Ministry of Justice funding for Transitions to Adulthood Pilot

MOPAC is working in partnership with the MoJ and NPS to pilot a Transitions to Adulthood Hub for 18-25 year olds on probation in Newham and 17 year olds due to transition from YOS to adult probation in the borough. The pilot is funded through the Shared Outcomes Fund which was announced in the Government’s 2020 Spending Review, with MOPAC acting as programme manager and lead commissioner. This decision seeks approval to accept funding of up to £1.82m from the Ministry of Justice to commence appropriate competitive procurement processes and to fund the Transitions Programme Manager post.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Accept grant funding of up to £1.82m from the Ministry of Justice for the Transitions to Adulthood pilot.

2. Approve the commencement of competitive processes to procure the necessary services for the pilot.

3. Delegate authority to the Chief Financial Officer to sign the necessary grant agreements and monitoring returns for this funding and to disburse funds to providers.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. There is a growing body of evidence which demonstrates that the adult male brain does not fully mature until the mid-20s and that young adults have distinct characteristics and needs which are different from both older adults and children. However, the criminal justice system does not tailor its approach to young adults and there is a lack of services available which meet young adults’ distinct needs.

1.2. Support services which act as protective factors for under-18s drop away upon transition to adult services, meaning young adults face a cliff-edge in terms of the support they receive when they turn 18. In addition, the transition to adulthood brings up new challenges, such as finding housing and employment and navigating the welfare system, which if not addressed can drive reoffending.

1.3. In early 2020, MOPAC worked with the MoJ, NPS, CRC, YJB, DHSC and MHCLG on a cross-government bid into the Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund, which invites bids for innovative projects which support a number of government departments’ or public bodies’ objectives. In July 2020, our bid was confirmed as successful.

1.4. The pilot will establish a Transitions to Adulthood hub in Newham for 18-25 year olds on probation who are assessed as having low levels of maturity and for 17 year olds transitioning from YOS to adult probation. The pilot will:

- Commission services to meet young adults’ distinct needs, e.g. mental health support, speech and language therapy, substance misuse;

- Co-locate support services with probation staff in the hub;

- Provide training to all staff in the maturation process, brain development and young adulthood as a life stage amongst other aspects.



1.5. The pilot will launch in July 2021 and will run until the end of March 2023. The pilot will be fully evaluated, with MoJ commissioning the evaluation. Expected outcomes include reduced reoffending, increased compliance, improved mental health, decreased substance misuse, reductions in homelessness etc.

1.6. A programme board meets monthly to provide oversight of the pilot and make key decisions. This is chaired jointly by, Director of Criminal Justice and Partnerships and MoJ director and Senior Responsible Officer. The Programme Board is attended by MOPAC, MoJ, NPS, CRC, YJB, NHS, DHSC and other key stakeholders.

1.7. Newham has been selected by the Board as the pilot location based on analysis of the young adult cohort, borough offending profiles and the availability of space within the probation office. A separate Transitions to Adulthood hub will be created within the existing probation office with a separate entrance, waiting area and interview rooms for young adults to enable the creation of a trauma-informed, young adult friendly space.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. MOPAC will receive funding from MoJ for commissioned services and staff training for the hub as well as programme management costs in the form of a MOPAC Programme Manager.

2.2. The MoJ is responsible for commissioning an external evaluation and managing the building refurbishment.

Commissioned services

2.3. Work is underway to confirm the final list of commissioned services for the hub. This involves undertaking a gap analysis of the services available for young adults within Newham, considering upcoming probation commissioning through the Dynamic Framework and establishing the local authority offer of staff for the hub.

2.4. The services and staff being considered for co-location in the hub are listed below. This is based on needs analysis, demographics, academic research and consultation with young adults with lived experience.

2.5. The majority of the services which require commissioning will be commissioned by MOPAC. Health services, such as mental health and speech and language therapy, will be commissioned through the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). In this case, MoJ funding will be transferred directly to the local CCG.

Services commissioned by MOPAC:

- Education, Training and Employment advisor

- Housing support worker

- Substance misuse

- Mentoring

- Family support worker

- Parenting

- Service user forum

- Group work for young Black men

- Young women’s support worker

Health services (commissioned by the NHS):

- Mental health & emotional wellbeing – clinical psychologists and counsellors

- Speech and language therapy

Local authority offer of staff for the hub:

- Care leaver support worker

- Victim support worker

- Financial management

2.6. To enable phase one of the procurement of services and training to commence before the pre-election period, a DMPC decision to accept funding is required by the end of February. As the final list of MOPAC-commissioned services is yet to be agreed, this decision seeks your approval to accept up to £1.82 million over the duration of the pilot (including the mobilisation period) in grant funding from the Ministry of Justice to fund commissioned services, training and programme management.

2.7. MOPAC will also be commissioning staff training for hub staff, covering maturity, young adulthood as a developmental phase, cultural competency and trauma-informed practice including racial trauma.

2.8. A grant agreement between MoJ and MOPAC is in the process of being drawn up.

Programme Management

2.9. As lead commissioner and programme manager, MOPAC will receive £75,000 p.a. to cover programme management costs. A Grade 5 Programme Manager has been appointed following a competitive recruitment process across MOPAC, NPS and CRC. The funding received from the MoJ will also cover programme management costs.

2.10. A Service Level Agreement between MoJ and MOPAC is being developed for this post.

2.11. A timeline for the project, including the procurement processes, can be found at Annex 1.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. This decision requests authority to receive up to £1.82m in principle from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to commission the Transition to Adulthood pilot.

3.2. The pilot will run for 21 months from July 2021 to March 2023 and MOPAC will act as the lead commissioner in procuring services that will support young adults across the pilot location in London Borough of Newham.

3.3. Funding for the pilot will include the cost of a Transition programme manager post to set up and lead the co-commissioning priorities. This post has been appointed to within MOPAC at the cost of a grade 5 post starting from January 2021.

3.4. The estimated annual grant to be transferred to MOPAC over the life of this pilot is as shown below.

• 2020-21 - £35k (programme management cost)

• 2021-22 – up to £890k

• 2022-23 – up to £890k

The budget required in 2020-21 is confirmed in principle subject to grant agreement. There is a small budget risk to MOPAC core budgets should it become necessary to fund the Transition Programme manager post that has been appointed to as of January 2021.

3.5. It is noted the grant award for the Transition to Adulthood pilot requires no match funding contribution from MOPAC core budgets. The associated project costs will be managed within the Criminal Justice Commissioning service.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. 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 all offers of grant funding.

4.2. Paragraphs 4.6-4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the DMPC authority to delegate those functions which are reserved for the DMPC, including:

• Approving requests to tenders

• Signing grant agreements and monitoring returns

• Disbursing funds to providers.

4.3. These recommendations are in line with the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent.

4.4. 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.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. All grants and contracts which utilise this funding will incorporate the relevant terms from the grant agreement between MOPAC and the Ministry of Justice to ensure compliance. MOPAC will be compliant with the GLA Group Responsible Procurement Policy

6. Public Health Approach

6.1. The VRU will be consulted on services commissioned using this funding to ensure alignment with VRU activity and wider public health approach to tackling violence in London. The VRU have been engaged in planning for the hub. The Transitions Programme Manager will work with the VRU to build on synergies with Newham’s Violence Reduction Plan.

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 Dating Sharing Agreement will be developed to enable MOPAC to obtain NPS data for monitoring of the pilot.

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. MOPAC will ensure that all services commissioned with this funding are culturally competent and will meet the needs of BAME young people. BAME, in particular Black, young people are over-represented within Newham’s young adult cohort. Cultural competency and racial trauma will feature in the training programme for all staff in the hub. It is also likely that a BAME-specific intervention will be commissioned, for example group work for young Black men.

9. Background/supporting papers

9.1. Project timeline at Annex 1.