PCD 1769 Inclusion CPD Grants

The Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) prioritises working in education. The VRU’s education investments, research and policy work promotes healthy relationships and inclusive practices to reduce disengagement and tackle all forms of exclusions, including suspensions, managed moves, and the rising levels of absenteeism. 

London’s Inclusion Charter demonstrates support for school inclusion in the ‘three foundations’: (1) putting children’s rights first, (2) encouraging investment in inclusive practices, and (3) supporting and promoting learning partnerships. The VRU has invested in foundation 1 through the Rights Respecting Schools programme. To develop foundation 2, the VRU will focus on professional development that promotes inclusive practice in schools. 

To create the conditions for inclusive practice in a school, continuous professional development (CPD) for school staff is key. The VRU already invests in CPD for school staff in relation to speech, language and communication development, nurture practice, and healthy relationships education. Building on learnings from these, we plan to trial a small-scale, place-based funding model where local authorities work with schools to deliver professional development tailored to local needs. This work will complement and reinforce London’s Inclusion Charter, further develop its Strategic Guides for implementation, and strengthen learning partnerships around inclusion in the Capital. 

To participate in this trial, we propose inviting up to seven local authorities that have already demonstrated a commitment to inclusion improvement and innovation through their work with the VRU on the Inclusive and Nurturing Schools Programme. The seven local authorities are Hackney, Croydon, Greenwich, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Barking and Dagenham and Enfield. By building on existing working relationships, we can invest under the Charter in a way that offers maximum value for money and the best conditions for sustainability. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:  

1. Invite up to seven local authorities via an invitation to apply process to deliver place-based professional development that supports school inclusion in the 2025-26 academic year at a total cost of £175,000. 

2. Approve the use of carry forwards of £40,000 in 2024-25 to part fund the 2024-25 expenditure, with the balance of funding to be funded from Mayoral Core budgets. 

3. Delegate the final award decisions for grants to the Director of the VRU and the CFO, following the completion of the tender exercise. 

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

1. Introduction and background 

1. London’s Inclusion Charter 

 We know that children and young people are safer in school. Yet, London has experienced rising suspension rates of 14% in schools. Since the Covid pandemic, persistent absenteeism is also on the rise, with rates more than doubling since 2018/19. That is why improving attendance and tackling every form of exclusion is at the heart of the London Violence Reduction Unit (VRU)’s prevention work. London’s Inclusion Charter is a partnership approach. It’s built on the voice of young people and informed by parents and carers, schools, education specialists and local authorities. 

2. We want to see all London schools creating more inclusive, safer environments for London’s children, and are investing in London’s Inclusion Charter, an evidence-driven partnership approach, to create more inclusive schools. Underpinning the Inclusion Charter is research that evidences what practices, and key principles make children feel safe and a sense of belonging in schools, both of which are fundamental to inclusion. 
    

3. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) on school inclusion approaches 

4. As part of London’s Inclusion Charter, the VRU announced support for professional development that supports inclusive practice in schools. To create the conditions for inclusive practice in a school, CPD for school staff is key. Studies show that quality CPD plays a crucial role in improving classroom practice and pupil outcomes (EPI 2020; EEF Toolkit). CPD also supports job satisfaction and thereby retention of staff, which is a prerequisite for relational working with children. 

5. The VRU already invests in professional development for school staff through programmes such as Inclusive and Nurturing Schools, UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools, and Talk Matters. We now propose to trial a small-scale, place-based funding model that aims to ‘enable the system’ to deliver a CPD approach tailored to the needs of local schools.  
    

6. During Autumn 2024, the VRU gathered feedback from local authorities about strengths and gaps in the local education systems when it comes to school inclusion, and how modest investment in professional development could catalyse inclusion efforts. The feedback highlighted four areas of need: 

• Improving the sharing of promising inclusive practice between schools 

• Scaling up and sharing training that has shown promise locally 

• Providing new, evidence based CPD to address emerging needs 

• Supporting the mental health and resilience for school staff 
   

7. Learnings and feedback from this trial will be gathered in meetings with the local authorities, the format and frequency of which will be determined with RMEL and the local authorities. The learning from these will be used to inform the scoping of a wider future programme. 

2. Issues for consideration 
    

1. To maximise the trial’s chance of success and ensure value for money, we propose to invite up to seven local authorities which already engage in the Inclusive and Nurturing Schools programme to apply. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, this group of local authorities have, through ongoing collaboration with the VRU, shown commitment to improving and innovating on their school inclusion strategies. Secondly, these local authorities and schools have been working hard to shift the culture and narrative about school inclusion for at least two years. By building on existing working relationships and collaborating with local stakeholders who can tap into pockets of promising practice in London schools, we are confident that we will invest under the Charter in a way that offers maximum value for money and the best conditions for sustainability. 
    

2. We will use learnings from this process and the resulting delivery to scope a more extensive future programme open to all Local Authorities and schools across London to apply. 

3. During Summer and Autumn 2024, the VRU collaborated with a multi-stakeholder working group to develop Strategic Guides to implementing London’s Inclusion Charter. The Inclusion CPD trial will be the Guides’ first test case, allowing the VRU to gather feedback and improve them for future use and wider dissemination across London. 

4. If one or more local authorities do not apply for a grant, the excess funding will be redeployed within the VRU’s programmes. 

5. The programme team will work alongside RMEL to develop a set of KPIs and monitoring requirements for this fund. KPIs will include outputs (e.g. the number activities such as training sessions) and outcomes (e.g. impact of CPD on teaching practices). Local authorities will be required to provide monitoring information. The requirements will be in alignment with the VRU’s Monitoring Minimum Standards while remaining in proportion to the size of the grants.   

3.       Financial Comments 

1. The total budget for this work is £0.175m. FY 24/25 expenditure will be funded from carry forwards of £0.040m and Mayoral Core funding £0.0475m. FY 25/26 will be funded from Mayoral Core funding. 
    

2. The grants will be paid in two instalments, the first in FY 2024/25 and the second in FY 2025/26. 

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.” This is a broad power, and the initiatives appear to be part of a number of proposals which are aimed at supporting victims of crime to enable the efficiency and effectiveness of the police service. In addition, under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 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. Paragraph 4.8 (8) and 4.13 (1), (2) of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to: 

• Approve bids for grant/contract funding made and all offers made of grant/contract funding; and/or where appropriate a strategy for grant giving /procurement.  

3. Officers can confirm that the DMPC has the legal authority to agree this decision.   

5. Commercial Issues  

1. We can confirm that MOPAC has the legal powers to issue these grants as demonstrated in the legal comments. The local authorities will be asked to submit costs to deliver the outcomes they have outlined in their application. Programme managers assess the full application including the costs to ensure that the VRU is obtaining value for money. 

2. Grant agreements will be issued to each Local Authority once the invitation to apply process has been finalised.  

6. Public Health Approach  

1. This plan takes a public health approach to tackling violence, which means looking at violence not as isolated incidents or solely a police enforcement problem. Instead, this approach looks at violence as a preventable consequence of a range of factors, such as adverse early-life experiences, or harmful social or community experiences and influences.  

2. The Inclusion CPD grants trial has been developed and set up in a way that ensures fidelity to the VRU’s public health approach to violence reduction. In scoping and developing the programme hearing from professionals in the education system was emphasised to understand what is important, what can be improved, and how. This is in line with the VRU’s public health approach to violence reduction focusing on tackling the causes of violence to enable effective early intervention and prevention. 

3. By recognising the link between exclusion, absenteeism, violence and exploitation, the VRU’s education work aims to inform future policy and investment in preventing forms of educational exclusion at an early stage, improving access quality education and positive opportunities for all young people. 

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. All contracts will include clear provisions relating to compliance in this area, and in relation to the processing of personal data. These terms will be drafted following consultation with MOPAC’s GDPR Project Manager.  

3. A DPIA will not be required for this trial as local authorities will not be processing personal data. If they do propose to process personal data, the local authorities should conduct a DPIA with their stakeholders at the local level. 

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 VRU are committed to promoting equality and participation in all their activities, whether this is related to the work we do with our external stakeholders or whether this is related to our responsibilities as an employer. As public authorities we are also required to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations when making decisions and developing policies. To do this, it is necessary to understand the potential impacts of the range of internal and external activities on different groups of people. 

3. An equality impact assessment will be undertaken for the trial to ensure that all protected characteristics are considered in the commissioning and delivery of this work.  

4. This work will pay particular attention to the disproportionalities seen in school exclusion and promote equitable practices in education. 

9. Background/supporting papers.