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

1. Introduction and background

1. 1. MOPAC receives annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the local commissioning of victim and witness support services in London. The funding package for 2022/23 to 2024/25 has been confirmed, with MOPAC allocated £4,189,662.60 specifically for domestic abuse (DA) and sexual violence (SV) provision in London (see PCD 1235 for details of the allocation).
   2. In 2019 the Mayor committed to invest £15 million of new money, across a three-year period (2019-2022), to improve and increase the support that is available to victims and survivors of VAWG, referred to as the Mayor’s VAWG Fund. As part of this Fund, under its ‘Tranche 4 – VAWG Services Fund’, a number of providers were commissioned by MOPAC to offer support to victims-survivors of VAWG in London (see PCD633).

1. 3. Due to a consistent increase in demand for services for women and girls affected by VAWG following the COVID-19 pandemic, in December 2021 these services were extended by six months until September 2022 (see PCD1077).

2. Issues for consideration

1. 1. Following the MoJ’s announcement in Spring 2022, MOPAC ran an open process to invite submissions from organisations across London to support the completion of its needs assessment submission to MoJ for domestic abuse (DA) and sexual violence (SV) support services in their local area (PCD 1190).

1. 2. In a change to their original process, in June 2022 the MoJ asked MOPAC to undertake a final assessment of all the applications for ringfenced DA/SV funding it had supported within its needs assessment and make final decisions on allocating the

£4,189,662.60 the MoJ had awarded to MOPAC out of this fund. MOPAC assessed all the relevant applications against a set scoring criteria and award recommendations were then reviewed and signed off by a panel (PCD 1235).

1. 3. Where eligible for the funding, the Mayor’s VAWG Fund Tranche 4 services submitted applications to the MoJ Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Services Fund and following completion of the assessment process, have been awarded a total of

£1,688,537 funding per annum in 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25.

1. 4. It is proposed that Mayoral funding totalling up to £1,688,537 is also committed for these services in 2022/23 and 2023/24, and a further £1,340,676 in 2024/25.
   5. As set out in paragraph 1.3 above, £1,688,537 was originally committed from reserves in December 2021 (PCD1077) to support a 6 month extension of these services. Following the additional investment by the Mayor into tackling VAWG, which is now included in MOPAC’s budget, this drawdown from reserves is no longer required and this decision also seeks approval to transfer this funding back into the budget resilience reserve.

3. Financial Comments

1. 1. This decision requests approval to award funding to the services listed below, for the three year period 2022/23 – 2024/25, at a total cost of £9,783,361, of which

£5,065,611 will be funded by the MoJ Grant, and the balance from the additional funding the Mayor allocated to MOPAC as part of the 2022/23 budget to tackle violence against women and girls.

1. 2. As set out in paragraph 2.5 above, it had previously been proposed to fund these services for a 6 month period in 2022/23 through earmarked reserves at a total cost of

£1,688,537. Following confirmation of the additional funding from the Mayor to support victims of violence against women and girls, the proposed use of reserves is no longer required, and funds can be transferred to the budget resilience reserve to fund future budget pressures.

1. 3. The total grant award will be recognised as part of Commissioning and Partnerships budget planning to support service development over the specified financial years outlined.

4. Legal Comments

1. 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 all offers of grant funding.

1. 2. Paragraph 4.6 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the DMPC authority to delegate those functions which are reserved for the DMPC.
   3. These recommendations are in line with the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent.

5. Commercial Issues

1. 1. All grants and contracts which utilise this funding will incorporate the relevant terms from the grant agreement between MOPAC and the MoJ to ensure compliance.
   2. All grant agreementswill be modified and signed off in line with MOPAC’s Contract

Regulations and Scheme of Delegation.

6. Public Health Approach

1. 1. The VRU will be consulted on services commissioned using this funding to ensure alignment with VRU activity and wider public health approach to tackling violence in London, as outlined in the Mayor’s refreshed VAWG Strategy.

7. GDPR and Data Privacy

1. 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. 1. MOPAC’s local needs assessment submission to the MoJ highlighted significant increases in demand for domestic abuse and/or sexual violence support services in London, in particular for those groups with protected characteristics and/or from minority groups.

1. 2. In assessing the applications received for this funding, MOPAC prioritised those services that provide specialist support to these groups and/or are delivered by ‘by and for’ organisations.

9. Background/supporting papers

PCD 633

PCD 1077