PCD 1832 Children Young People Impacted by Domestic Abuse

Executive Summary:  

The Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) has been funding RISE Mutual CIC (RISE) in partnership with Waythrough to deliver The Bambu Project since August 2022. To date, the programme has demonstrated positive outcomes, including the development of emotional resilience in children and young people (aged 11-24) and improved confidence in accessing further support in the future. The programme has also received a highly positive evaluation report, highlighting the significant impact it has had on participants. 

This decision seeks permission to directly award the CYPIDA services to RISE Mutual, enabling the continuation of the Bambu Project for a further 8 months from 31st July 2025 to 31st March 2026. The cost of this direct award is reflected in VRU’s 2025/26 budget. 

The intention behind the direct award is to ensure the continuity of existing services, including the new provision introduced on 1st August 2024. This provision aims to support the victim/survivor parent of children and young people participating in the Bambu programme, facilitating a more holistic, family-wide approach to support. 

The original contract, which was effective from August 2022 to July 2024, included a provision allowing for a one-year extension. This extension was exercised in accordance with the clause in the original agreement, which stipulates that any extension may not exceed 50% of the original contract value. As we have already utilised the option to extend the initial two-year contract last year, we are unable to exercise this option again. Therefore, we are now requesting a new contract via a direct award. 

The direct award will provide the VRU with additional time to undertake a thorough procurement process for the recommissioning of services for children and young people affected by domestic abuse, which we are hoping to start Summer 2025. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the VRU's total funding, we were unable to commit to the future commissioning of this programme in time for the current contract's end date. 

Following thorough consultation with the Victims-Programmes and Projects team, we have agreed that this work, providing targeted therapeutic support to child victims of domestic abuse, is distinct from the team’s broader offer for child victims of violence. Given its specialised nature, we will ensure further consultation during the commissioning process to prevent duplication.  

Recommendation:  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to: 

1. Approve the direct award of a contract to RISE MUTUAL CIC, for the period of 8 months, from 1st August 2025 to 31st March 2026. The value of this Direct Award is to the maximum sum of £329,415.00, this will bring the total contract value with RISE MUTUAL CIC to £1,824,713 and is within VRU core budget. 

2. Delegate authority to award this Direct Award to the VRU Director. 

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

1. Introduction and background  

1. The VRU are committed to reducing harm to children and young people by preventing violence at the earliest opportunity. We know that growing up in a household affected by domestic abuse is a significant trauma and can have long lasting impacts on all areas of a young person’s life and future outcomes. Our Bambu Project provides vital age-appropriate therapeutic support for children and young people impacted by domestic abuse.  

2. RISE have been working in partnership with Waythrough to deliver the Bambu Project since August 2022, showing demonstratable positive outcomes, building emotional resilience in children and young people, and improving confidence to access further support in the future. Bambu works with children and young people in eight boroughs across London with high volumes and rates of domestic abuse, with RISE (lead delivery partner) working with those aged 14-24, and Waythrough working with those aged 11-14.   

3. The Bambu programme currently operates under a 2 + 1 year contract, which had the aim of working with 300 children and young people annually in a group work environment. Practitioners are typically assigned a caseload of 20-30 children and young people. However, due to the significant resources required to engage participants and ensure their successful initiation into the programme, alongside the complex nature of the cases, the delivery has had to shift from group work to a more one-to-one focused approach. This has highlighted the increased need for additional support and resources in this area. 

4. Additionally, drawing on the insights gained from the Bambu programme, the VRU has built upon the opportunity outlined above through the New Beginnings Programme. This programme currently supports the non-abusive parent by: 

• Building resilience, boundaries & assertiveness 

• Understanding the impact of trauma  

• Self-care and support for parents  

• Skills to safely support their child with any presenting issues.  

5. Below provides performance data of the programme up to 31st December 2024, which demonstrate the success rate of the programme (based on one-two-one support):  

Referrals (up to December 2024) 

Assessments  

Start and Completions 

6. Bambu collected data through two outcome-focused surveys at the start and end of support, plus an exit survey, with positive results shown in the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Brief Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS); analysis of self-reported SDQ scores for 68 young people indicated mostly no change, with some improvements and minimal negative changes. 

Notable positive changes for SDQ scores include:  

• Half of young people reported improvement in their total difficulties score, which suggests that young people experienced an overall improvement across domains.  

• 32% of young people showed positive change in emotional symptoms. 

• 41% of young people reported improvement in conduct problems. 

Analysis of the self-reported BMSLSS for 40 young people shows: 

• All domains showed improvement when we look at average score.  

• The largest reported improvement was in self-perception with a 1.3-point increase and school/work environments with a 0.9-point increase.  

7. These positive changes across both tools ties into the qualitative findings that Bambu’s person-centred, high-quality support impacted numerous areas of young people’s lives. 

8. Exit survey data from 20 young people who completed support was extremely positive: 100% said they would recommend Bambu support; 95% said there was nothing else they would want to see covered in their support; and the majority said they had noticed positive changes in themselves in the areas of self, family relationships, school/work, and safety.  

9. As it is now a strategic requirement to support children affected by domestic abuse, recognising them as victims in their own right, the added capacity ensures that these children receive the support they need. The programme has strengthened the system by increasing capacity to better manage referrals, which have primarily come from children's services and education settings. This development enables these organisations to more effectively identify children impacted by domestic abuse and recognise their therapeutic needs.  

10. The VRU is confident that, given the positive outcomes achieved, RISE Mutual will be able to continue delivering a service that meets or exceeds expectations for children and young people impacted by domestic abuse, while the commissioning process is carried out thoroughly. 

11. The original contract, which ran from August 2022 to July 2024, allowed for an extension, and this was exercised in accordance with the terms outlined in the agreement. The contract stipulates that any extension cannot exceed 50% of the original contract value. Since the option to extend the initial two-year contract was already taken last year, it is not available for use again. Therefore, we are now seeking approval for a new contract through a direct award.   

2. Issues for consideration  

1. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. In accordance with this legislation, children and young people should have access to specialist support services, such as the Bambu programme, to ensure they receive the necessary assistance and care. However, research by the Domestic Abuse Commissioners Office found that only 22% of survivors in London who wanted support for their children were able to access it, highlighting a significant unmet need.  

2. Domestic abuse is a priority within the Mayor’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, which includes a clear commitment to supporting children. Additionally, it is highlighted as number six in the Mayor’s top 10 manifesto pledges, which aim to redouble efforts to reduce violence against women and girls. Supporting children impacted by domestic abuse is also integral to the VRU’s prevention approach and supporting children who have experienced significant trauma in the home to prevent further harm in other areas of their lives.  

3. This extension will enable the VRU to consider the outcomes of the independent evaluation of the programme, and this evaluation will inform future commissioning decisions and strategy. 

4. The direct award will provide additional time to conduct a thorough commissioning process with all essential parties, which was previously delayed due to uncertainty surrounding the VRU's total funding. This uncertainty prevented us from committing to future commissioning before the current contract's end date and was further complicated by the potential need for realignment, which could have required reallocating core funding to support other programmes. 

5. The initial contract, spanning from August 2022 to July 2024, included a provision for an extension, which was exercised in accordance with the terms of the original agreement. This agreement limits extensions to no more than 50% of the original contract value. As the option to extend the two-year contract was already utilised last year, it is not possible to exercise this option again. As a result, we are now requesting approval for a new contract through a direct award. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. The total cost of this contract is £329,415.00 and is included within the 2025/26 VRU budget.  

2. This will be a new contract the total value of the contract will be £329,415.00.  

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 delegated authority to approve business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 or above. As well as the strategy for the award. 

2. Section 8.1 of the Contract Regulations state that Officers must calculate the Total Value. The Total Value is defined as “where the Contract is for a fixed period, by taking the total price to be paid or which might be paid during the whole of the period”. 

3. Prior to this decision the total price has always been calculated based on the term of VRU’s confirmed funding. E.g. if the VRU has confirmed funding up to 2026 then the costs are calculated up to that funding year. All extensions will be exercised only after the following steps have been followed: 

- DMPC approval to allocate funding to the programme once funding has been  

confirmed  

- The Contract may only be varied or amended with the written agreement of  

both Parties.  

• The details of any variations or amendments shall be set out in  

such form as MOPAC may dictate and shall not be binding upon the Parties unless completed in accordance with such form of variation. 

4. Officers can confirm that the DMPC has the legal authority to agree this decision in Accordance with the legal framework. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. Section 6.(1) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 states: 

2. The calculation of the estimated value of a procurement shall be based on the total amount payable, net of VAT, as estimated by the contracting authority, including any form of option and any renewals of the contracts as explicitly set out in the procurement documents. 

3. We would like to proceed with a direct award to prevent any gaps in service delivery while we carry out a full commissioning process, which was previously unachievable due to funding uncertainties. A direct award will allow the VRU additional time to conduct a thorough procurement process for the recommissioning of these services. Given the strong evaluation attached to this programme, we are confident that RISE and Waythrough will continue to provide a valuable service. 

4. VRU is seeking approval to allocate a maximum direct award value of £329,415.00 to the Children and Young People Impacted by Domestic Abuse service delivered by RISE MUTUAL CIC for 8 months taking the new contract end date to 31st March 2026. 

5. The new contract term for this service will run from 1st August 2025 to 31st March 2026, increasing the total maximum funding allocated to the programme over 3 years and 8 months to £1,824,713.00.  

6. Section 72.1 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 state; Contracts and framework agreements may be modified without a new procurement procedure in accordance with this Part in any of the following cases: — 

1. provided that any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract; 

2. As the original contract has already received an increase of 49.9% of its initial value, it has reached its maximum allowable amount. Therefore, we are unable to extend it further, hence the request for a direct award. 

6. Public Health Approach  

1.  London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) is taking a public health approach to violence reduction, that is contextual; looking at the context and influences that impact on individuals at significant points in their life.  

2. The key areas which are being focussed on as part of this approach are:  

• Children and Young People – reducing Adverse Childhood Experiences and building resilience. 

• Wellbeing and achievement in schools - Institutions providing responsible leadership; London partners having mutual accountability to invest in what works 

7. GDPR and Data Privacy  

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 programme focuses on trauma recovery and building emotional resilience. which is a vital step in the overall approach taken to support individuals who may have recently experienced or may still be experiencing a lack of safety in their lives. The programme also demonstrates that they can offer the appropriate specialist support to victims of all five strands of hate crime which are;  

• Race 

• Religion or faith 

• Sexual orientation 

• Disability status 

• Gender/transgender identity 

3. Initial screening is taking place around equality impact and if required a full EQIA will take place. 

4. New Beginnings programme has been adapted to work effectively with minoritised ethnic and racial victim/ survivors of DA, using a culturally sensitive and inclusive approach. The project takes a holistic intersectional approach when delivering New Beginnings, recognising the impact of abuse and cultural trauma on individuals from minoritised groups and working with victims with empathy and an understanding of their unique experiences, and how they may face multiple forms of discrimination.  

5. Additionally, Bambu have established a LGBTQI+ service user forum which meets regularly. More recently they have been exploring how services can better meet the need of persons who present as LGBTQI+, they will continue to develop their programme materials in Bambu to meet the needs of different communities and individuals. 

9. Background/supporting papers 

1. None