Wrap around services for women in the Criminal Justice System – Funds

Since 2018, MOPAC has funded services for female offenders and women in contact with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in London. From June this year these provisions have been extended to cover the whole of London through a co-commissioning arrangement with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), aligned with the new model of probation delivery. These arrangements, which were approved in PCD 949, are underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding, which confirms that the MoJ will transfer their funding to MOPAC to jointly fund service delivery for the period from 26th June 2021 until 30th June 2022.

The pan-London service has now been successfully launched and there has been agreement with MoJ that they will provide extra funding for two additional areas. This will be a further £135,100 for mobilisation costs and £37,730 for an additional housing support post based in HMP Bronzefield. This funding will be transferred to MOPAC from the MoJ, who will in turn disburse this to providers through Grant Modifications.

In summary, this Decision is to accept up to £172,830 of funding from the Ministry of Justice for the female offender service mobilisation costs and the new housing support role.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

• Approve the acceptance of £172,830 from the Ministry of Justice to support the female offender service and the subsequent disbursement to the Providers.

• grant delegated authority to the Chief Financial Officer to sign future documents in relation to this decision, including grants and variations.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The Police and Crime Plan contains commitments to “push for additional investment from partners to expand access to specialist women’s centres so that female offenders across London have access to gender-appropriate provision designed to tackle reoffending”

1.2. This commitment led to the development of the female offender service as part of the London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF) Co-Commissioning Fund from 2018. The two providers for this service have been Advance Advocacy and Non-Violence Community Education, who provide the Women’s Centres & Wrap Around Service, and the South London Alliance, who provide the Whole System Approach to Female Offending.

1.3. These services were funded in 21 London boroughs by MOPAC until June 2021, when a new co-commissioning arrangement with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) allowed the expansion of this provision across London using the same providers. This new arrangement has successfully integrated the female offender service with the new model of probation delivery and led to an increased number of referrals for women in need of wrap around support to reduce their risk of reoffending and promote safeguarding from Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

1.4. An important part of the female offender service is the through the gate housing support provided to women being released from custody back into London. However, the implementation of the new probation model has also led to changes in prison based roles and in-prison support with housing, especially for women on short sentences and during the early part of their time in custody. After identifying concerns about this lack of prison based housing support and the impact of this on female offender homelessness, agreement has been reached to provide a new Housing Support Worker role at HMP Bronzefield. This additional provision will be funded by the MoJ and implemented via a variation to the existing grant agreements with the current providers.

1.5. The current service is funded until 30th June 2022, after which a new commissioning process will seek to continue support for women in touch with the Criminal Justice System in London.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. During the mobilisation process for the current pan-London service there was agreement with the providers and the MoJ that MoJ would pay the implementation costs for this expansion. The agreed level for this funding is £135,100 across both Providers. This Decision seeks agreement to accept this funding from MoJ, so that it can be passed in full to the Providers for the pan-London service, via modifications to their Grant Agreements.

2.2. Work with partners across probation, prison and in the specialist women’s sector has highlighted the need for a prison based housing worker at HMP Bronzefield to support better housing outcomes for women being released back to London. This additional prison based role will be funded by the MoJ up to a maximum value of £37,730, depending on when the position is filled. This funding will be provided to Advance Advocacy and Non-Violence Community Education, who will be responsible for employing the member of staff to provide the support for all London women. The funding for this post will end on 30th June 2022, at the same time as the current pan-London service. This Decision seeks agreement to accept this funding from MoJ, so that it can be passed in full to the Providers in accordance with the grant modifications. The grant agreement for the South London Alliance will be varied to reflect the functions of the new role within the overall service, but all funding for the post will go to Advance Advocacy and Non-Violence Community Education.

2.3. It is recommended that the Chief Financial Officer is granted delegated authority for signing future documents in relation to this decision, including grants and variations.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. This Decision requests approval to accept a maximum grant of £172,830 from the MoJ as further contribution towards Pan London co-commissioned Female Offender service.

3.2. PCD949 notes £1,263,861 as approved funding for the co-commissioned service from June 2021. This additional grant of £172,830 specifically is to cover project’s implementation costs of £135,100 and a housing support post at £37,730.

3.3. Funding will be disbursed to the provider in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding with the MoJ.

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 authority to approve offers made for grant funding.

4.2 The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 at sections 17(1) (a)to (c) places MOPAC under a duty to exercise its functions with due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of those functions on, and the need to do all it can to prevent, crime and disorder (including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment), reoffending in its area, and the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in its area. The proposed arrangements are consistent with MOPAC’s duties in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

5. Commercial Comments

5.1 This additional funding is being agreed via an amended Memorandum of Understanding between MoJ and MOPAC and will subsequently be reflected in modifications to the Grant Agreements with the two Providers.

6. Public Health Approach

6.1. The female offender service has the support of the Violence Reduction Unit as it seeks to reduce the risk of reoffending posed by women in touch with the criminal justice system and reduce the risk of harm posed by them to the public, known adults and children. Many of the service users also have complex needs and have experienced victimisation and abuse and the services provide wrap-around support to address these issues and promote long term rehabilitation and well-being.

7. GDPR and Data Privacy

7.1. This expansion of the female offender services will not alter the data protection measures in place for each service.

7.2. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) has been produced to identify and minimise risks to data subjects. This document will be updated to reflect the extension.

7.3. All providers funded by MOPAC are required to comply with the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

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 female offender services actively promote the welfare and address the specific needs of women in touch with the criminal justice system in a dedicated environment and via specialist provision. This also allows for a focus on specific needs around physical and mental health needs, pregnancy and parenthood and the needs of foreign national and young adult women. BAME women are particularly over-represented in the criminal justice system and the services are specifically tailored to engage these groups and adapted to meet their needs. The services are also open to transgender women after an individual assessment of the needs of each case.

9. Background/supporting papers

9.1. N/A.