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

1. Introduction and background
2. 1. In March 2022, the MoJ announced that £147m of annual funding for victims’ services will be committed to over a multi-year period, through to the end of 2024/25. This sustains funding currently provided to MOPAC for existing victim support services and introduces two additional national funding pots set out below:
      
      • £15.7m per annum for domestic abuse and sexual violence support services
      • £3.75m per annum for an additional 100 ISVA/IDVA posts
   2. It was announced at the 2021 Budget that the Government will further increase support for victims by raising MoJ annual funding for victim services to £185m by 2024/25, and this will include funding to increase the national number of ISVAs and IDVAs from 700 to over 1,000.
3. 3. To meet the Government’s target of 1,000 ISVA/IDVA posts by 2024/25, the MoJ is enabling the recruitment of the first tranche of 100 ISVA/IDVA with the recent announcement of an additional £3.75m per annum. The focus of this first tranche is increasing the number of ISVA/IDVAs in ‘By and For’ organisations to assist in meeting the needs of victims with protected characteristics.
   4. All PCCs are required to submit a local needs assessment as part of this bidding process to the new national funding pots. This is to assist the MoJ in gaining a clearer and more up to date picture of local need across the country which will then assist them allocating funding from the new pots to areas where it is needed most.
   5. To attract as many eligible bids as possible, MOPAC launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) opportunity to all relevant London stakeholders on 6 April 2022, with a deadline of 26 April for bid submission. Appropriate due diligence and fraud checks need to be completed on all EOI’s received, and then collated and submitted to the MoJ alongside London’s Needs Assessment by the deadline of 6 May 2022.
4. 6. MoJ will undertake the assessments on all EOI’s submitted as part of the wider needs assessment and advise they will notify MOPAC by 20 May 2022 on the final outcomes and allocations for London.
5. 7. With regard to the £15.7 million that has been made available for domestic abuse and sexual violence support services, MOPAC requests permission to submit all bids received as set out in the fund requirements by the MoJ.
   8. With regard to the £3.75 million that has been made available for the additional ISVA and IDVA posts, MOPAC requests permission to submit all bids received as set out in the fund requirements by the MoJ.
6. Issues for consideration

1. 1. Organisations do not need to be a registered charity, a charitable incorporated organisation, or a social enterprise to be eligible for this funding. They must, however, provide tailored support services which have the purpose of helping victims of DA or SV cope with the impacts of crime, and, as far as possible, recover from the harm they have experienced.
   2. Additionally, PCCs are permitted to meet local need by allocating their funding to Local Authorities or other local bodies, provided they are able to evidence how this meets local need.

1. 3. MOPAC’s needs assessment adhered to the following general conditions set out in the MoJ guidance:
      
      • the process is open and transparent, and assessment criteria is published;
      • the process is open to all relevant support organisations in the PCC area – and encourages applications from small organisations that support victims with protected characteristics;
      • the process is undertaken in collaboration with Local Authorities;
      • there are named contact points in each PCC office for queries;
      • the names of all organisations that requested funding, and those that were successful, should be published on completion of the process;
      • evidence is provided of:
        
        • engagement with local organisations including how they were invited to bid
        • how your subsequent bids to MoJ are informed by their requests
   4. MOPAC ensured DA and SV organisations that have a proven track record of providing tailored services for particular groups such as LGBT, disabled, Black and minoritised and male victims were included when establishing local need, and that they were proportionately represented within funding allocations.
   5. MOPAC engaged with other local commissioners, including Local Authorities, when establishing and assessing local need.
   6. MOPAC will undertake the appropriate due diligence and fraud risk assessments in relation to organisations MOPAC have included in their overall bid submission for London.
   7. A proportion of London’s allocation for 2022-25 will be distributed and managed by a fund manager, to be appointed through standard procurement processes (PCD 1196).

3. Financial Comments

1. 1. This decision seeks authority to submit all bids received that meet the criteria of the fund for DA and SV support services (£15.7m available nationally) and subsequently, to accept the ultimate amount of MoJ funding London is allocated.

1.7.  It also seeks authority to submit all bids received that meet the criteria of the fund for ISVA and IDVA provision (£3.75m available nationally) and subsequently, to accept the ultimate amount of MoJ funding London is allocated.

1. 2. If London’s full bid is successful, the maximum additional new funding for 2022-25 is as set out in the table below. The MoJ have stated that funds can not be carried forward between financial years and therefore it is critical that mechanisms are in place to ensure the funding can be distributed quickly and monitored effectively to avoid the risk of clawback

1. 3. MOPAC will procure a fund manager to distribute a proportion of this multi-year funding. (PCD 1196). This will involve transferring a portion of the MoJ funding to the fund manager to process and manage the funds made available.

1. 4. The arrangements for this fund manager are still to be finalised and will be subject to a compliant procurement process. The costs will be met from MOPAC’s budgets.

4. Legal Comments

4. 1. This decision is in line with the MOPAC’s Scheme of Consent and Delegation, in which paragraph 4.8 provides the DMPC with 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.
5. Commercial Issues

5. 1. MOPAC will incorporate the appropriate terms and conditions from the Grant Agreement between MOPAC and MoJ into the agreement and variations with the recipients of funding to ensure money is spent in compliance with these terms.
   2. All awards of funding will made following an open and competitive process. The MoJ will be the ultimate decision maker on which proposals are awarded funding. The funding will be awarded to through establishing new grant agreements or varying existing contracts and grants.
6. Public Health Approach

1. 1. Grant award and variation is informed by the Mayor’s public health approach to violence reduction and therefore part of MOPAC’s contribution to overall efforts led by the Violence Reduction Unit.