MD3144 Sport Team Diversion and Prevention projects 2023-24 and 24-25

1.1.    The Mayor has consistently demonstrated his commitment to sport in the capital. Under cover of MD2244 and MD2265 the Mayor approved expenditure of up to £8.8m over four years for Sport Unites, his community sport investment programme for London. Sport Unites 2018-21 delivered more than 300 projects benefiting 50,000 vulnerable, inactive and/or isolated Londoners across all 33 London boroughs. Interventions supported under the programme focused on tackling five key social issues affecting Londoners as set out in the Mayor’s strategy, Sport for All of Us. MD2777 approved expenditure of up to £830,000 from the Sport Unites 2021-22 budget as a bridging programme to enable community sport initiatives that support Londoners physically and mentally, as well as supporting the community sport sector into pandemic recovery.  

1.2.    Under cover of MD2895 the Mayor approved expenditure of up to £3,670,000 for work contributing to the priority outcomes of London’s recovery missions, including: Building Strong Communities, with sport organisations acting as community hubs for young Londoners, giving them the opportunity to volunteer, get support and build strong networks, and A New Deal for Young People, with sport as the engagement medium through which young people, and especially those in need, have access to a mentor and to quality youth services. This financial commitment allowed the GLA to leverage up to an additional £2.08m of targeted co-investment which is being contributed by mutual partners including the National Basketball Association, National Football League and Laureus Sport for Good. 

1.3.    The Mayor’s Sport Team have worked in partnership with the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) at MOPAC to deliver sport and physical activity projects which focus on tackling serious youth violence as a key outcome since 2020. With a £500,000 investment for Summer Activities in 2020 (with a £160,000 revenue grant from MOPAC pursuant to section 121 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 approved under cover of MD2669 and the remaining GLA funds) provided diversion and prevention opportunities to support vulnerable young people, and the parties have continued to collaborate since then, for example though the Serious Youth Violence Steering Group. 

1.4.    In September 2022, under cover of MD3033 the Mayor approved the receipt of £915,000 from the Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime (MOPAC). The Mayor delegated to the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport to approve detailed expenditure plans to this value for projects delivering sporting, physical activity, and youth social action activities for young Londoners to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, safety, and educational and employment outcomes. In January 2023 under cover of ADD2614, the Assistant Director of Civil Society and Sport approved the detailed expenditure plans.

1.5.    Activities included the pilot for the Future Ready Fund where 13 organisations were awarded grants to deliver sport and mentoring interventions for young people transitioning from primary to secondary school; the Young People Affected by Violence (YPAV) Steering Group which steers the GLA’s work in relation to sport interventions for young people affected by violence; a 12-month Mayor of London Sport Leadership Academy for 100 young people to gain leadership skills needed for a future career in the sport sector; afterschool and holiday projects to provide a safe space, meals, and social integration alongside the sport activities; setting up National Governing Body (NGB) internships to provide exposure to different work areas,; and research into Early Years sport interventions. 

1.6.    This decision requests permission for:

•    the payment of £1,000,000 in 2023-24 and £1,000,000 in 2024-25 from MOPAC to the GLA
•    expenditure of up to £1,408,000 for projects delivering sport, physical activity, and youth social action activities for young Londoners to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, safety, and educational and employment outcomes
•    a delegation of authority to the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport to approve detailed expenditure plans for £592,000 to be exercised via an Assistant Director Decision form
•    an exemption from the requirements of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code so that a contract for YPAV Steering Group services may be directly awarded to Community and Economic Regeneration Consultants Ltd in the amount of £40,000 on the basis of a complete absence of competition, as set out in detail in paragraph 2.7.

1.7.    With expenditure profiled as:

1.8.    The proposed programme will take account of the learnings from previous GLA sport interventions for young people affected by violence and the advice of the Serious Youth Violence Steering Group (now the Young People Affected by Violence Steering Group). The programme will also respond flexibly to an ever-changing situation whilst incorporating forward-looking work to explore longer-term solutions to ongoing issues and challenges affecting young Londoners. It will enhance the Mayor’s capacity-building and policy and research work in sport interventions.

1.9.    Particular emphasis will be placed on supporting young individuals and groups who are the most underserved, including but not limited to Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups; those with physical disabilities, and refugees and asylum seekers. 

1.10.    The programme aligns closely with the following recovery missions in particular: 

•    Building Stronger Communities, with a focus on ensuring that all Londoners have access to a community hub with the opportunity to volunteer, get support and build strong networks
•    A New Deal for Young People, with a focus on ensuring all young people, and especially those in need, have access to a mentor and to quality youth services.
 

Future Ready Fund Grants Programme 

2.1.    This £316,000 (£216,000, 2023-24 and £100,000, 2024-25) programme will allow community sport organisations to apply for grants up to the value of £50,000 in order to deliver a person-centred after school sports and mentoring programme in a school setting to work with children in years 5 and 6 who are experiencing difficulties within the primary setting and/or may have been excluded in the short term already. The projects will allow children to have access to sports and a trusted adult (mentor) who will boost their self-esteem, self-confidence, and engagement with education. As part of this programme they will also have access to a free healthy meal and discussions around healthy lifestyles and making healthy choices. When the child transfers to secondary school, the project/activity – and crucially, the trusted adult, will remain with them, so that in the year 7 transition they will still have the relationship, familiarity and trust to fall back on as they get used to their new school environment. The 2022-23 programme awarded funding to 13 organisations for projects working towards the same outcomes. The programme was oversubscribed with more schools wishing to benefit from the interventions than the programme was able to support. Learnings from 2022-23 Future Ready grantees indicate that young people would benefit from earlier engagement with the programme, and for longer in order to provide extended consistency of mentoring to young people at risk of exclusion during the difficult transition period. This increase in budget per grantee will allow for up to 24 months of support to young people in this transition period. 

2.2.    This budget includes use of the Skills Builder framework. This framework, which is internationally recognised, breaks eight essential skills down into a sequence of steps, taking individuals from being an absolute beginner through to mastery and includes training and support for staff as well as tools for young people to track their development. In this way participants can see the essential skills they are building through the programme. Skills Builder is the only organisation working in this way and are also working to support the quality mentoring framework that forms part of the New Deal for Young People mission. The organisations and workforce involved will also benefit from the framework and will take part in Group-based training with Skills Builder, this will cost up to £30k.

Outcomes 

•    more young people have better outcomes through increased and ongoing participation in sport/physical activity 
•    more young people have access to support through mentoring and youth activities in line with the New Deal for Young People Mission 
•    improved behaviours in particular in relation to likelihood to offend or reoffend 
•    underserved Young Londoners can build and maintain relationships and be active citizens. 

Workforce capacity building

2.3.    Funding of up to £75,000 in 2023-24 will be awarded to Mentivity, a community sport organisation who specialises in mentoring and training in the sector. An initial grant of £75,000 was awarded to them in 2022-23 for a project that would upskill the community sport sector workforce, specifically those delivering the Future Ready Fund Programme. This included mentoring skills, trauma-informed practice, mental health first aid, tools relating to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and working with those with mental health concerns, working with young people with clinical mental health challenges, working with those with disabilities, working with young people with previous exclusions, working with young people at risk.  Mentivity were awarded this grant following a competitive exercise and work has been completed to review the sector for any new organisations in the short period of time since Mentivity were awarded who would need to be considered as part of a competition, with none found.

Outcomes 

•    improved practice and consistent standards across the sector 
•    improve the quality of mentoring by building capacity of the youth and sport sectors
•    improved community sport and mentoring provision thanks to relevant and high-quality training provided for the workforce 
•    better provision from a more resilient and supported workforce thanks to strengthened individual hard and soft skills and increased organisational capacity.

After school and School Holiday provision 

2.4.    A funding agreement will award London Youth up to £281,000 in 2023-24 for a programme of school holiday and after school activities. London Youth is the largest, longest-running youth work charity in the capital and are therefore in a unique position to be able to reach large numbers of young people. Currently, there are 623 youth organisations in their network, serving an estimated 588,000 young people. Over half of the young people supported by London Youth organisations live in areas of economic deprivation, and over two-thirds are young people of colour. They are in a pivotal position to offer support to those young people most affected by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, and those facing racial inequality and injustice. Amidst these challenges, London Youth’s model offers young Londoners a source of hope through regular youth engagement activity.  

2.5.    In 2022-23 this programme of work enabled 100 organisations to support 1,635 participants. 91 per cent of participants felt more confident taking part in sport and 88% better understand how to live a healthy life. Organisations have received capacity building support as well with 72 young leaders upskilled in Youth Mental Health First Aid, 85 youth professionals upskilled in Physical Literacy, Mental Health First Aid, Wellbeing Practice, and Fencing and two sport networks delivered (The Black Experience of Sport in London and the Role of Sport in keeping young people safe in London) engaging 70 youth sport sector professionals. This funding will allow community sport organisations to apply for grants of up to £30,000 in order to deliver after school and holiday sport inteventions for young people affected by violence alongside receiving capacity building support from London Youth.

Outcomes 

•    young people are physically and emotionally well through improved physical activity and mental health and wellbeing 
•    young people have skills, knowledge and networks to work towards career goals through improved access to opportunities and improved skills 
•    young people are inspired and enabled to make contributions to communities through improved connections and empowerment to take leadership roles.
Alignment with missions 
•    more underserved young Londoners will benefit from quality youth activities 
•    increasing strategic investment in London’s youth activities
•    increase and sustain strong partnerships between funders and voluntary and community sector organisations. 

Young People Affected by Violence Steering Group

2.6.    Up to £295,000  (£130,000 in 23-24 and £165,000 in 24-25) will be used by the YPAV Steering Group to deliver their priorities to inform the GLA’s work with young people and VRU’s (a Directorate in MOPAC) work in tackling serious youth violence, through using research, evidence, and pilot projects focused on the role of sport in diverting young people away from crime. In Phase 1 of Sport Unites the Steering Group delivered three pilots – safe spaces research, internships within Basketball England and England Boxing, and the Mayor of London Sport Leadership Academy (discussed further below). The aim of the group is for young people themselves to identify solutions that support positive and healthy life choices for young people engaged in sport and at risk of serious youth violence. The group also developed key recommendations for the sector moving forwards. The group is made up of community sport organisations active in London, young people, and other key stakeholders such as public health and local authority representatives. The groups will continue to advise the sector within this area, to take forward the previous recommendations, and to expand upon the work of the pilots. 

2.7.    A competitive exercise for a specialist organisation to facilitate the group was completed in 2022-23. The competitive exercise scored bidders on a combination of experience, skill set, proposed delivery plan and expected outcomes, and value for money, with the appointed consortium winning the exercise by a large margin. Research has shown the market remains unchanged rendering no gain from repeating the exercise, particularly considering the combined skillset the winning consortium delivers. Therefore a Single Source Request will be completed for a further £40,000 in order to continue to use the current facilitator on the basis of a complete absence of competition. This consortium will facilitate the ongoing sharing of learning from projects/organisations/young people, and support the group to both identify key themes to focus on for the year and to design and deliver work. This budget will allow the group to pilot work, test ideas and support the programme. This may take the form of procured research and evaluation, or a grant towards a programme that will identify solutions that support positive and healthy life choices for young people engaged in sport and at risk of serious youth violence. 

Outcomes 

•    a better understanding among sector and policy makers of when and how sport can and should be used in the timeline of a young person’s journey to support positive and healthy life choices
•    community and public sector policy making, and GLA sport activities planning is better informed by  evidence, to maximise benefits for young people
•    strong partnerships between funders and voluntary and community sector organisations support community organisations to deliver better outcomes for young people.

 
Mayor of London Sport Organisations Internship Programme 

2.8.    Following the success of the pilot of the internship programme with sport national governing bodies – (England Boxing and Basketball England 2021-22, GB Snowsports in 2022-23) as well as clear interest from a number of other NGBs and sporting organisations during the 2022-23 programme, up to £246,000 (£123,000 in 2023-24 and £123,000 in 2024-25) will continue funding of this programme. 

2.9.    The programme will be expanded and alongside internships with NGBs, this iteration will provide internships within major sport sector organisations in order to offer opportunities to underserved young people within a wider breadth of the sector. A competitive exercise will be completed, with organisations asked to submit proposals before being granted funding for their programme. A new cohort of interns will be recruited for a paid internship of up to 12 months within these organisations. This programme will seek to work with companies and organisations who will offer mentoring and peer-to-peer support for their interns (utilising the NDYP quality mentoring framework). The interns will all be underserved young people (have special education needs, are deaf, or have other physical or learning disabilities; have been or are excluded from school or college; not in education, employment or training; have or are associated with gangs or impact by exploitation; are experiencing or have been impacted by domestic violence and abuse; refugees and asylum seekers; have a social worker; come from low-income families and or those living in poverty; and are less active or inactive) and will have the opportunity to gain employability skills and experience working in a large national sporting body as well as having access to training opportunities. Responding to feedback, additional support will be given to the mentors so they can provide a better experience to the interns.

Early Years Sport Intervention project 

2.10.    In year 1 of the VRU (a Directorate in MOPAC) sport programme research was commissioned to understand the sporting interventions available to young people in early years education, particularly those who are risk of violence, or affected by violence, and provide recommendations around how the community sport sector could better support them. Following the submission of these findings in 2023-24, a budget of up to £75,000 (£45,000 in 2023-24 and £30,000 in 2024-25) will be used in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding code to facilitate a pilot project based on the recommendations of the research. This will focus on providing sport interventions for children affected by violence who are currently in early years education and their families, and provide healthy meals and support in maintaining physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. 

Outcomes 

•    a better understanding among sector and policy makers of how sport can and should be used in the timeline of a child’s journey to support positive and healthy life choices 
•    community, public sector, and GLA sport activities and policy making are better informed  to maximise benefits for children and their families 
•    children and their families are physically and emotionally well through improved physical activity and mental health and wellbeing. 

Mayor of London Sport Leadership Academy 

2.11.    Funding of up to £120,000 will continue the Mayor of London Sport Leadership Academy until the end of 2024-25. A competitive exercise will be completed to award funding to an organisation who will support a new cohort to achieve the priorities of the leadership academy. The 2022-23 cohort recruitment saw a very high level of interest from community sport organisations and the young people they work with, evidencing the need for opportunities for the most under-served young people. 

2.12.    The original 2021-22 pilot successfully supported 15 underserved young people for three months with individual mentoring and training, peer-to-peer support, and team leadership skills development. Each participant received 28 hours of training over three months and was able to develop their employability skills through the work. All young people reported the academy was positive for their future, and they demonstrated new skills in personal branding, improvements in leadership skills and confidence. 10 of the young people have progressed into education or employment with one young person being employed as a Coach Mentor by a member of the consortium delivering the academy. The pilot was led by a lead organisation and included four other partners. The partnership provided clear learnings for this project moving forwards and positive examples for collaborative partnerships like this within the sector. The expansion developed this model and used the learnings from the pilot to deliver to up to 100 young people for a longer period of time in between 2022 and 2024 which is expected to report similar results. This £120,000 will allow for the academy to be expanded to the end of 2024-25. 

Objectives

•    expand the new Mayor of London’s (MOL) Sport Leadership Academy 
•    engage up to 100 young people aged 14-25 in the Leadership Academy. We expect that at least 75 per cent of young people will classify as ‘underserved’ 
•    improve collaboration between community sport organisations in London – organisations are able to collaborate and reach young people better under the ‘Mayor of London’ brand
•    improve young people’s access to employment and work experience opportunities, develop transferrable skills, and improve aspirations
•    improve understanding of young people’s needs, demands, and how a leadership academy can contribute to achieving these.
Outcomes 
•    young people are accessing better and more relevant employment and education opportunities including paid opportunities in community sport organisations across London
•    more young people equipped with core skills and confidence to progress in learning or earning 
•    organisations are better able to engage young people in their work through employment, co-creation.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”), as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any conduct that is prohibited by or under the 2010 Act; 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).

3.2.    Consideration of equality and good relations is enshrined within all the projects and programmes delivered against the Mayor’s strategy for sport and physical activity, Sport for All of Us, noting the equalities impact assessment (EqIA) completed during the drafting of the strategy. The Mayor’s investment into community sport aims to ensure that all Londoners can access sport and physical activity opportunities that overcome barriers to active participation; enrich their experiences of living and working in the city; encourage and enable better connection within and across their local communities; and improve physical health and mental wellbeing. Investment over the Mayoral term 2021-24 will focus on achieving those positive strategic outcomes specifically for young Londoners, with a particular focus on improving their life skills, mental health and wellbeing, social connections, and feelings of belonging to where they live and work. 

3.3.    The sports strategy set out three goals – socially integrated London, healthy active London, and London - world sports capital. The EqIA of the sports strategy categorised the programmes considered at that time under one of the three goals and then analysed the impact on those with protected characteristics. The programmes for which this Decision seeks approval will work towards all three goals of the sport strategy and the impact assessment is set out in the EqIA (Appendix 1). The programmes set out within this MD will support young individuals and groups who are the most underserved, including but not limited to Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups; those with physical disabilities, and refugees and asylum seekers. Through this work opportunities to take part in sport will be provided to those who may not otherwise participate. There will be both physical and mental health benefits, as well other areas such as education, skills, employment and life outcomes. The work will bring social and economic benefits to participants, the youth and sport sector, and therefore London as a whole. It demonstrates the Mayor’s commitment to making London a world sports capital by using sport as a tool to support Londoners.

3.4.    In planning the Mayor’s investment into community sport between 2021 and 2025, the Sport team has consulted stakeholders and partners with proven expertise in engaging and supporting children and young people, particularly those who are disadvantaged, considered to be at risk, and/or face additional barriers to positive participation for personal development and improved life chances. Collaboration with partner organisations has been scoped to ensure that as many young Londoners as possible, particularly those with protected characteristics and/or those who have been worst affected by the pandemic, have been considered and will have the chance to be involved in some way, be that through participating, training, project delivery or volunteering.  

3.5.    Projects will also prioritise young Londoners who are under-represented in sport and physical activity. This includes those who face additional barriers to active participation, either in relation to a protected characteristic (i.e. age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage or civil partnership status), or in relation to circumstance (for example, a person who is a carer, or a person who is isolated and/or lonely, or a person who comes from a lower socio-economic background).  

3.6.    Under-representation in sport and physical activity is also heavily influenced by intersectionality and Sport Unites will place particular emphasis on young Londoners facing multiple and intersectional barriers and challenges.   
 

Key risks and issues

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities 

4.1.    This programme is designed in line with the strategic objective of Sport Unites in its use of sport to achieve social change, namely to tackle serious youth violence. It also delivers programmes with the workforce and organisation development objective of Sport Unites, supporting the capacity building of the workforce which will lead to greater capacity in London to deliver effective community sport through a more diverse and supported workforce. 

4.2.    This programme is directly in line with the Children and Young People Recovery Mission for London, A New Deal For Young People, the mission of which is that by 2024, all young people in need are entitled to a personal mentor and all young Londoners have access to quality local youth activities. We will include usage of the quality mentoring framework as part of the conditions for programme delivery. 

4.3.    The programme also aligns with the Building Stronger Communities Recovery Mission for London which is working towards a number of outcomes including, all communities – particularly the most disadvantaged with the greatest health inequalities – getting the support and services they need, and having more control and choice over those services, sustainable and strong partnerships being built between funders and voluntary and community sector organisations, and Londoners can build and maintain relationships and be active citizens. 

Consultations and impact assessments

4.4.    The projects described respond to clear challenges shown through research which is defined below:  

•    The mental health of children in London has declined in the last 10 years, with 18 per cent of 10-15 year olds having a probable mental disorder. This has increased from 8 per cent in 2009-11. Children begin secondary school at age 11 and therefore this is a key age to ensure that young people have consistent support. The permanent exclusion and suspension rates generally increase with age, and are highest at age 14, early intervention and support for children and young people should help to bring this rate down. Hence the decision to focus on a transition grant programme. (London.gov.uk 2021). 
•    There are three main areas of focus when considering the causes for the increasing rise in child exclusion. Away from simply focusing on the child’s behaviour, school policies and socio-cultural factors that can occur outside schools should be considered:  

    school environment and policies – considered a microcosm of society and school exclusion mirror wider society
    the rigidness of school education systems, processes and cultures  
    socio-cultural factors are multiple and inter-related.

4.5.    Factors that are multiple, they also have intersecting vulnerabilities which includes: mental health, special education needs, social deprivation, personal problems, previous exclusions/poor behaviour and low educational attainment. In addition to this, schools lack the appropriate guidance, resources or capacity to deal with the complex combination of these vulnerabilities. This can result in an exclusion decision that did not fully consider the wider impact of a range of vulnerabilities. A long-term mentoring relationship for those most at risk at this age will support the child and the school to develop solutions to help deal with these vulnerabilities. 

4.6.    The most effective types of interventions for suspension/exclusion were: (1) violence reduction (2) mentoring/monitoring (3) counselling, mental health; and (4) enhancement of academic skills. (Strand et al 2014). 

4.7.    Person-focused targeted programmes often include social-emotional learning and/or cognitive behavioural therapy. Cognitive behavioural therapy allows the individual to adopt coping strategies and mechanism to help them navigate difficult periods. Social emotional will aim to improve an array of skills such as self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, relationship and communication skills, and decision- making. Although the mentor/coaches will not be trained in CBT they will be trained in tools used within a CBT setting and how to support a young person to work through these tools. (Strand et al 2014). 

4.8.    The after school and holiday provision provided by the GLA previously has been built upon for the London Youth proposed provision. The National Statistics 2022 publication reports that exclusion rates are higher among pupils eligible for free school meal (FSM). The permanent exclusion rate for pupils eligible for FSM is 0.16, compared to 0.04 for those not eligible. The suspension rate is also higher at 9.34 for pupils eligible for FSM, compared to 2.58 for those not eligible. A healthy meal included in the after school programme provision will ensure the participants are able to access an evening meal.  

Conflicts of interest

4.9.    Due consideration has been given to the potential conflicts of interest within this project, however, none have been found, including those drafting this Decision. During the delivery of work contained within this Decision, declarations of interest will be made where relevant (such as during procurement exercises) and conflicts of interest will be managed accordingly.

Subsidy control

4.10.    The funding within this programme has been considered in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Officers of the Authority consider that several activities to be completed in the course of the programme do not involve provision of a ‘subsidy’ for the purpose of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 as those activities will involve provision of grant funding based on competitive processes and therefore do not provide specific assistance or benefit to certain enterprises over others. The relevant activities include the following:

•    the Future Ready Fund Grants Programme, described in paragraph 2.1
•    the Mayor of London Sport Organisations Internship Programme, described in paragraph 2.9
•    the Early Years Sport Intervention project, described in paragraph 2.10
•    the Mayor of London Sport Leadership Academy, described in paragraph 2.11.

4.11.    Other activities to be completed in the course of the programme will involve the provision of grant funding to enterprises which are likely to receive funding from other public sector organisations, such that these activities have been considered further in light of the subsidy control principles. Those activities are as follows:

•    the award of up to £281,000 in grant funding to London Youth in relation to after school and School Holiday provision, described in paragraph 2.4
•    the award of up to £75,000 in grant funding in 23-24 to Mentivity for workforce capacity building, described in paragraph 2.3.

London Youth

4.12.    This Decision requests permission to grant £281,000 to London Youth, an organisation in a unique position to be able to reach large numbers of young people, as the largest and longest-running youth work charity in the capital.

4.13.    Through this funding more underserved young Londoners (particularly those with protected characteristics and those affected by violence) will benefit from quality youth activities, and the community sport sector will benefit from capacity building support and increased partnerships between their organisations.

4.14.    Sport is a well recognised mechanism for delivering benefits for young people, and alongside the physical benefits this grant will provide young people with skills that will improve mental health and employment outcomes, improved connections with their communities and empower them as they move forward with their lives.

Mentivity

4.15.    This Decision requests permission to grant £75,000 to Mentivity, an organisation who specialises in mentoring and training in the sector. Mentivity will upskill the sport sector workforce with mentoring skills, trauma-informed practice and mental health first aid training to equip them to work with young people with mental health concerns, clinical mental health challenges, disabilities, previous exclusions, and those at risk of violence. Through this funding the youth and sport sectors will be better equipped to support underserved young people and empowered with system change and sustainability.
 

5.1.    Approval is being sought for:

-    payment by the Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime (MOPAC) of a revenue grant of £1,000,000 in 2023-24 and £1,000,000 in 2024-25 to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in pursuant to section 121 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and the receipt of that grant by the Authority
-    expenditure of up to £1,408,000 for projects delivering sporting and physical activity for young Londoners to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, safety, and educational and employment outcomes
-    a delegation of authority to the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport to approve detailed expenditure plans for the remaining expenditure to be exercised via an Assistant Director Decision form.

5.2.    The expenditure profile for the whole £2m received is outlined in section 1.6 above; £1m to be spent in 2023-24 and £1m to be spent in 2024-25. The expenditure profile for the £1,408,000 is £870,000 to be spent in 2023-24 and £538k to be spent in 2024-25.

5.3.    The Assistant Director decision to approve the balance for the 2023-24 expenditure will be actioned in time for the delivery of that expenditure. 

5.4.     The income from MOPAC would be received in the Sports Unites Programme Budget and expenditure would be made from the same budget.

5.5.    Any contracts that commit the GLA in future years are subject to appropriate break clauses. 
 

6.1.    The foregoing paragraphs of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or that are facilitative of, or conductive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or improvement of the environment, in Greater London. The GLA’s general powers cannot be used to incur expenditure on anything which may be done by MOPAC in the exercise of its statutory functions (including its functions in relation to crime and disorder reduction). 

6.2.    In implementing the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers should comply with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    consult with appropriate bodies.

6.3.    In taking the decisions requested, as noted in paragraph 3 above, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it; and to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to paragraph 3 (above) of this report.

6.4.    Pursuant to section 121 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, MOPAC may, with the Mayor’s consent, pay to the Authority a grant towards meeting revenue expenditure in connection with the Authority’s functions. No conditions may be placed on the Authority’s use of the grant other than it be used: (a) for revenue expenditure only; and (b) in connection with the discharge of the Authority’s functions.

Subsidy control

6.5.    Paragraph 1.6 above indicates that several contributions of funding amount to the provision of grant funding and not payments for services. Officers must ensure that the funding be distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the Authority’s equalities and with the requirements of section 12 of the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code (“Code”).

6.6.    Furthermore, officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement be put in place between and executed by the Authority and the recipient before any (a) commitment to fund is made; and (b) funding is paid to the recipient. The officers should note that funding should not be committed through a binding funding agreement for future years which remain subject to budgetary confirmation.

6.7.    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that certain grant funding comply with its subsidy control principles. Officers have set out at paragraphs 4.10 to 4.15 above how the proposed grants falling within its scope comply with those principles.

6.8.    Finally, where the proposed grants exceed £100,000 (either alone or based on variations to existing grant agreements), officers are reminded to register such grants on the Department for Business and Trade’s Transparency Database.

Procurement of the YPAV Steering Group 

6.9.    The procurement of the YPAV Steering Group services from the consortium of Community and Economic Regeneration Consultants Ltd is valued at £40,000. Section 9 of the Code requires that the Authority undertake a formal tender process or make a call off from an accessible framework for procurements with a value between £10,000 and £150,000. However, section 10 of the Code also provides that an exemption from this requirement may be justified on the basis of a complete absence of competition. Officers have set out at paragraph 2.7 above the reasons why the procurement of the services from Community and Economic Regeneration Consultants Ltd falls within the said exemption. Accordingly, the Mayor may approve the exemption, if he be so minded.