MD3218 Transfer of funding to MOPAC for Work Against Hate Crime

1.1.    Following the attacks on Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and the Israeli military response in Gaza, London Jewish and Muslim communities have seen increased antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks. When any specific community is subject to an increase in hate crime, there is an increase in the sense of alarm and concern among members all of those communities targeted by hate crime.

1.2.    The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime recently approved a funding uplift for a number of services aimed at tackling hate crime, as part of which it was agreed the Mayor would be asked to provide additional resources. This Decision form seeks the Mayor’s approval to pay a £200,000 revenue grant to MOPAC for these purposes.

1.3.    The full details of these services are appended in the MOPAC CEO Decision appended at Appendix A. 
 

2.1.    The provision of this funding will support the specific objective of combatting Hate Crime. This will include support to the Hate Crime Victims Service as well as further support to the Shared Endeavour Fund which provides grants to community projects across London to counter racism, hate, intolerance and extremism.

3.1.    The Mayor and MOPAC are required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires them to have due regard to the need to: 

•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected relevant characteristic and those who do not.

3.2.    The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

3.3.    The provision of funding to support combatting Hate Crime, including against those of certain racial or ethnic origins and or of certain religions or beliefs, will help MOPAC in meeting the aims of the public sector equality duty. 

3.4.    Equality monitoring forms part of the contract management of the service, ensuring equitable access to services and pro-actively addressing any barriers to the service. Further details of the Equality implications are included in the MOPAC Decision form at Appendix A.
 

4.1.    The Mayor has made regular public statements since the conflict re-ignited, stressing the importance of not letting events overseas leading to hate and division in London. In recognition of the increased demand on hate crime victim support services, particularly those serving the Jewish and Muslim communities, the Mayor has tasked MOPAC to explore with partners how to provide additional support to help them cope with the increased demand. 

4.2.    This proposal supports one of the Mayor’s key priorities, to tackle hate crime, along with a number of other Mayoral strategies, including, but not limited to, his Equality Diversity and Inclusion strategy, and ‘All of Us’, his strategy for social integration. 

4.3.    Relevant risks and issues are as set out in Appendix A.

4.4.    There are no conflicts of interest to note from anyone involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.  
 

5.1.    The decision will approve the transfer of £200,000 from the GLA:Mayor Revenue Grants Unapplied reserve to MOPAC in order to fund additional work to combat Hate Crime. The reserve holds sufficient uncommitted resources to facilitate this transfer.

6.1.    Under section 121 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, the GLA may pay grants towards meeting expenditure, other than capital expenditure, incurred or to be incurred by a functional body for the purposes of, or in connection with, the discharge of the functions of that body. The grant must not be made subject to any limitation in respect of the expenditure which it may be applied towards meeting (other than that the expenditure must not be capital expenditure). The grant must be applied by the recipient body (MOPAC) towards meeting expenditure incurred or to be incurred by that body for the purposes of, or in connection with, the discharge of its functions, other than capital expenditure. 

6.2.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and MOPAC are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act; advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. Relevant protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. In deciding whether to approve this decision, the Mayor is required to have due regard to these matters and the equality impacts of the proposed decision identified in section three, above.