Proposed Expansion of the Premier League Kicks

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is requested to approve MOPAC’s grant to the Premier League Kicks programme, as part of a wider Mayoralty focus on diverting vulnerable young Londoners from crime and disorder. Kicks gives young people the opportunity to participate in community football matches attached to Premier League clubs, across London. Premier League are proposing to expand Kicks and have asked MOPAC to contribute £100,000 per year (£300,000 in total) to support the expansion. The Premier League will provide the biggest share of funding. Greater investment will enable the clubs to target those most vulnerable to crime and further incorporate community policing into the programme.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve MOPAC’s contribution to the Premier League Kicks, of £100,000 per year for three years.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The Premier League (PL) is asking MOPAC, Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Met for financial and resource contributions to expand their flagship community programme, Kicks. Kicks holds weekly sports coaching sessions for young people at community centres and football pitches across London. The funding increase will help target the location and recruitment of participants – with a renewed focus on stronger, safer communities. Premier League are proposing to expand Kicks over the next three years and have asked MOPAC for £100,000 per year (£300,000 in total) to support the expansion.

1.2. Extra funding and resources would focus recruitment and location of Kicks to where diversionary activities are needed most, in terms of demography and geography. With increased funding, PL aims to attract more than 16,000 participants to the programme per year, nearly doubling its current cohort. It plans to tailor the recruitment drive to the most vulnerable - for example, giving a universal offer to Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) students in London.

1.3. Kicks fits with the Mayor’s public-health approach which is rooted in good multi-agency working and close working with communities and the private sector, focused on prevention. The Kicks programme offers young people positive experiences, targeting those vulnerable to crime and works with community to offer alternatives to crime and increased opportunities to safeguard vulnerable young people.

1.4. The GLA, MOPAC and VRU would help PL to identify potential sites for investment – focussing on areas of increased crime and anti-social behaviour. The intelligence gathered as part of the VRU Strategic Needs Assessment and dialogue with partners, communities and young people will help to inform this process. Where appropriate and once established, local level initiatives will be coordinated via local VRU hubs. Community involvement and co-design are core principles of the VRU which will also apply to our work with the PL.

1.5. A reinvigorated relationship with the Met would assist the Premier League to incorporate community policing into the programme and support wider initiatives to build trust between the community and the police. The PL have requested an in-kind resource contribution from the Met - such as, Dedicated Ward Officers and Safer School Officers available to attend matches, as well as senior leadership from BCU Commanders to promote the programme. Proactively addressing crime through proven diversionary activities, reflects the new public health approach undertaken by City Hall.

1.6. Charitable donations from the Premier League acknowledges the Met’s contribution to policing football matches. The net cost to the Met for policing football from the 17/18 season (August 2017 – May 2018) was £3.566m. Stated in common law, and recently re-affirmed by the Court of Appeal, Police are only able to recover costs from an event organiser when the special policing services has been requested by the organiser and the policing took place on land that was owned, leased or in control of the organiser.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The DMPC is requested to approve MOPAC’s contribution to Kicks.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. It is recommended that the money is grant-funded and taken from MOPAC core budget.

3.2. In addition to the financial contribution, it should be noted that the Premier League will leverage additional volunteer actions, communications/marketing spend and utilise the credibility of its clubs and role models to influence at-risk young people. Therefore, there are non-financial benefits to this proposed partnership too.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. There are no legal considerations beyond the commercial, data and equality considerations below.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. The instigation for this work came from the Premier League. As a private sector organisation, it wishes to reignite a public-private partnership to reduce crime/ASB and improve police relationships. Therefore, a single tender action is necessary and proportionate, as it will leverage a far greater financial investment from the Premier League and its associated clubs in London. As part of the work of the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), other public-private partnerships will be sought with industries that have a similar focus on those most at risk of violent crime.

6. Public Health Approach

6.1. Kicks aligns with the emerging delivery model for the VRU, which is taking a contextual approach to intervention and reducing violence, where partners need to look at solutions which support vulnerable young people and their peers, as well as positively impact on communities and institutions such as the police. In embedding the Kicks programme, we would look to evolve and align the outcomes for Kicks more closely with those of the VRU.

7. GDPR and Data Privacy

7.1. As part of this arrangement, MOPAC’s Evidence & Insight team will work with PL to identify the most appropriate evaluation techniques to determine the effectiveness of the investments. If any data privacy issues arise as a result of this exploratory work, including personal data of participants, then a full Data Protection Impact Assessment will be produced before any evaluation is undertaken.

8. Equality Comments

8.1. The focus of the Premier League Kicks activity is focused on young people and some ethnic minority groups. This is a necessary and proportionate response to the fact that young people are known to be most vulnerable to be victims of crime, as well as most vulnerable to be the perpetrators of some crimes. MOPAC will work with Premier League to identify if a full Equality Impact Assessment is necessary, as part of the exploratory work to identify new cohorts of participants. The partnership with PL should be viewed in the context of the wider work of MOPAC, VRU, GLA and the Met police.

8.2. MOPAC and the Premier League will seek to ensure that the principles of section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 are maintained at all times.