919 to £880,258. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.  

• The allocation of a further £260,678 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Redthread through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/ MOPAC 178-01). This takes the original contract value from £1,498,608 to £1,628,947. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23. 

• The allocation of a further £114,930 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to St Giles Trust through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/MOPAC 180-01). This takes the original contract value from £ 746,869 to £861,799. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.   

• The allocation of a further £114,930 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to St Giles Trust through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/ MOPAC 181-01). This takes the original contract value from £746,869 to £861,799. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.   

• The allocation of a further £91,152 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Solace Women’s Aid to through a grant extension of 4 months to (Grant agreement number MOPAC 682-01). This takes the original grant agreement value from £572,904 to £664,056. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 31st July 2023.    

• The allocation of £1,055,817 over financial years 23/24 and 24/25 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Redthread through a direct award. 

• The allocation of £259,750 over financial years 23/24 and 24/25 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to St Giles Trust through a direct award.   

• The allocation of £833,764 over financial years 23/24 and 24/25 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Oasis through a direct award.  

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

1. Introduction and background 

Hospital Based Youth work 

1. MOPAC has been contributing funding towards, and commissioning hospital-based support for young people impacted by violence since 2014/5. 

2. The hospital-based youth work programme sees clinically embedded youth workers engage with young people who have been impacted by violence or exploitation who present at Major Trauma Centres (MTCs) and Accident and Emergency (A&E). The work is done in the hospital immediately after the incident, which research has shown to be unique ‘teachable moment’. It is at this critical juncture that young people are often willing to look at making significant changes to their lives. 

3. The Hospital Based Youth Work programme sits within the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) priority area focused on ‘Children & Young People (CYP): Reducing Harm & Exploitation’. This area is specifically focused on vulnerable CYP. The objective of our programmes in this space is to improve the identification of risks and to divert to the appropriate supports. Our programmes focus on identifying vulnerable young people at critical ‘teachable’ moments whether that be in custody suites, on the street or, in this case, in hospital following a violent incident. We also work across organisations and systems working with vulnerable CYP to build capacity to identify harmful behaviours early on and provide more effective support for this group.   

4. The initial investment from MOPAC in 2015 enabled Redthread to expand their delivery to all four Major Trauma Centres (MTCs) in London.  

5. In 2018, analysis was conducted to identify priority Accident and Emergency (A&E) sites; defined as those having high numbers of young people presenting as victims of violent crime and located in boroughs that have high levels of knife crime. 

6. In 2019, MOPAC and VRU funding allowed for the expansion of youth workers into five new A&E locations (Newham General Hospital, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Croydon University Hospital, University Hospital Lewisham and Whittington Hospital). 

7. Since Spring 2022, the VRU have been undertaking scoping work, working with stakeholders to understand the current delivery, funding landscape and updated picture of violence to determine how to best to utilise our investment to better support young people presenting at hospital sites in London. 

8. This work has included a refreshed need analysis in Summer 2022 analysing ISTV data to understand which hospital sites in London were determined to be priority sites based of assault, London ambulance and Met Police data.  

9.  The VRU are seeking approval to extend 5 hospital-based youth work contracts to allow for adequate time to complete the scoping and procurement work to ensure continuity of service.  

10. An open and competitive procurement will take place in early 2023 once this scoping work is complete. 

11. The VRU are also seeking approval to directly award grant funding to Redthread, St Giles Trust and Oasis to continue to deliver existing work across 4 hospital sites. The rationale for this direct award is provided in section 2 below.  

12. The MOPAC Evidence and Insights Team have conducted an evaluation of the youth work service at 7 A&E sites delivered by Redthread, Oasis and St Giles Trust. The impact and learning from this evaluation, due at the end of November 2022, will contribute to the service design of the direct awards mentioned in this decision. An interim salient report has been provided which demonstrates promising impact and learning with over 800 young people engaged over 2 years. The interim report has highlighted ongoing challenges with data collection which is a sector wide issue we are aware of and will be developing a forward plan to address. 

13. Work will begin in 2023 to plan for a longer term, collaborative and transformational approach to supporting the hospital-based youth work sector. Early conversations with NHS Violence Reduction colleagues are underway and there are plans to work collaboratively with stakeholders across London to look at the current challenges in the sector, how we can collaborate to strengthen the evidence base and tackle ongoing data issues. 

14. In early 2023, the VRU will also go out to tender for an organisation to externally evaluate the hospital-based youth work programme to better understand the impact of the work being delivered in 23-25. A learning partner will also be commissioned to work with the sector to consolidate current learning, benchmark promising practice and ensure there is the same standard of quality across all hospital sites whilst recognising the importance of local expertise and knowledge.  

2. Issues for consideration 

1. Where the VRU are seeking approval to award direct funding – the following rationale is relevant - 

1. Redthread, Oasis and St Giles Trust have been embedded in their respective hospital sites for a number of years and have therefore built longstanding relationships with hospital staff and local stakeholders. Feedback from current delivery has shown that working closely with local voluntary and community groups, the local authority and wider stakeholders is a key element to longer term support for young people once they leave hospital. 

2. Each provider has a comprehensive understanding of the hospital environment they operate in.  

3. Each provider has a history of obtaining match funding from sources such as trusts and foundations, local authorities and corporates. Redthread, Oasis and St Giles Trust have found that City Hall funding will often act as a catalyst to attract other funders. 

4. MOPAC and the VRU are contributory funders to the existing services and our uplift in funding will allow the providers to provide specific support through additional roles and programme management.  

5. In 2022/23 each provider successfully secured match funding. 

2. If we are unable to make a direct reward, this would result in a £2.1m reduction of youth work services across hospital sites identified as high priority in London for young people presenting with injuries in 23-25.  

3. The direct award of two years of funding also supports the VRU’s approach to multi-year funding, sustainability of the voluntary and community sector as well as providing longer employment security for frontline staff. This also supports feedback from youth workers who report that the cost of living crisis is affecting their ability to support young people.  

4. The decision requests DMPC approval for: 

5. The allocation of a further £130,339 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Redthread through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/MOPAC 177-01). This takes the original contract value from £749,919 to £880,258. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.  

6. The allocation of a further £260,678 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Redthread through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/ MOPAC 178-01). This takes the original contract value from £1,498,608 to £1,628,947. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.  

7. The allocation of a further £114,930 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to St Giles Trust through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/MOPAC 180-01). This takes the original contract value from £ 746,869 to £861,799. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.   

8. The allocation of a further £114,930 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to St Giles Trust through a contract extension of 6 months to (contract number GLA81404/ MOPAC 181-01). This takes the original contract value from £746,869 to £861,799. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 30th September 23.   

9. The above contract extensions will enable young people presenting at the 5 hospital sites below to continue to be supported by youth workers ensuring continuity of service, whilst recommission work is underway. 

10. A&E Contract Extensions 

11. The allocation of a further £91,152 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Solace Women’s Aid to through a grant extension of 4 months to (Grant agreement number MOPAC 682-01). This takes the original grant agreement value from £572,904 to £664,056. The extension will take the contract end date from 31st March 23 to 31st July 2023.    

12. This contract extension will enable young people presenting at the 4 MTC sites to continue to be supported by specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advocates ensuring continuity of service, whilst recommission work is underway.  

13. The allocation of £1,055,817 over financial years 23/24 and 24/25 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Redthread through a direct award.  

14. The allocation of £259,750 over financial years 23/24 and 24/25 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to St Giles Trust through a direct award.   

15. The allocation of £833,764 over financial years 23/24 and 24/25 (PCD 1149) to be awarded to Oasis through a direct award.  

16. Hospital Based Youth Work Direct Awards 

3. Financial Comments 

3.1 The total cost of the recommendations in this decision relating to the Hospital Based Youth Work Programme amount to £2,961,360. Of which £1,786,694 will be incurred in year 2023/24 and £1,074,666 in year 2024/25 as shown in the table below. The costs will be funded from VRU’s approved 2022/23 and 2023/24 Home Office and Mayoral Core funding. 

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.” This is a broad power and the initiatives appear to be part of a number of proposals which are aimed at supporting victims of crime to enable the efficiency and effectiveness of the police service. In addition, under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 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. Under MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, the award of individual contracts of £500,000 and above is reserved to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime. This includes the responsibility for signing the contractual agreements. 

3. Section 143 (1) (b) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides an express power for MOPAC, as a local policing body, 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.” Section 143(3) specifically allows MOPAC to make grants in connection with such arrangements and any grant may be made subject to any conditions that MOPAC thinks appropriate. 

4. Officers must ensure that the arrangements comply with the Financial Regulations and Contract Regulations.  

5. Commercial Issues  

1. Regulation 72 of The Procurement Contract Regulations 2015 provides the conditions that must be met in order to modify a contract, based on the following justifications both variations meet all the requirements:  

1. The original contract term included an end date of March 2023 the extension allows time for a procurement process to be carried out through an open procedure  

2. The overall nature of the contracts has not changed. The Supplier will be delivering similar services during the extension period.  

3. The increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contracts.  

2. In order to ensure that the price remains competitive Suppliers were asked to submit their price for the extension ensuring the price breakdown was reflective of what was submitted at the start of the original contract excluding any reasonable increase to staff salaries. 

3. The MTC Suppliers will be giving a direct award grant with the expectation that they raise match funding to ensure that the grants deliver value for money and there is a continuation of service. The large match funding raised in previous years demonstrates that the VRU are contributing to   

6. Public Health Approach  

1. The spend plan takes a public health approach to tackling violence, which means looking at violence not as isolated incidents or solely a police enforcement problem. Instead, this approach looks at violence as a preventable consequence of a range of factors, such as adverse early-life experiences, or harmful social or community experiences and influences.  

2. Evaluation of good practice to answer the question ‘what works and for whom?’ which must also happen before policy and programmes can be effectively scaled up and sustained to contribute to population level outcomes (a core requirement for public health programmes). 

3. This piece of work has been informed by discussions and feedback from stakeholders including the use of data to take evidence informed approach to investment. 

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. Suppliers will be asked to provide a Data Protection Impact Assessment.   

8.2 All contracts will include clear provisions relating to compliance in this area, and in relation to the processing of personal data. These terms have been drafted following consultation with MOPAC’s GDPR Project Manager.  

8. Equality Comments 

1.  Under s.149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Equality Act), as a public authority the Deputy Mayor/MOPAC must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act; and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (the duty in respect of this last characteristic is to eliminate unlawful discrimination only). 

2. The VRU are committed to promoting equality and participation in all their activities, whether this is related to the work we do with our external stakeholders or whether this is related to our responsibilities as an employer. As public authorities we are also required to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations when making decisions and developing policies. To do this, it is necessary to understand the potential impacts of the range of internal and external activities on different groups of people. 

3. We will be carrying out an equality impact assessment across the hospital-based youth work programme to ensure that all protected characteristics are considered in the commissioning and delivery of this work.  

4. Background/supporting papers 

N/A