PCD 1513 Appointment of provider to delivery Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme - Drive London 2023

PCD 1513 Appointment of provider to delivery Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme - Drive London 2023

Executive Summary:  

MOPAC has been awarded funding from the Home Office under the DA perpetrator scheme for a pan London service which delivers perpetrator interventions to high risk and serial perpetrators, both male and females aged 16 and over who commit domestic violence harm in their relationships (intimate or family). MOPAC has commissioned a provider to deliver the perpetrators interventions as part of the Drive Programme. The programme is coordinated by the Drive Partnership and the victim’s advocacy element is delivered by Victim Support, who will work alongside the new provider. 

A tender process was undertaken, to award an 18-month contract to deliver the Drive London provision and offer a whole system approach, intensive case management interventions and a coordinated multi agency approach that challenge service users to change and works with partner agencies to disrupt abuse. The key objectives of the project are to reduce the: 

• number of serial perpetrators of domestic abuse  

• number of repeat and new victims  

• harm caused to victims and children  

Following the award of the grant by the Home Office, MOPAC invited providers to bid. A full evaluation process was held and Rise Mutual were the successful bidder.  This decision is required to approve the contract award value of up £1,013,030, with service delivery beginning on 01 Oct 2023.  

Recommendation:  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the contract award of a maximum of £1,013,030 in funding to Rise Mutual to provide the ongoing provision of services for Drive London, in partnership with Victim Support and SafeLives 

2. Approve that the service will run for 18-months from 01 October 2023 

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

1. Introduction and background  

1. Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is at the heart of the mayor’s priorities for London.  

2. Central to his Police and Crime Plan and VAWG Strategy for London 22-25 is holding perpetrators of VAWG to account whilst supporting programmes to change their behaviour. This will ultimately increase the safety of victims-survivors and their families. 

3. From 2021 the Mayor, with funding from the Home Office piloted the Drive Programme in South London BCU (Bromley, Croydon and Sutton) 

4. The Home Office awarded funding to Police and Crime Commissioners to provide interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators to be delivered within the total budget of up to £36,290,000 over two years (1st April 2023 – 31st March 2025).  Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales were invited to bid for this funding. 

5. Following the announcement of the Home Office’s Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Intervention Fund 2023-25, MOPAC bid to deliver the Drive programme Pan London. On 27 March 2023, MOPAC were informed they were successful in their bid and were awarded £1,790,932 by the Home Office to deliver Drive in 2023/24 and 2024/25. The total funding committed to Drive London is £2,443,083 including commitment from MOPAC of up to £652,150.80 of match funding. 

2. Issues for consideration  

1. Drive Pan London will be coordinated by the Drive Partnership which is an alliance consisting of Safer Lives and Respect. The victim element of the service will be delivered through the London Victim and Witness Service. The remaining part of delivery is required to case manage perpetrators, co-ordinating multi-agency responses and putting in place interventions to disrupt abuse leading to attitudinal and behaviour change.  

2. Given the value of this case management and interventions element of service delivery over two years.  MOPAC undertook a procurement exercise via an Invitation to Tender.   Following this process an evaluation exercise was undertaken in August 2023 with Rise Mutual identified as the preferred provider. 

3. Recommendations following Casey Review & Engage  

4. The Baroness Casey Review highlighted some key recommendations, with a new offer to women and children being one which has direct impact on the work MOPAC is delivering. Within the Baroness Casey Review under this recommendation the Met expect to develop a new enhanced offer to women, where they aim to specialise its domestic abuse service to create more victim-centred approaches and to work more closely and in a more integrated way with non-police specialist domestic abuse services. These teams will be reinvigorated and properly resourced. 

5. The New Met for London two-year plans also focusses on developing a new operating model that prioritises this critical work and helps target the perpetrators, including the most prolific perpetrators of violence against women and girls. 

6. The Drive London programme will be a key partner to help the Met address the above Baroness Casey Review recommendation and the New Mets Plan for London to address high harm and high-risk individuals.  

3. Financial Comments  

3.1 The total budget requirement for this work is a maximum of £1,013,030 over 18 months from October 2023 to March 2025. The split over each financial year is still to be determined, dependent on mobilisation time. Once the split has been determined, the budgets will be updated to match the profile. 

3.2 The programme will be funded from the 2023/24 and 2024/25 Drive budget. This budget is funded from MOPAC match funding (£652,151) and Home Office grants per decision PCD 1436 (£1,097,530 over 23/24 and 24/25).  

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. There are further relevant powers set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 at sections 17(1) (a) to (c) which place MOPAC under a duty to exercise its functions with due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of those functions on, and the need to do all it can to prevent, crime and disorder (including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment), reoffending in its area, and the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in its area. The proposed arrangements are consistent with MOPAC’s duties in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.  

3. Section 143 (1) of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides an express power for MOPAC, as a local policing body, to provide or arrange for the provision of (a) services that in the opinion of the local policing body will secure, or contribute to securing, crime and disorder reduction in the body's area and (b) services “intended by the local policing body to help victims or witnesses of, or other persons affected by, offences and anti-social behaviour.”  

4. MOPAC must in exercising its functions have regard to the police and crime plan issued by MOPAC.  

5. Officers must ensure that the arrangements comply with the Financial Regulations and the Contracts Regulations. PCD July 2020 5 4.7 The Mayor's Office for Policing Crime is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations"). All awards of public contracts for goods and/or services valued at £181,302 or above will be procured in accordance with the Regulations. 

6. 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, 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.  

5. Commercial Issues 

1. Funding will be provided to MOPAC by the Home Office quarterly in arrears, under a Grant Agreement.  

2. MOPAC undertook a procurement exercise via an Invitation to Tender and undertook an evaluation exercise to identify a provider. 

3. This procurement has taken account and complies with the GLA Group’s Responsible Procurement (RP) Policy.   

4. This procurement approach was approved by Procurement, Contracts and Grants Oversight Board (PCGOB). 

5. MOPAC will provide funding to this successful provider quarterly in arrears, under the terms of MOPAC’s long form Contract. 

6. Public Health Approach  

1. This piece of work has been 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. 

2. These programmes seek to intervene with perpetrators of VAWG and provide support to victims (and their children) and will work in partnership with local agencies such as health, social care, criminal justice and the voluntary sector to manage the risks posed by these individuals and seek to reduce repeat victimisation.

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 provider will be required to have due regard to the protected characteristics of the people and communities relevant to this piece of work and as part of the quarterly performance monitoring of each service we collect demographics information, which helps us to understand who is accessing each service and how any barriers to accessing may be overcome 

3. This project receiving funding focusses on the delivery of interventions for perpetrators of domestic abuse, which disproportionately affect women and girls. This is not to say that victims of these crimes cannot be male however women are more likely than men to be victims of domestic violence. In relation to reported domestic abuse in London; in 2022 MOPAC’s Evidence and Insight team published a deep dive into crimes flagged as domestic abuse by the Metropolitan Police Service and found that 77% of victims were female and 78% of suspects were male1 

4. Background/supporting papers 

• PCD 1436 was signed on 12 June 2023 and approved Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Funding 2023-25 

• PCD 1307 was signed on 25 October 2022 and approved Criminal Justice System - 2023/24 2024/25 Commissioning Decisions