PCD 1683 Funding acceptance via the Service Agreement from LB Tower Hamlets

Executive Summary:  

This Decision seeks approval for the continuation of funding arrangements for the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme in the Central East BCU. Operational in this BCU since June 2023 (DMPC Decision 1435) the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in collaboration with MOPAC is now intending to extend provision for a further nine months to March 2025.  To facilitate this, Decision 1683 seeks approval to receive funding from Tower Hamlets to the value of £45,452 via a Service Level Agreement; and amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) currently in place with HMPPS which underpins the wider co-commissioned London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service, which became operational in December 2022. See PCD 1065.  This Decision also seeks approval to update the 2024/2025 budget to reflect this additional income and expenditure. 

Recommendation:  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the acceptance of £45,452 funding from London Borough of Tower Hamlets for the extension of the Adult Women’s Diversion Service to the Central East BCU for nine months, from 1 July 2024 to 31 March 2025 through a Service Level Agreement. 

2. Approve the transfer of funds to and vary the MoU with the MoJ/HMPPS, to uplift MOPAC’s contribution to the existing co-commissioned arrangements by £45,452. 

3. Approval to update the 2024/25 budget to reflect this additional income and expenditure. 

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

1. Introduction and background  

1. In September 2019, MOPAC launched the Adult Women’s Diversion Pilot operating in Central North and Central South BCUs, which in December 2022 became part of the London Co-Commissioned arrangement, moving the service from a pilot into business as usual until March 2025. The Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme was extended from BCUs Central North and Central South to BCU Central East, which covers the areas of Tower Hamlets and Hackney on 1 July 2023. It too, forms part of the co-commissioned London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service.  

2. The Diversion Scheme aims to divert women that have committed a low-level offence away from entering the Criminal Justice System. Where appropriate, these women are issued with a Police Conditional Caution, requiring them to engage with local gender-specific support services.   

3. The Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme is an element of the wider co-commissioned London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service delivered by Advance and Women in Prison, with the contract held by the Ministry of Justice. By integrating the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme into the wider London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service, a sustainable Whole Systems Approach has been implemented to address the underlying causes of the woman’s offending behaviour, through a holistic package of rehabilitative support, tailored to the individual needs of the woman. The Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme component, is aimed at seeing fewer women entering the Criminal Justice System, going into prison custody and reoffending. It is at the front of the CJS, providing the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, a robust alternative pathway as opposed to prosecution and conviction of these women through the courts. 

2. Issues for consideration  

1. The Adult Women’s Diversion Service has been operating in BCU Central East, covering Tower Hamlets and Hackney, since 1 July 2023. This was made possible through funding from Tower Hamlets Council, awarded via a Service Level Agreement covering the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, with the reference of 2324.INC.07 and which was fully executed in September 2023. 

2. Tower Hamlets wishes to continue funding of the Adult Women’s Service in BCU Central East for a further nine months. The additional funding allows for continuation of a full-time Key Worker, contracted to support a total target of 32 women accessing the service.  

3. Whilst it was not possible within timeframes to formally bring Tower Hamlets into the co-commissioned arrangements with the MoJ/HMPPS, NHS and Lambeth, Tower Hamlets Council is party to governance arrangements, providing consistency of service delivery and parity of offer for women arrested in Hackney and Tower Hamlets.  

4. Tower Hamlets will be funding the nine-month extension through Project ADDER underspend. There will be on a continued need to focus on the links between female diversion and drug related offences to enable Tower Hamlets to demonstrate how the service meets Project ADDER objectives. For example, reduced costs for local health services and police forces due to lower health and crime harms, and lower costs to the criminal justice system (as fewer people are dealt with by the courts). 

3. Financial Comments  

1. MOPAC currently has approval in place to fund the Co-Commissioned London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service (Women Offender’s Wraparound Service) from 2022/23 – 2024/25 at a total cost of £2,478,113, following acceptance of the previous £66,000 from Tower Hamlets Council, and £82,113 from the Newham Youth to Adulthood Girls & Young Women’s Project, both of which are now incorporated into the London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service.  The MOPAC funding set out above has been vital for the delivery of the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme and contributes to other fundamental elements of the London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service including rehabilitation provision for women in prison, those on remand, those on community sentences and those on probation in the community.  

2. This Decision (PCD1683) requests approval to accept £45,452 from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for one year covering 1 July 2024 to 31 March 2025, for continuance of the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme operating in BCU Central East. Acceptance of this funding will uplift MOPAC total funding of the Co-Commissioned London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service to £2,523,565, of which the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme is part as set out in the table overleaf: 

3. Following acceptance of the additional funding from Tower Hamlets, a Letter of Extension will be signed by MOPAC and Tower Hamlets Council to update the existing Service Agreement. 

4. The MoU with the MoJ will then be updated accordingly and the additional funding transferred to MoJ who hold the contract with the providers.  

5. The 2024/25 budget will be updated to reflect the additional income and expenditure following the contribution of £45,452 from Tower Hamlets. 

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 authority to approve offers made for grant funding.   

2. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 at sections 17(1) (a)to (c) places 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. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. The contribution of £45,452 by MOPAC will be accepted via a Letter of Extension of the Service Level Agreement issued by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and will involve a change notice process. The acceptance of this funding is to be delegated to the Chief Finance Officer via affixing their electronic signature to the SLA and fully executed through the signed acceptance of an authorised representative of London Borough of Tower Hamlets.  

2. The subsequent distribution of funding will be within the agreed MoU in line with the Ministry of Justice’s Dynamic Framework. This is an approved framework that allows criminal justice partners to procure services from pre-approved suppliers and the collaboration in this area is underpinned by a MoU between MOPAC, London Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice. As part of this arrangement MOPAC provides grant funding to the Ministry of Justice for the amounts specified above (3.2), so that the combined funding can be used through the Dynamic Framework to grant fund established providers. 

3. The MoU will be amended to uplift MOPAC’s funding contribution, continue operation of the women’s diversion service within the Central East (Tower Hamlets and Hackney) BCU and allocation of funding for a fulltime key worker for the established provider. Both the SLA accepting the income and the MoU outlining the terms and conditions of funding will be reviewed and cleared by MOPAC’s Procurement, Contracts and Grants Team and Finance team and signed and accepted by the Chief Finance Officer.  

6. Public Health Approach  

1. This service adopts both a Whole Systems and a Public Health Approach to women at risk of offending and those in contact with the Criminal Justice System. This service adopts holistic approach and continuity of care across the Criminal Justice System and health interventions provides integration, which support women in their attempt to stabilise their lives, find pathways out of crime, and reduce the risk of harm posed by them to the public, known adults and children. The service also seeks to reduce intergenerational offending. Many of the service users have complex needs, are vulnerable, have experienced victimisation and abuse.  The support services to which they will have access, is based on their specific need(s) and will provide wrap-around support to address these issues and promote long term rehabilitation and well-being.  

7. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. MOPAC has adhered to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensured that any organisations, including service providers 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. The Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme is part of the London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service, which aims to reduce crime, and see fewer women enter the Criminal Justice System being imprisoned, and reoffending. It is based on best evidence of ‘what works’ to reduce recidivism, responds in a gender-informed way to women’s particular needs at all parts of the Criminal Justice System, recognising that they have frequently been abuse victims and often have complex needs. Having incorporated the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme into the London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Service, facilitated delivery of a Whole Systems Approach, that is underpinned by evidence that a gender-informed approach is more effective than a gender-neutral approach in rehabilitating female offenders and addressing their complex needs. It is a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of minimising particular disadvantages suffered by the adult women offender population. Furthermore, it demonstrates that MOPAC, together with its co-commissioner partners have considered and meet the requirement to have ‘due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty’ in the design and development of the service.   

2. Acceptance of Tower Hamlets additional nine-month funding of the Adult Women’s Diversion Scheme will enable further testing of the impact that police-issued Conditional Cautions have in responding to the particular needs of women. It will enable evaluation of the effect and outcomes of attaching a specific condition on women to attend a London’s Women’s Centre or hub, to obtain holistic tailored support to address her needs, and turn her life around. 

9. Background/supporting papers 

• PCD 1065: CJS 2022/2023 Commissioning Decisions 

• PCD 1435 Acceptance of Funds from London Borough of Tower Hamlets for Women’s Diversion 

• Reference No. 2324.INC.07: Service Agreement Between MOPAC & Tower Hamlets Council 

• Amended Memorandum of Understanding for the Co-Commissioning of London Women’s Community Rehabilitation Services 2023/2024