PCD 1723 CJS 2025-2029 Commissioning Decision

In the Police and Crime Plan 2022-2025 there are a number of priorities relating to reducing violence, reducing re-offending and improving the effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System in London.  

This decision requests the continuation and extension of funding up to the end of March 2029 for the following projects and services relating to the Criminal Justice System: 

• Drug Testing in Police Custody  

• MAPPA- funding contribution for the London Executive Office of London MAPPA 

• Integrated Offender Management (IOM) – funding for the continuation of mental health support for individuals subject to IOM arrangements  

• London Stalking Threat Assessment Centre (S-TAC)- funding for the victim advocacy service  

• Drive- funding for tackling the behaviour of high harm perpetrators of domestic abuse.  

• Women in contact with the CJS- funding for co-commissioned women’s centres. 

The financial commitment will be £3,363,000 in 2025/26, £740,000 in 2026/27, £40,000 in 2027/28 and £40,000 in 2028/29.  Therefore, the total financial commitment will be £4,183,000.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the extension of funding of Criminal Justice Service Projects for 2025/26 through to 2028/29 at a total financial commitment of £4,183,000 

2. Delegate responsibility for agreeing the specific terms and amounts relating to individual grants, contracts or extensions to the Director of Commissioning and Partnerships.  

3. Approve the carry forward of £653,000 from 2024/25 to fund Drive in 2025/26.  

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

1. Introduction and background 

1. Reducing and preventing violence in London is the Mayor’s top priority and this is reflected through commitments in the Police and Crime Plan. This means continuing the combination of police enforcement, effective interventions to help offenders leave crime behind and better support for victims alongside the public health approach to prevention being led by London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to identify the underlying causes of violence and work with communities, young people and partners to intervene early. 

2. Through delivering criminal justice services, MOPAC works to achieve outcomes against three PCP areas; Reducing and preventing violence - Re-offending is reduced in the most violent and risky cohorts. Protect people from exploitation or harm - Young and vulnerable people in the justice system are supported and safe. Tackling drug- related crime and harms- Building a stronger partnership between criminal justice and health agencies at the regional level to improve pathways into substance misuse treatment for those in contact with CJS. 

3. In order to expedite the decision process and meet our commitment to give providers and commissioners 6 months’ notice of funding for 2025/26 through to 2028/29 the projects and services for which extension is requested have been grouped into themes.  

2. Issues for consideration 

1. All funding arrangements to projects and services which are due to expire in March 2025 have been considered under their own merits; how these contribute towards the Mayor’s aims within the Police and Crime Plan to make London a safer city and to ensure that they have demonstrated satisfactory performance and value for money. The work encompassed within this decision focuses on addressing violent offending, substance misuse and the specific needs of women in the criminal justice system. The projects and services below are requested for extension for varying periods of one to 4 years. 

2. Drug Testing in Police Custody – extension to March 2026 

The Metropolitan Police Service deliver drug testing in Police custody and procure drug testing equipment and laboratory services for contested orders. MOPAC funding supports three job roles within the MPS: A Strategic Drug and DIP lead, A Drug Testing Co-ordinator and an Offender Management Co-ordinator. This funding underpins the delivery of the Drug Intervention Programme in London, which is a core element of reducing reoffending by drug using offenders through engaging them in treatment at the earliest possible stage. Work is also underway to expand testing to include more violent offenders, and to address the attrition of individuals between test, referral and engagement in treatment. 

3. MAPPA – extension to March 2029 

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) is the framework which coordinates agencies to manage offenders who pose a high or very high risk of serious harm to the public. MOPAC funding supports the London MAPPA Executive Office, which provides vital public protection work and plays an important role in leadership, training and quality assurance in the work of MAPPA in London. 

4. Integrated Offender Management (IOM) - extension to March 2027 

This funding will initially be used to extend the IOM Mental Health service for two years, which is currently due to end in March 2025 and requires funding of up to £700,000 per year. Further discussions are ongoing with IOM partners who may also wish to contribute funding to the continuation of IOM services, which currently also include the IOM Neurodiversity service and IOM Community Mentoring, which are both currently funded until September 2025. If partner funding is available to support the continuation of any of these three IOM services, then this may alter the allocation of the MOPAC funding between services, but this will be up to a maximum amount of £700,000 per year. 

5. London’s Stalking Threat Assessment Centre (S-TAC) – extension to March 2026 

The S-TAC specialist unit comprises of the Metropolitan Police Service, National Probation Service, Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey Mental Health Trust and Suzy Lamplugh Trust (SLT) to improve the Criminal Justice response to stalking across London.  This funding will be used to fund the victim advocacy strand delivered by SLT.   

6. Drive – extension to March 2026 

Drive pan-London 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). The intensive, coordinated multi agency response aims to change perpetrators behaviour with a crucial focus on increasing victim safety, working alongside and complimenting existing interventions. The priority for 25/26 will be to advance the pan-London expansion delivered in 23/25 and embedded the whole system approach in all boroughs.     

7. Women in contact with the CJS – extension to March 2026 

The Co-Commissioned London Women Community Rehabilitation Service aims to see fewer women enter the CJS, being imprisoned and reoffending. Service provision is gender-specific and adopts a Whole Systems Approach, providing holistic wrap around support, tailored to the individual needs of the woman. Services are available to women on a voluntary basis, as a requirement of Conditional Cautions, to women on remand, and to those under prison and probation supervision. 

3. Financial Comments 

1. This decision is seeking approval to invest funds totalling £4,183,000 from 1st April 2025 until 31st March 2029, of which £2,680,000 is core funding, £850,000 is funded through the VAWG £5m and £653,000 is carry forward from 2024/25 VAWG £5m budget.  

2. The decision needs to be considered alongside the acknowledgement of the budget challenges that MOPAC is facing, particularly from 2026/27, and that committing core funding now in 2026/27 onwards will reduce the flexibility to make savings to balance the budget if required. 

3. An overview of the individual allocations is set out in the table below: 

4. The decision is also requesting approval to carry forward £653,000 from the 2024/25 VAWG £5m budget to fund the Drive service in 2025/26. 

5. Payments will be made in line with current arrangements in the contract or grant, following satisfactory performance and contract or grant management meetings. 

6. 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 business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 or above. 

5. Commercial Issues 

1. This Decision requests awarding the extension option included within MOPAC’s contract with Together UK for the provision of IOM Mental Health services. The initial contract was originally awarded at a value of £1.3m and the value of the extension for two years is £1.4m. This is a permissible variation as set out within Regulation 72 (1) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. 

2. Further, this Decision requests extension of the DRIVE programme. Any variation to MOPAC’s existing contract with Victim Support will require additional advice from TfL Legal. Any subsequent variation must comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.  

3. Other requests broadly fall under modifications to extend existing grants, or directly award new grants and are laid out within 2.2 to 2.7.  

4. MOPAC makes no commitment to fund the organisations listed in 2.2 to 2.7 until grant or contract variation letters or agreements have been signed by both parties. These will detail the new performance and payment schedules, in line with previous arrangements.   

5. Further details on the commercial issues for each project or service can be found in the decisions referenced in 2.3 to 2.6. 

6. In accordance with section 4.13 of MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, the DMPC can approve variations to contract. Including the contract extension referred to above. In accordance with 4.8 of MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, the DMPC can approve the award of grant funding.   

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

8. Public Health Approach 

9. This piece of work has been informed by discussions and feedback from the Violence Reduction Unit, the Greater London Authority and NHS England.  

10. The public health approach led by the Violence Reduction Unit in relation to violence, includes contextual safeguarding and all factors which could cause harm to a vulnerable child or adult or push them towards violence and exploitation.  

11. Provision of funding to allow boroughs to address locally identified risk factors, and funding London Councils to co-ordinate the London SCP to discuss safeguarding issues, are both steps which enable effective safeguarding of young and vulnerable Londoners.  

4. Evidence-based practice is fundamental to the implementation of a public health approach to reducing violence. Therefore, more research including the gather of good practice and ‘what works’ is required to deepen and broaden the evidence base around violence reduction, diversion and prevention in London.  

5. Understanding factors behind violence is a key aspect of the public health approach, and the ISTV programme, combining data with GLA SafeStats; along with data provided through the Hospital based youth work all provide an insight beyond crime data alone which MOPAC, the VRU, and partners can use to inform commissioning and decisions and ensure responses are relevant to the issues identified. 

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.  

2. The extension of the projects and services listed in 2.3 to 2.6 will not alter the data protection measures in place for each. Where required, DPIAs will be updated to reflect the extension of the corresponding project or service.  

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 providers listed in 2.2 to 2.7 will be required to have due regard to the protected characteristics of the people and communities relevant to this piece of work. 

3. As part of the quarterly performance monitoring of each service MOPAC collects demographic information, which helps MOPAC to understand who is accessing each service and how any barriers to accessing may be overcome. 

9. Background/supporting papers 

1. PCD 1436 Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Funding 2023-25 | London City Hall 

PCD 1307 - Criminal Justice System - 2023/24 2024/25 Commissioning Decisions | London City Hall 

PCD 1291 - Integrated Offender Management (IOM) co-commissioned services | London City Hall  

Criminal Justice System - 2022/23 Commissioning Decisions | London City Hall