PCD 1822 Home Office Grant Funding – Knife Crime Coordinator

Executive Summary:  

This paper seeks approval to accept grant funding from the Home Office (HO) for 2024/25 to fund the detective inspector costs to so that they continue to support the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) National Policing Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead on Knife Crime. 

Recommendation:  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the acceptance of £120,000 HO grant to the MPS as the host force to the NPCC Knife Crime Portfolio to fund the National Knife Crime Co-ordination post for 2024/25.  

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

1. Introduction and background. 

1. The Government is committed to reducing homicide and serious violence and putting an end to the tragedies afflicting communities.  Although the evidence shows overall crime continues to fall, homicide is rising.  

2. The Home Office Homicide Prevention Fund will be invested in activities that have demonstrated a significant impact on homicide reduction or activity that seeks to improve national processes, enhance capabilities, and/or improve analysis and use of data. 

3. The role assists in coordinating 43 national forces and increasing national activity to reduce knife crime and is focused around delivering an accurate analysis of the current threat posed by knife enabled crime, producing an effective national operational response, and developing and disseminating relevant best practice. 

4. The HO has been funding the knife crime coordinator role since July 2023 to support the MPS across all boroughs and coordinating 43 national forces, to have an enhanced response to knife crime, its victims, and the public (PCD1375). 

2. Issues for consideration. 

1. Bearing down on crime and making London safer for everyone is the mayor’s top priority.  So, accepting grant funding for 2024/25 from the MPS will support the MPS to cover costs already incurred on the programme and there is an opportunity of further funding into 2025/26 and future years to continue the programme. 

2. The effectiveness of the Knife crime coordinator’s role has been assessed throughout the financial year as highly successful, with excellent feedback from the HO, police forces, stakeholders and the NPCC leader. The coordinator will continue to drive, support and co-ordinate the activity of forces across the country, as well as supporting the HO to reduce knife crime and knife enabled homicide. 

3. Within London the funding will continue to enable the MPS across all boroughs to have an enhanced response to knife crime, its victims and the public and the MPS will continue to benefit from national collaboration to tackle and combat knife crime and its impact on serious violence. 

3. Financial Comments. 

1. The funding of £120,000 will meet the cost of the detective inspector for 2024/25.  

4. Legal Comments.  

1. The acceptance and provision of Grant Agreements to support this function are legal under Schedule 3, Paragraph 7 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 which provides that:  

• 7(1) The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime may do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office. 

• (2) That includes— entering into contracts and other agreements (whether legally binding or not);” 

2. 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 bids for grant funding made and all offers made of grant funding. 

5. 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 receipt of HO funding does not involve the use of personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered 

6. 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 MPS assure that there are no equality implications arising from acceptance of the grant funding 

7. Background/supporting papers 

1.  Appendix 1 MPS report - Knife Crime Coordinator.