The Lighthouse Service Extension to March 2022

In order to provide funding certainty at this time of crisis, and realign commissioning with the postponed Mayoral election and new administration, this Decision seeks approval to extend the funding for The Lighthouse (London Child House) child sexual abuse service for a further six months from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Current funding ceases in September 2021. This extension will enable further work to take place on the future sustainability of the service, which has been impacted by COVID-19.

Positive interim evaluation results have been published for the service. NHS England (London Region) will also be contributing funding from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 as a contribution towards the health costs of the service.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve the extension of the Lighthouse from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 to the value of £892,500 (MOPAC’s contribution).

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The Child House, known as The Lighthouse, is located in Camden and serves the North Central sector in London providing services to children and young people who reside in five London boroughs (Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington). It provides support to children and young people who have been sexually abused or exploited, as well as providing support to their families or carers. The Lighthouse is based on a model of international best practice, bringing together medical, investigative and therapeutic services ‘under one roof’, alongside support for child victims to progress more rapidly through the criminal justice and court process.

1.2. The Lighthouse opened in October 2018. Funding has currently been agreed between MOPAC and NHS England (London Region) to co-fund the service until September 2021 (PCD 735). MOPAC is now seeking to extend our funding for The Lighthouse along with NHS England (London Region) for a further six months until 31 March 2022. This extension will allow The Lighthouse to continue to deliver the vital service it provides to vulnerable children and young people.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide-reaching impact on MOPAC and commissioned services. At this time of crisis, it is more important than ever for commissioners and providers to have certainty of funding. In order to realign commissioning with the postponed Mayoral election and production of the new Police and Crime Plan, this decision request that funding for The Lighthouse be extended until the end of March 2022.

2.2. At the start of the year PCD 735 extended The Lighthouse service to 31 September 2021 to enable The Lighthouse to continue to provide its valuable service to children and young people and enable partners to look for a longer-term sustainable funding solution for the service. A further six month is now required to undertake this work owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2.3. The final evaluation report of The Lighthouse will be published in May 2021. This will be invaluable in informing discussion about the future the service.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. This decision seeks approval to extend The Lighthouse service for a further six months from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 at a cost of £892,500.

3.2. The Lighthouse project was earlier extended for a year to September 2021 following Department for Education (DfE) one off £260,000 grant funding in 2020/21 to support additional resourcing of the service.

3.3. The funding contribution request for six months to March 2022 will be met from £6.5m 2021/22 Mayoral Growth allocation of which £892,500 is set aside for The Lighthouse. Alongside this, NHS England (London Region) is committed to contribute £307,500 towards health costs of the service over the period October 2021 to March 2022.

3.4. MOPAC contribution for the entire 2021/22 financial year is noted at £1,785,000. This is inclusive of plans to carry forward £892,500 from 2020/21 funding for the project and partly made possible due to additional one year investement in 2020/21 from the DfE.

3.5. This extension will allow continued support to service users and allow more time to decide the future of the service beyond March 2022.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. MOPAC’s powers in relation to commissioning are set out in Section 143 (1) (b) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, which provides an express power for MOPAC, as a local policing body, to provide or commission services “intended by the local policing body to help victims or witnesses of, or other persons affected by, offences and anti-social behaviour”.

4.2. In line with section 4 of MOPAC’s Scheme of Consent and Delegation, the DMPC has authority for the approval of requests to grant a lease and for revenue expenditure of £500,000 and above. The delegation of responsibility for the finalisation of planning and contractual arrangements, including relevant terms and the signing of agreements, to the Chief Executive is in accordance with the general power of delegation in section 5.

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

4.4. 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.

4.5. Officers can 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/ contracts.

5. Commercial Comments

5.1. There are no procurement issues with this decision, as where contracts are in place, the value of these contracts is not being increased by more than 50% of the current value and remains within the scope of the current contract.



5.2. MOPAC makes no commitment to fund The Lighthouse until the grant or contract variation letters have been signed by both parties. These will detail the new payment schedules, in line with previous arrangements.

5.3. The Lighthouse contract will be managed and monitored in accordance to the MOPAC Contract Regulations 2018.

6. Public Health Approach

6.1. This piece of work has been informed by discussions and feedback from the Violence Reduction Unit, the Greater London Authority and NHS England (London). This decision relates to MOPAC’s statutory responsibility for commissioning support services for victims of child sexual abuse.

7. GDPR and Data Privacy

7.1. 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.

7.2. A Data Protection Impact Assessment has been completed for the service to ensure that the service is fully compliant with the requirements of the GDPR. The DPIA is reviewed annually.

8. Equality Comments

8.1. 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.

8.2. The service enables a more tailored approach and greater level of accessibility to services for victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Links have been made between the Lighthouse and other MOPAC commissioned services such as the Children and Young Person’s Havens, to ensure that victims are well supported and referred into the most appropriate services.

8.3. This decision supports the provision of services and interventions for this extremely vulnerable group of victims.

9. Background/supporting papers

DMPC Decision PCD 735 2020 – The Lighthouse (Child House) Service Extension and Case Management System Development

DMPC Decision PCD 324 2018 – London Child House