PCD 1399 NPCC CJS Improvement grant variation

PCD 1399 NPCC CJS Improvement grant variation

In 2022 the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) was awarded £5m through the 2022-25 Police Settlement to fund NPCC Reform. Home Office Award Agreement was signed off in November 2022.  

A decision is now required from Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) on behalf of the NPCC, to receive the additional funding of £1m to support the NPCC Criminal Justice System (CJS) improvement programme of work for the 2022/23 financial year, into 23/24 and 24/25.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve receipt of additional £1,000,000 in grant funding to support the NPCC CJS improvement programme of work planned for 2023/24 and 2024/25. 

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

1. Introduction and background  

1. PCD 1316 in November 2022 approved receipt of up to £5m Home Office NPCC Reform Grant for 2022/23 and additional £1,000,000 to support the Review into the Operational Productivity of Policing, led by Sir Stephen House and facilitated by the NPCC. 

2. This additional funding is provided to the NPCC to build on the work underway through the NPCC’s Criminal Justice Coordination Committee (CJCC). This will allow the committee to support forces to navigate the increasingly complex criminal justice landscape, providing expert insight and advice to the areas of most pressure and the forces withstanding them. This will also include enabling the sharing and promotion of best practice to drive improvement across the system, aiming for an overall “levelling up” of performance, and bringing consistency where there is currently significant variance. 

3. To achieve this, funding of £1m will be used to establish the extended team. This team will work alongside the existing CJCC and to the CJCC Chair, with a focus on challenges including case quality and progression, disclosure and investigative processes, as well as process improvements with the CPS, with the aim overall of increasing the volume of high quality referrals into the CJS. This will include work alongside other relevant NPCC coordinating committees and distinct portfolios, wider CJS partners, HMICFRS and the College of Policing to produce a dedicated CJS improvement plan based on the identified areas of concern, designed in conjunction with key stakeholders to ensure the alignment of this with other downstream pressures in the CJS. 

2. Issues for consideration  

1. The NPCC’s Operating Model overall is made up of the following components: 

• A Strategic Hub that acts as the ‘central coordinating brain’ for NPCC and UK operational police leadership, enabling quicker, more informed decisions to be made and providing a capability uplift in areas such as strategy, workforce, finance, data, and innovation. This will provide Chief Officers with the dedicated support they require to progress important national policing business, whilst releasing capacity to focus on crime reduction and other priorities. 

• An improved governance structure that enables NPCC policing leadership to respond to priorities at pace in a more coordinated and collaborative way. This will simplify and strengthen interactions with key stakeholders (e.g. Home Office, the College of Policing, the National Crime Agency, and APCC) and delegate authority to the right levels to drive progress, manage risks and opportunities, and empower the next generation of Chief Officers. 

• A capability influenced approach to create a sustainable basis for policing to respond in a more coordinated and integrated way to current and emerging threats and vulnerabilities. Aligned with any wider law enforcement capability strategy, this will make better collective use of the operational and enabling capabilities at its disposal to meet the need for crime reduction at a local, regional and national level. It will harvest efficiency by removing duplication and influence the ability of law enforcement to exploit cross –cutting economies of scale. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. A variation of £1m has been awarded to support the NPCC Criminal Justice System (CJS) improvement programme of work. Approval for receipt of this additional funding is included within this decision. These funds will be managed by the NPCC CJCC. This will be overseen by Martin Hewitt the Chair of NPCC. Additional reporting and assurance processes are outlined in the Grant Agreement to address oversight and transparency. 

2. The NPCC work closely with the Home Office to ensure all allocated funding is operating against the key deliverables and spend monitored.  

3. The grant will fund all the expected costs of the Reform Programme and if there is any overspend the NPCC will meet the cost from within its own resources. 

4. The £1m variation addition for the CJS improvement programme has been added to the below table and was awarded separately outside of the Spending Review process.   

Note: The Home Office require internal clearance as well as HMT before issuing the variation letter. Given there are multiple variations (Op Productivity and CJS Programme) a decision was taken to issue one variation letter, which will follow in due course. 

4. Legal Comments  

1. This grant will be paid to the MOPAC, as the host organisation for the NPCC, in exercise of the power conferred upon the Secretary of State for the Home Department under Section 57 of the Police Act 1996. 

2. Under paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Consent and Delegation the DMPC has delegated authority to approve “Bids for grant funding made and all offers made of grant funding; and/or where appropriate a strategy for grant giving”. 

3. The Grant Agreement was published under the Elected Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011. 

5. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. The receipt of HO funding does not involve the use of personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered. 

6. Equality Comments  

1. No issues have been identified relating to equality or diversity. Metropolitan Police Service and their processes are followed in relation to recruitment and promotion of NPCC staff. 

7. Background/supporting papers 

1. Report