VRU - Team London Young People’s Funding Extensions

The Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) has a budget of £14.8 million which includes £7 million awarded by the Home Office for 2019/20.

The VRU has published a strategy and work programme with eight key objectives. In line with these objectives, a programme of spend has been developed. This Decision is focused on extending additional funding to Team London projects focused on increasing the resilience of vulnerable young people and developing their personal and employability skills.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

Agree funding of £450,000 between 2019/20-2021/22 to be allocated to The Challenge to support the HeadStart Action programme to extend the reach of this programme to an additional 180 young people.

Agree funding of £36,000 to fund a micro-grant programme for young people in Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provisions across London. This will be an extension of an existing programme delivered for Team London by the WE charity.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. This decision outlines and requests Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime approval to release funding to extend two programmes currently run by Team London (GLA) which meet the aims of the VRU through their focus on giving young people every chance to succeed and offering young people the opportunity to lead change in their communities. There will be further decisions in the year as the spend plan continues to be finalised.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. In May 2019, the VRU Partnership Reference Group committed to setting up a Youth Action Group for the unit. Between June and September, the unit carried out a series of consultative workshops and planning activities with young people towards setting up the group.

2.2. Through consultation with young people it was decided that the VRU would host an open day for young people in the autumn, including offering an opportunity to fund small youth-led projects.

2.3. The open day will take place on October 28th and the VRU will partner with Team London Young Ambassadors (TLYA) to promote a micro-grant programme to be delivered between November 2019 and February 2020. This will be an extension of an existing programme.

2.4. In order to facilitate the micro-grant programme, the VRU will grant WE Charity (Team London’s current partner for TLYA) additional funding of £36,000 to support a programme for young people in Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provisions across London.

2.5. Further to this, the VRU will support an extension of the HeadStart Action programme which uses social action and employer encounters to engage and inspire young people, giving them the skills, experience and connections, they need to get ahead in the world of work.

2.6. HeadStart Action is a geographically and demographically focused personal and social development programme targeted at young people aged 14-18, who are at risk of becoming Not in Employment, Education or Training and require greater support to be in education, employment or training. The programme supports young people to gain employability skills, aid their personal development, and introduce them to social action.

2.7. HeadStart Action is currently commissioned by Team London and delivered by a charity called The Challenge. This decision requests a VRU grant of £450,000 to The Challenge to extend the reach of the programme to support an additional 180 young people bringing the total to 360. The programme will build capacity within twelve grassroots youth organisations to deliver the programme across London and into the future.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. Funding to The Challenge will be allocated as follows; £190,000 in 2019/20, £195,000 in 2020/21 and £65,000 in 2021/22. Funding to We Charity totals £36,000 in 2019/20.

3.2. This HeadStart Action programme requires extension into 2020/21 and 2021/22 to ensure the programme delivers impact and can be evaluated effectively. The financial implications of this will be dealt with through the 2020/21 budget process.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. MOPAC has powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (formerly under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011) to award grants to secure the reduction of crime and disorder in London.

4.2. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC’s Scheme of Consent and Delegation provides the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime with delegated power to approve bids for grant funding made and all offers made of grant funding; and/or where appropriate a strategy for grant giving.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. The approach for Phase 1 of the VRU total spend focuses primarily on awarding direct grants and enhancing contractual arrangements which support the public health approach to violence reduction. This enables delivery of activity is line with Home Office spend conditions, where spend and delivery of activity must take place by March 2020. The VRU is developing a commissioning framework which will underpin the commissioning of future provision.

5.2. This approach will also allow the VRU to begin effecting change at a rapid pace and further build the evidence base to enable continuous improvement of the VRU approach.

6. Public Health Approach

6.1. The spend plan takes a public health approach to tackling violence, which means looking at violence not as isolated incidents or solely a police enforcement problem. Instead, this approach looks at violence as a preventable consequence of a range of factors, such as adverse early-life experiences, or harmful social or community experiences and influences.

7. GDPR and Data Privacy

7.1. A full Data Protection Impact Assessment will be completed by all providers if required as part of the mobilisation for the services, to ensure that all delivery is fully compliant with the requirements of the GDPR.

7.2. All contracts and grant agreements will include clear provisions relating to compliance in this area, and in relation to the processing of personal data. These terms have been drafted following consultation with MOPAC’s GDPR Project Manager.

8. Equality Comments

8.1. Under s149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Equality Act), as a public authority the Deputy Mayor/MOPAC must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act; and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (the duty in respect of this last characteristic is to eliminate unlawful discrimination only).

8.2. The Violence Reduction Unit has commissioned an Equality Impact Assessment which will be published in due course.

9. Background/supporting papers

9.1 Annex 1.