PCD 1583 Drive Evaluations 2023-24

PCD 1583 Drive Evaluations 2023-24

This decision sets out to advise that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime notes the proposed changes to decision PCD 1436 where MOPAC was awarded funding from the Home Office under the DA perpetrator scheme to provide interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators across three projects: Drive, Culturally Integrated Family Approach and Prevent & Change to be delivered over two years (1st April 2023 – 31st March 2025), with all delivery partners providing match funding. 

Within the decision a breakdown of expenditure by programme was listed and in regard to the Drive allocation it was agreed that £150,000 would be allocated to procuring an evaluator and £48,144 would be allocated to the University of Bristol. 

Following a review it was evident that the monies for these elements would be best suited for MOPAC to fund SafeLives directly, to develop the evaluation (see OCGOB paper for rationale) and sub-grant to University of Bristol, as SafeLives have an existing grant agreement in place within University of Bristol, as the evaluation is being pulled together collaboratively by The Drive Partnership, University of Bristol, MOPAC, OPCC South Wales and OPCC West Mercia and work is already underway.  

The £150,000 allocation/element was provisionally approved by PCGOB on 20 November and there is no change to the University of Bristol’s evaluation plan for the £48,144, but will raise as a note at the next PCGOB on 19 December for information, as per advice from HR, Private Office and Secretariat Directorate and Corporate Services Directorate 

This decision (PCD 1583) is required to approve that MOPAC will award funding directly to SafeLives and not as stated below (extract from decision PCD 1436) 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Accept and approve the changes from decision PCD 1436, namely:  

• A modification to the existing grant agreement with SafeLives to award £150,000 from the Home Office funding to SafeLives to deliver an evaluation, and 

• Award £48,144 from the Home Office funding to SafeLives to sub-grant on to the University of Bristol to deliver focus on Drive South BCU. 

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

1. Introduction and background    

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

3. 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. There are no implications to the funding and grant agreement in light of these changes.  

2. The independence of the evaluation being undertaken by SafeLives has raised concerns; however, the Drive Pan London is a partnership formed by Respect, Rise CIC, SafeLives, Victim Support and Social Finance. The victim element of the service is delivered through the London Victim and Witness Service and the perpetrator element (case management and interventions of the service delivery) is delivered by Rise CIC    

3. MOPAC CJS team are proposing that funds are transferred to SafeLives and they will be responsible for developing this evaluation as SafeLives are a partner in delivery, and well placed to support on the evaluation and will be able to deliver a quality evaluation with sufficient independence.   

4. MOPAC Procurement Team have been sighted on this change in decision and no concerns with this approach have been raised, in terms of transferring funding over to SafeLives.  

5. MOPAC Evidence and Insight (E&I) Team have provided advice to SafeLives which has been used to develop the proposal Safelives developed outling their plan. The main feedback from E&I at this stage is that a provider self-evaluating their service presents opportunities for conflicts of interest, and risks to the independence and integrity of the evaluation. E&I note that this way of working is not ideal and there should be a range of checks and balances by the provider that demonstrate the independence of the approach and any analysis they present.    

6. To mitigate against this, SafeLives have advised MOPAC that the researchers, who will conduct the evaluation, do not sit within the same team as the Social Finance employees who are staffed on the Drive Partnership and do not have any involvement in the Drive Project. In addition to this a Critical Friend Group/Advisory Board will be established, which will consist of individuals with expertise in this area and who sit outside of the Drive partnership. The Advisory Board would be involved in an advisory capacity at every stage of the evaluation from designing the evaluation framework and methodologies through to writing the final report to ensure that the research team is consistently considering and mitigating key risk factors. E&I will be involved in the Advisory Board as critical friend.   

7. A delivery timeline will be developed to ensure there are frequent updates and opportunities for the Board to check and challenge the progress of the evaluation. 

8. Recommendations following Casey Review & Engage  

9. 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.  

10. 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. 

11. The Drive London programme is 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. 

12. These evaluations will help to capture a detailed understanding of the process of the implementation of the adapted pan-London model, assess the performance of the service and effectiveness of the new model in relation to the key outcomes. Along with  

key themes emerging from quantitative analysis and separately funded, deep dive qualitative studies 

3. Financial Comments 

1. The total budget requirement for this work totals £198,144 over 12 months from April 2023 to March 2024.  These have not changed since previous approval of PCD 1436. 

2. The programme will be funded from the 2023/24 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) 

3. Payments will be made in line with grant arrangements, following satisfactory performance and contract or grant management meetings. MOPAC will act as the lead partner for all projects. 

4. Legal Comments  

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 bids for grant funding.   

2. 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. 

3. 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.  

4. 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.”  

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

6. Officers must ensure the Financial Regulations and Contract Regulations are complied with.  

7. Officers confirm that sufficient assurance has been carried out to this decision to determine that the DMPC has legal authority to agree the recommendations 

5. Commercial Issues 

1. This Addendum requests Approval for a Grant Modification to MOPAC’s existing grant agreement with SafeLives, using funding provided to MOPAC by the Home Office quarterly in arrears, under a grant agreement. There will be a sub-grant provision requiring SafeLives to on-grant £48k of the funding to the University of Bristol to deliver focus on Drive South BCU. 

2. The original grant agreement was awarded in PCD1436. The delivery of the evaluation was originally intended to be subject to a procurement process, but a change of strategy was approved at PCGOB in November 2023. 

3. The grant modification must be executed with advice from the Contracts and Grants Team. 

4. MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation requires the award of all grant funding to be Approved by the DMPC. 

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. The Drive partnership seeks 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 promotion of VAWG support services supports MOPACs equalities duties   

3. The Drive partnership is 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.  

4. Domestic abuse are gendered crimes 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 male 

1. Background/supporting papers 

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

• PCGOB paper (Grant Award: SafeLives – Drive Pan London Evaluation)