PCD 1830 DA Intervention Funding

Executive Summary: 

The Home Office is awarding funding to Police and Crime Commissioners to provide interventions for perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking. MOPAC has been awarded funding for 2025/26 and this decision requests the formal acceptance of £2,704,562 for two projects: The Drive Project (Drive) and Culturally Integrated Family Approach (CIFA). This funding will be used, in addition to MOPAC match funding of £386,213, to fund delivery during 2025/26. 

This decision also seeks approval to use MOPAC funding totalling £1,580,700 for delivery of Drive and CIFA during 2026/27. This will include £253,000 of carry forward from the MOPAC Drive budget line in 2025/26 to be used in 2026/27. 

A total of £4,671,475 of funding will be allocated to these domestic abuse interventions from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2027. This decision seeks approval of the proposed contract and grant arrangements to award this funding to providers and for delegated authority to sign these documents. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Formally accept funding awards via grant agreements totalling £2,704,562 from the Home Office for Drive and CIFA during 2025/26. This will include a contribution of up to £16,473 towards MOPAC’s project management costs. 

2. Approve MOPAC match funding of £386,213 to fund Drive delivery during 2025/26. 

3. Approve MOPAC funding of £1,580,700 for the delivery of both projects during 2026/27. 

4. Approve the carry forward of £253,000 of funding from the 2025/26 Drive budget to fund CIFA in 2026/27. However, if the Home Office confirm future funding for these programmes following the Spending Review, then we will review how Drive is funded from 2026/27 onwards. 

5. Formally award the funding totalling £4,671,475 to all lead partners and local authorities involved in the delivery of these two projects via grant agreements as set out in Section 3.4. 

6. It is recommended that the Chief Finance Officer is granted delegated authority to sign future documents in relation to this decision, including contracts and variations. Approval of this decision remains with DMPC as per MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation. 

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

1. Introduction and background 

1. Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is at the heart of the Mayor’s priorities for London. 

2. Central to his Police and Crime Plan and VAWG Strategy for London 25-29 is holding perpetrators of VAWG to account whilst supporting projects to change their behaviour. This will ultimately increase the safety of victims-survivors and their families. 

2. Issues for consideration 

1. In the 2022 Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, the Home Office announced a £75m investment over three years to tackle perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking. 

2. The Home Office subsequently awarded MOPAC a total of £5,192,871.25 to deliver three projects from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2025: Drive, Prevent and Change (PAC) and Culturally Integrated Family Approach (CIFA). 

3. In December 2024, the Home Office confirmed rollover funding for all three projects to continue delivery from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026. 

4. Notwithstanding this, local authority leads for PAC confirmed that the project would close on 31st March 2025. 

5. The details of the two projects which will continue from 1st April 2025 are listed below: 

3. Financial Comments 

1. This decision requests approval to accept £2,704,562 of grant funding from the Home Office in accordance with the grant conditions. This funding will support the continuation of two existing domestic abuse perpetrator projects for a period of 12 months, from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026.  

2. This decision also requests approval of MOPAC match-funding of £1,966,913. This funding will sustain Drive for an additional 12 months, from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027, and CIFA for an additional three months, from 1st April 2026 to 30th June 2026. As set out in the table below the match funding is funded through a combination of the recurring annual budget allocated to Drive from the VAWG Strategy Fund and carry forward of funds. If the Home Office confirm future funding for these programmes following the Spending Review, then we will review how Drive is funded from 2026/27 onwards. 

3. The total funding of £4,671,475 will be split across both programmes in FYs 25/26 and 26/27 as per the table below. The programme will be funded through a combination of Home Office grant and MOPAC base budget. 

4. A breakdown of expenditure by project is set out in the table below: 

5. Payments will be made in line with grant arrangements, following satisfactory performance and contract or grant management meetings. MOPAC will act as the lead partner for all projects. 

4. Legal Comments 

1. 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. 

2. 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. 

3. 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 the award of all individual grants whether to secure or contribute to securing crime reduction in London or for other purposes. 

4. Officers must ensure the Financial Regulations and Contract Regulations are complied with. 

5. Officers should ensure that the funding agreements are put in place with and executed by MOPAC and each of the providers before any commitment to fund is made. 

6. Officers confirm that sufficient assurance has been carried out to this decision to determine that the DMPC has legal authority to agree the recommendations on funding and the extension of grants and contracts. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. Current delivery of the Drive is via agreements between MOPAC and: 

1. SafeLives: MOPAC 931-02 (grant agreement) 

2. Rise Mutual CIC: MOPAC 956-01 (grant agreement) 

3. Victim Support: MOPAC 713-03 (contract) 

4. Metropolitan Police Service (MPS): MOPAC 1051 (Service Level Agreement, SLA) 

2. Current delivery of CIFA is via a grant agreement between MOPAC and LB Barnet (MOPAC 939).  

3. This Decision requests approval to modify all existing arrangements. Where these are grant agreements (SafeLives, Rise Mutual CIC and LB Barnet), this will be via grant modifications. Victim Support will receive a new contract via direct award in accordance with PCD 1833. The MPS will receive a new SLA. 

4. Where Drive is being extended, there will be an open and competitive procurement process undertaken to put in place a new intervention service provider (currently Rise Mutual CIC). 

5. MOPAC makes no commitment to fund any of the partners listed in Section 3.4 until the relevant grant variation letters, new contracts or new service level agreements are signed by both parties. These will detail the new performance and payment schedules, in line with previous arrangements. 

6. In accordance with 4.8 of MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, the DMPC can approve both the  acceptance and award of grant funding. 

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

6. Public Health Approach 

1. These Grant Awards are informed by the Mayor’s public health approach to violence reduction and therefore part of MOPAC’s contribution to overall efforts led by the Violence Reduction Unit. 

2. These projects seek to intervene with perpetrators of VAWG and provide support to victims (and their children) and will work in partnership with local agencies such as health, social care, criminal justice and the voluntary sector to manage the risks posed by these individuals and seek to reduce repeat victimisation. 

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. The promotion of VAWG support services supports MOPAC’s equalities duties. 

3. These projects receiving funding focus on the delivery of interventions for perpetrators of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is a gendered crime which disproportionately affects women and girls. This is not to say that victims of these crimes cannot be male, however, women are more likely than men to be victims of every type of domestic abuse including being three times more likely to be the victim of a domestic homicide1. In relation to reported domestic abuse in London; in 2022 MOPAC’s Evidence and Insight team published a deep dive into crimes flagged as domestic abuse by the Metropolitan Police Service and found that 77% of victims were female and 78% of suspects were male2. 

9. Background/supporting papers 

• Appendix 1 – PCD 1436: Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Funding 2023-25 

• Appendix 2 – PCD 1833: Direct Contract Award to the London Victim Witness Service (LVWS) for part of the Drive Programme [Internal link]