PCD 1410 Havens Sexual Assault Referral Centre Website Development

PCD 1410 Havens Sexual Assault Referral Centre Website Development

PCD 1410 Havens Sexual Assault Referral Centre Website Development

The Mayor is determined to see that victims of crime in London are better supported as a result of the steps set out in his Police and Crime Plan 2022-25.  This includes improving the service and support that victims receive from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), support services and the Criminal Justice Service (CJS), including in online interaction. 

This decision is seeking approval to award one-off grant funding to King’s College Hospital Trust, the commissioned provider of the Havens Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) service for survivors of rape and sexual assault in London, to develop their website for survivors.  

This is a one-off funding award of £36,000 in 2022/23. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the request to award one-off grant funding of £36,000 in 2022/23 to King’s College Hospital Trust, to develop their public-facing website for survivors of rape and sexual assault in London.  

2. Delegate authority to the MOPAC Chief Finance Officer to sign the applicable variations to the existing contracts/grant agreements to accept and disburse this funding.  

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

1. Introduction and background  

1. Police and Crime Commissioners have a statutory duty to provide a sexual assault referral service, which includes forensic medical examination - a specialist service to collect evidence which may support the investigation of the sexual assault.  

2. The refreshed Mayor of London Tackling VAWG Strategy 2022 – 2025 sets out the essential specialist services and support the Havens SARCs provide to victims of rape and sexual assault in London and the Mayor has committed to maintaining this investment.  

3. The Havens SARC service comprises the following elements: 

• Acute healthcare and support in age-appropriate settings.  

• Comprehensive forensic medical examination to support investigations.  

• Follow up services which address the client’s medical, psychosocial and on-going needs.  

• Direct access or referral to Independent Sexual Assault Advisor (ISVA). 

4. London’s SARCs are co-commissioned by MOPAC and NHS England (NHSE) at a current cost of £2,165,000 for 2022/23 (PCD1298). Kings College Hospital (KCH) Trust are the commissioned provider of London’s SARC’s.  

2. Issues for consideration  

1. During the Covid-19 pandemic from Spring 2020 onwards, with the increased restrictions which were in place, the Havens SARCs website experienced a significant increase in visits from both survivors and professionals seeking information about the service. Feedback from survivors revealed that the website would benefit from better signposting, better images, less text, but clearer messaging, and more interactive elements to improve its usability. 

2. The one-off grant funding will enable the provider of the Havens SARC service, KCH Trust to implement updates to their public-facing website, which is accessed by victim-survivors using the service, as well as professionals, friends and families. 

3. The one-off grant will result in key website improvements such as better signposting of key content, clearer messaging with optional language changes or voiceover functions, and effective interactive elements to convey key information. It will also better support professionals with a searchable resource library and course/training booking facility.  

4. MOPAC have an existing grant agreement in place with KCH, to disperse existing Ministry of Justice Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence funding in 2022/23 (PCD1190 and PCD1235). This additional one-off grant funding for improvements to the website will be incorporated into this grant agreement via MOPAC’s standard grant variation.  

3. Financial Comments  

1. The total budget requirement for this work is £36,000. This is a one-off funding award in 2022/23 The programme will be funded from within the Commissioning & Partnership Directorate’s VAWG Havens SARCs KCH 22/23 allocation of £223,513 with a breakdown provided below: 

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.” Under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 (1) 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. Section 143 of the Anti-Social, Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides for MOPAC to provide or commission services “intended by the local policing body to 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. 

3. Under MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, paragraph 4.8 the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime has authority to approve all bids for grant funding made and all offers made of grant funding; and/or where appropriate a strategy for grant giving. 

4. Officers must ensure the financial Regulations and Contract Regulations are complied with.   

5. Officers should ensure that the funding agreements are put in place with and executed by MOPAC and each of the providers before any commitment to fund is made. 

5. Commercial Issues 

1. There are no procurement issues with this grant agreement.  

2. The value of this grant agreement is being increased by £36,000 to pay for the website upgrade and is in line with the terms and conditions of the contracts and grants regulations. 

6. Public Health Approach  

1. This decision provides funding to enable a better informed and more cohesive partnership approach to improving outcomes for victims in London which will align with and support the VRU’s public health approach to tackling the causes of violent crime in London. 

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.   

8. Equality Comments  

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. 

2. The Havens SARCs service is a statutory specialist service for people of all ages and genders who have been raped or seriously sexually assaulted. It is the only service of its type in London; therefore it is essential it is accessible and works for everyone who needs it. The improvements to the Havens SARCs website are designed to make the service more inclusive and so that everyone who needs to use the website can do so as easily as possible. The summary of changes referenced at paragraph 2.1 describes some of the improvements being made to make it more inclusive and accessible. 

9. Background/supporting papers 

PCD 1190 Additional Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Support Funding  

PCD 1298 Sexual Assault Referral Centres FY 2022/2023 

PCD 1235 Ministry of Justice ISVA and DA/SV Funding FY 2022/23 – 2024/25