MoJ Covid-19 Emergency DA and Sexual Violence Support Funding

In May 2020, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced £25 million of emergency funding to be made available nationally for Domestic Abuse (DA) and Sexual Violence (SV) Support Services. MOPAC were successful in securing £3,151,528 which was awarded to 47 organisations supporting people affected by DA and SV in London through an assessment and allocation process.

On 12 November 2020 the MoJ informed MOPAC that a further £1,542,328.25 would be offered, in top up funding, to support DA and SV support services in London for the period 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021. £101,227 of this allocation has been ringfenced for organisations already in receipt of a National Rape and Sexual Abuse Fund grant (NRSASF).

The offer of £1,542,328.25 has been accepted and the DMPC has already approved the allocation of £659,000 which is to be awarded through an open application process (PCD884).

This Decision is to allocate the remainder of this funding through varying a number of core and emergency domestic abuse and sexual violence support service grants and contracts. The focus is on wrap around support for victims fleeing violence through MOPAC’s Emergency Accommodation project, stabilising core sexual violence support services and extending emergency domestic abuse provision until March 2021.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Extend the funding period of the Emergency Accommodation work;

2. Approve the reprofiling and variation of relevant organisations’ existing grant agreements and contracts to utilise additional emergency funding; and

3. Delegate the approval of detailed arrangements to enable the disbursement of these additional funds and grant variations to the Director of Commissioning and Partnerships.

1 Introduction and background

1.1 Following the allocation of the first round of emergency funding (PCD772), MoJ requested PCC areas to complete a Needs Assessment of domestic abuse and sexual violence support organisations to establish ongoing and additional future needs anticipated in the continuing response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.2 MOPAC’s assessment of need indicated that a further £5million would be required to most effectively support originations in their continued emergency response.

1.3 The MoJ offered £1,542,328.25 of the £7.1million pot that was being made available nationally in this second round of emergency response funding.

1.4 At the start of the pandemic and in response to ‘lockdown’ MOPAC established a multi-agency Emergency Accommodation project to support people feeling violence (PCD742 and PCD754). With further ‘lockdown’ restrictions taking place there is a need to extend this crisis offer.

1.5 Victim Support who manage the London Victim and Witness Service were successful in applying for emergency funding in the first round, this enabled the recruitment of additional fixed term emergency support Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA).

1.6 Hestia successfully applied for an emergency grant in the first round of funding to increase support provision for victims of domestic abuse.

1.7 National Rape and Sexual Abuse Fund test site funding

1.8 MOPAC are a test site for the devolved National Rape and Sexual Abuse Fund (PCD 448) and as such commission sexual violence support services to meet the needs of Londoners.

1.9 London’s four Rape Crisis centres, Survivors UK and Galop provide MOPAC’s core commissioned pan London sexual violence support services, including Independent Sexual Violence Advocates and therapeutic interventions.

1.10 All six sexual violence support providers were successfully awarded grants in the first round of emergency funding.

2 Issues for consideration

2.1 MOPAC are working with the London Community Response Fund and the London Community Foundation to commission and allocate £659,000 of the emergency funding through an open application process (PCD884), inviting responses from all sexual violence and domestic abuse support providers delivering in London.

2.2 MOPAC is proposing to allocate £576,102 to the Emergency Accommodation project (PCD754) to increase and extend wrap around support for victims fleeing violence by reprofiling the existing grants and ensuring that the provision is available through the winter months whilst national and regional COVID-19 restrictions remain in place and subject to continued change.

2.3 To ensure support is consistent and available to people experiencing domestic abuse it is imperative that Victim Support and Hestia can sustain the additional provision that was funded through the first round of the MoJ emergency funding until March 2021.

2.4 The COVID-19 pandemic has added further, extensive, delays to the criminal justice system, with court backlogs seeing some trials listed as far as two years away. To ensure victim-survivors are able to receive the longer term support they require while they await a trial date, MOPAC is using the MoJ emergency funding to uplift critical sexual violence services in London. By re-profiling the grants for existing provision MOPAC is also able to give assurance to service providers about the availability of ongoing funding in 21/22 to ensure they are able to provide high quality therapeutic and advocacy support to more people over a longer period.

3 Financial Comments

3.1 This decision requests approval to allocate £883,328.25 of MoJ (round 2) grant funding to maintain increased capacity across specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence services delivered through nine organisations.

3.2 Round 2 funding from MoJ is £1,542,328.25 of which £659,000 is approved under PCD 884 for distribution via the London Community Response Fund. The rest of the funding (£883,328.25) will be allocated across existing providers of Emergency Accommodation and Sexual Violence support services as set out below.

3.3 This additional funding to providers would require a reprofile of existing 20/21 MOPAC budget and provide scope for service continuity into next financial year for victims of sexual violence.

3.4 The reprofile of £380,000 of Mayoral funding from VAWG programme budget is made possible by the £101,227 ring fenced element of MoJ (round 2) grant to support MOPAC’s Sexual Violence provision through four Rape Crisis Centre’s.

3.5 This earmarked reprofile would need to be noted as part of CJC end of financial year carry forward process in March 2021.

4 Legal Comments

4.1 MOPAC’s general powers are set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). Section 3(6) of the 2011 Act provides that MOPAC must “secure the maintenance of the metropolitan police service and secure that the metropolitan police service is efficient and effective.” Under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 MOPAC has wide incidental powers to “do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office.” Paragraph 7(2) (a) provides that this includes entering into contracts and other agreements.

4.2 Section 143 (1) (b) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 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.”

4.3 The recommendations in this decision are in line with the legislation and MOPAC’s Scheme of Consent and Delegation. Under MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation, the approval of business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 and above, are for the DMPC. The strategy for grant giving, the award of individual grants, all offers made and the award of grant funding, as well as the approval of unforeseen contract variations, are also for the DMPC. The decisions in this report can be approved by the DMPC.

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

4.5 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.

4.6 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/ contracts.

5 Commercial Issues

5.1 This decision requests approval to extend existing grant agreements and contracts, as set out in section 3 above. The proposed variation to the London Victim and Witness Service contract is considered by officers not to be substantial within the meaning of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and so can be awarded to the incumbent without further competition.

5.2 The MoJ have devolved responsibility for commissioning this additional emergency funding in line with local needs and have stated that competitive commission is not required.

5.3 MOPAC will incorporate the appropriate terms and conditions from the Grant Agreement between MOPAC and MoJ into the agreement and variations with the recipients of funding to ensure money is spent in compliance with these terms.

6 Public Health Approach

6.1. Grant award and variation is 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.

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.

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.

9 Background/supporting papers

PCD 754

PCD 742

PCD 780

PCD 772

PCD 884

PCD 448