PCD 1379 - Transitions Pilot Extension final

PCD 1379 - Transitions Pilot Extension final

MOPAC manages the Youth 2 Adult Hub, a pilot project for young adults on probation in Newham which aims to reduce reoffending, improve mental health and increase access to pro-social opportunities.  

The pilot is currently funded until March 31st 2023, however more time is needed to evidence impact. This decision seeks approval to extend the pilot by 12 months to allow sufficient time for evaluation, with MOPAC continuing to act as programme manager, and presents a proposal for how this extension would be financed. This would involve accepting a total of £578,000 funding from London Probation, the Barrow Cadbury Trust and LB Newham towards continuation of services and committing £530,000 to the extension from the Commissioning & Partnership Directorate’s approved core funding in 2022/23.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to: 

1. Approve the extension of the Youth 2 Adult Hub pilot for a period of 12 months from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 at a total cost of £1,370,700 

2. Accept grant funding of £150,000 from the Barrow Cadbury Trust  

3. Accept funding of £378,000 from London Probation  

4. Accept funding of £50,000 from LB Newham  

5. Approve the carry forward of funds from 2022/23 totalling £260,000 to provide funding for the extension of the Transition pilot 

6. Approve funding from the budget resilience reserve in 2023/24 of £270,000 to provide funding for the extension of the Transition Pilot 

7. Note that in total MOPAC will be providing funding of £530,000 to provide match funding for the 4 services funded by London Probation’s ROIF fund, to fund the mentoring and young women’s support services, to provide staff training programme and MOPAC programme management costs. 

8. Note that the 2023/24 budget will be updated accordingly to reflect the additional funding and expenditure. 

9. To delegate authority to the CEO or Director of Commissioning & Partnerships (depending on value) to award contracts and grants and sign future documents in relation to this decision (including contracts, grants and variations) and to make budget movements, according to MOPAC’s scheme of delegation. 

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

1. Introduction and background 

1. MOPAC manages a pilot hub for 18-25 year olds on probation and 17-year olds transitioning from the Youth Offending Service to adult probation in Newham. The pilot involves:  

• Commissioned services designed to respond to young adults’ needs and life stage, such as mental health, accommodation support and mentoring, collocated alongside probation;  

• a trauma-informed, welcoming hub co-designed by young adults;   

• a comprehensive programme of staff training and ongoing workforce development.   

2. The pilot is currently fully funded by His Majesty’s Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund until 31 March 2023, with MOPAC acting as programme manager and lead commissioner.  You signed a decision in February 2021 to accept funding of up to £1.82m for the transitions pilot to manage the pilot and commission services until 31 March 2023.   

2. Issues for Consideration  

1. Funding for the Youth 2 Adult Hub pilot is due to come to an end on 31 March 2023.  

2. The pilot in its current length is too short to properly evidence impact and the evaluation will not be able to comment on whether the model should be rolled out more widely.   

3. Early outcomes from the hub have been really promising, as evidenced through the interim report which spoke to Y2A staff and young adults accessing the hub. The report found that the hub was implemented successfully and named key strengths of the model as co-location of services, the localised approach to commissioning, the focus on maturity and greater flexibility of service delivery.  

4. HM Inspectorate of Probation completed an inspection of Newham Probation in summer 2022 and cited evidence of ambitious and innovative work in the Y2A hub, with a golden thread of consideration of diversity needs and protected characteristics.  The report included a recommendation for MoJ to continue to fund the service and to ensure learning is disseminated nationally.  

5. So far, the hub has supported over 300 young adults and would support an additional 100 young adults if extended by 12 months.  

6. Given the promising early outcomes and the limitations of the current evaluation, the programme board, co-chaired by the MOPAC C&P, agreed for MOPAC to try to secure funding to extend the pilot by 12 months.  

7. This decision seeks your approval to extend the pilot ‘as is’ by 12 months to allow for longer evaluation and to inform roll-out decisions.  This would entail extending all existing services and MOPAC continuing to act as programme manager of the pilot, lead commissioner and contract manager. 

Financing the 12-month pilot extension 

This section presents a proposal for how the 12-month extension would be financed. 

8. MOPAC has secured a total of £840,700 from partners and stakeholders, consisting of:  

• London Probation have agreed to contribute funding towards four hub services – emotional wellbeing, service user engagement, meaningful activities and restorative justice – at a total cost £378,000.  This will be funded from the Regional Outcomes and Innovation Fund, which contains a requirement of 20% match funding to unlock.  They have also agreed to absorb the costs of additional probation staff (£180,000). 

• The Barrow Cadbury Trust has agreed to provide £150,000 towards the emotional wellbeing service.  

• MoJ have agreed to fund the continuation of the process evaluation at a cost of £45,000. 

• LB Newham have secured £50,000 from the Department for Levelling Up Communities for the continuation of the accommodation support service.  

• LB Newham have provisionally agreed to fund the continuation of the substance misuse worker at a cost of £37,700.  
   

9. Of the total funding secured, £578,000 will be transferred to MOPAC from external organisations to be directed to service providers. This decision seeks approval to receive these funds, consisting of £378,000 from London Probation, £150,000 from Barrow Cadbury Trust and £50,000 from LB Newham. 

10. The funding from the MoJ for the evaluation and from LB Newham for the substance misuse service will go directly to providers and not via MOPAC. 

MOPAC funding contribution and management of the pilot 
 

11. This decision seeks approval for MOPAC to commit £530,000 of which £260,000 will be carried forward from the Commissioning & Partnerships Directorate’s 2022/23 budget and £270,000 will come from the Budget Resilience Reserve.  This will fund:  

12. MOPAC would continue to manage the project and act as lead commissioner and contract manager.   Funding for the programme manager is included within the MOPAC funding ask detailed in the table above.  The pilot extension would not entail any additional resource requirements from MOPAC. 

Sustainability 

13. Conversations around sustainability of the service in Newham will begin early next financial year, upon delivery of the second report from the evaluation team expected in April 2023, to ensure any continuation of the service is financed appropriately. This will include conversations with the Ministry of Justice about wider roll-out of the model, with the Transitions Programme Board responsible for the influencing strategy.  

14. The same evaluation team will remain in place for the extension, with MOPAC’s Evidence and Insight team leading on performance and impact, with academics from Sheffield Hallam and Middlesex Universities providing process evaluation.  
     

3. Financial Comments  

1. This decision is seeking approval to extend the transition pilot for a 12 month period at a total cost of £1,370,700 of which:- 

• MOPAC will provide match funding of £530,000 for the 4 ROIF-funded services, funding for the mentoring and young women’s service and bespoke commissioning, staff training programme and MOPAC programme management costs, of which £260,000 will be carried forward from the Commissioning and Partnerships 2022/23 budget and £270,000 will be funded through the budget resilience reserve.  

• London Probation will transfer funding to MOPAC totalling £378,000 for the continuation of 4 hub services (emotional wellbeing, service user engagement, meaningful activities and RJ)  

• Barrow Cadbury Trust will transfer funding to MOPAC totalling £150,000 as a contribution towards continuation of the essential Y2A services 

• London Borough of Newham will transfer funds to MOPAC totalling £50,000 (DLUC funding) to continue the accommodation support service  

• MoJ will fund the continuation of the process evaluation at a cost of £45,000. 

• LB Newham have provisionally agreed to fund the continuation of the substance misuse worker at a cost of £37,700 

• London Probation will absorb the costs of additional probation staff totalling £180,000. 

2. A memorandum of understanding will be put in place between MOPAC and London Probation to define use of the funding and to formalise the funding agreement.  
    

3. The Barrow Cadbury Trust have prepared a grant offer pack setting out the conditions of funding which will be sent to MOPAC’s CEO for approval.  
    

4. LB Newham are confirming the required documentation to formalise the transfer of £50,000 but it is anticipated that a memorandum of understanding will be developed.  
    

5. There are no additional risks or liabilities as a result of extending the pilot, as it would involve upholding existing arrangements and extending contracts with incumbent commissioned services.   

6. This decision requests approval to extend all services within the pilot (Appendix 2) for a period of 12 months from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.  

7. The 2023/24 draft budget will be updated accordingly to reflect the changes in income and expenditure. 
    

4. Legal Comments 
    

1. 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 business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 or above. The release of funding in accordance with the proposals set out in this decision form is accordingly to be approved by the DMPC. The delegation of responsibility for the finalisation of planning and contractual/grant arrangements, including relevant terms and the signing of agreements, and budget virements and movement to the Chief Executive Officer, is in accordance with the general power of delegation in paragraph 1.7, and more specifically paragraphs 5.4, 5.12 and 5.13. 
    

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

3. Officers confirm that sufficient assurance has been carried out to this decision to determine that the DMPC has legal authority to agree the recommendations on funding 
    

5. Commercial Issues 

5.1 This decision requests to modify the existing contracts for the services listed in Appendix 2. 

5.2 All grants and contracts which utilise the funding from London Probation or the Barrow Cadbury Trust will incorporate the relevant terms from the respective MoU/grant conditions to ensure compliance.  

5.3 MOPAC makes no commitment to provide additional funding to the organisations delivering these services until suitable agreements have been signed by both parties. These will detail the new performance, monitoring, reporting and payment schedules. 

5.4 The processing of these agreements will comply with the MOPAC Scheme of Consent and Delegation. 

5.5 As listed in Appendix 2, the proposed extensions of contracts for Accommodation support and Staff training are in line with the Contract Regulations. For the proposed extensions of Mentoring and coaching, Service user engagement, Restorative Justice, Meaningful activities and Wellbeing, justification for direct award was sought and approved in line with MOPAC’s internal approval processes. This direct award is due to the specialist nature of the provision, the unique nature of the programme and the continuation of evaluation. 

5.6 MOPAC will be compliant with the GLA Group Responsible Procurement Policy.  
 

6. GDPR and Data Privacy 

6.1 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.   

6.2 New contracts will be put in place and HelloDPO will be consulted on the GDPR section of the Terms and Conditions of the contracts. 

6.3 In the case of new providers, new Data Protection Impact Assessments will be developed. If an incumbent provider is successful, existing DPIAs will be reviewed and updated.  

7. Equality Comments  

7.1 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. 

7.2 Equalities Impact Assessments (EIA) were completed and are in place for each hub service. These will be reviewed and updated in the run up to pilot extension to ensure any learning from the first year of delivery is considered from an equalities perspective.   

7.3 Service scopes have been designed to ensure equitable access to services, for example there is a requirement for all providers to offer home appointments or meetings in the community to increase access to women who are pregnant or young adults who are parents.   
 

8. Background/supporting papers 

Appendix 1 – Funding Breakdown 

Appendix 2 – Pilot Services 

Appendix 3 – Additional Funded Activities 

The total of funded services and activities in Appendices 2 and 3 totals £1,370,700 as in Appendix 1.