PCD 1648 Accept Funding from Camden Local Authority for the London Resettlement Partnership Evaluation

PCD 1648 Accept Funding from Camden Local Authority for the London Resettlement Partnership Evaluation

The London Resettlement Partnership (LRP) is a joint approach to improving the resettlement experience for children in London. The LRP is primarily funded by the Youth Justice Board but is partnered with the 32 London Boroughs, Association of London Directors of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board, Youth Custody Service and NHS England. The LRP aims to improve outcomes for children by working in partnership to present real opportunities that support their return to the community with the aim of reducing reoffending. 

MOPAC currently match funds a post in Evidence and Insight to undertake the evaluation of LRP. LB Camden has offered a further £25,000 for further evaluation. This will provide additionality to existing evaluation activities, particularly as there have been significant delays in agreement on data sharing between boroughs, and the LRP evaluation team which has limited what MOPAC Evidence and Insight could do.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Accept grant funding of £25,000 in 2024/25 from Camden Local Authority for the London Resettlement Partnership evaluation. 

2. Approve proceeding to procurement for a provider to complete a final evaluation of the London Resettlement Partnership at a value of £25,000 to commence in late Autumn 2024. 

3. Delegate award to the Director of Commissioning and Partnerships of a contract to an external evaluation provider, following competitive procurement. 

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

1. Introduction and background 

1. Resettlement has been shown to be a major area for improvement within the youth justice system with various issues identified such as high reoffending rates and high instances of missing children following release. Although numbers of children in custody have been steadily falling for the past 10 years, London has the highest proportion nationally. Children from London make up 30% of all children in custody. 

2. The HMIP Thematic inspection of Resettlement identified that, nationally, there has been no significant improvement in resettlement work since 2015. From 2021, the HMIP Core Inspection Framework will change and YOTs will be judged on the effectiveness of their resettlement work. 

3. The London Resettlement Partnership (LRP) was awarded grant funding for 3 years from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) to develop the London Constructive Resettlement Pathfinder in 2020. The LRP has since been supported with another 2 years of funding from the YJB. 

4. LRP is based on concept of constructive resettlement (CR). CR is rooted in the theory of secondary desistance which is defined as the transformation to a non-offending identity. 

2. Issues for consideration  

1. MOPAC is currently funding a post in Evidence and Insight to undertake the evaluation. The post is only funded until 2023/24, however, the LRP are keen to ensure that the evaluation can continue in 2024/25. This especially owing to the delays resulting from significant challenges in securing information sharing agreements with all 32 boroughs, which is essential for the most informative and impactful evaluation.  

2. These have now been resolved, which will enable more robust evaluation findings. A decision has been taken within MOPAC that the most cost-effective way to complete the final part of the evaluation, considering MOPAC internal resource, is to procure out for an external provider.  

3. Financial Comments 

1. This decision seeks approval to accept grant funding from the LB Camden totalling £25,000 which will be used to fund a continuation of the evaluation of the LRP by an external provider in 2024/25. 

2. The LRP was initially funded until end of March 2023 with initial 3 year funding from the YJB of £555,000 agreement has now been made for two additional year of funding at a total cost of £262,687.   

3. MOPAC initially funded the evaluation of the LRP at the value of £50,000 for 22/23 with a further £50,000 for 23/24 which was funded through £25,000 from MOPAC and £25,000 match funding from Camden Local Authority. 

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 (1) (b) 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. 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. 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. 

5. These recommendations are in line with the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. This report seeks to proceed to procurement for a provider to undertake an evaluation of the London Resettlement Partnership in late Autumn 2024. 

2. A request for quotations process is likely to be used, in accordance with the competition requirements of 8.2.1 of MOPAC’s Contracts Regulations. 

3. In accordance with 6.1 of the Scheme of Delegation, Director approval is required to proceed to tender at this value. 

4. The actions proposed can be taken in compliance with procurement legislation and MOPAC’s Contract Regulations. 

6. Public Health Approach  

1. This piece of work is aligned with a public health approach by supporting constructive resettlement with the aim of achieving a long term reduction in offending and violent behaviour.  

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. Any issues arising regarding impact on protected characteristics will be reflected within the evaluation. 

9. Background/supporting papers