MPA Partnership Fund

Report: 7
Date: 13 June 2011
By: Chief Executive

Summary

This report advises members of the MPA Partnership Fund assessment process and provides an overview of how the budget has been allocated for 2011/12.

A. Recommendation

That Members note the report on the 2011/12 assessment process.

B. Supporting information

1. Each year the Authority allocates £1.6m to borough command units (BCU) for partnership working. Members received a report on the 2011/12 priorities in April 2011 – (i) Violence against women and girls, reducing violence and reducing reoffending – and this report provides an overview of the BCU submissions that were assessed for this financial year and details the range of activity that has been agreed for the forthcoming year. The spend plans have been assessed by a team of three MPA officers, which included the management accountant. Each plan was considered against the following criteria:

1. whether the plan addressed at least one of the three priorities;
2. whether the identified activities/outcomes broadly represented value for money; and
3. whether the equality impact section had been addressed.

In assessing the planned activities for value for money a number of factors were taken into consideration, including the unit costs (of activities that could be quantified in this way) and the cost of similar activities as compared to other boroughs. This process did not indicate any specific concerns, but did highlight some areas for further consideration in the future, particularly in relation to the delivery of the volunteer police cadet scheme, which featured in a number of bids, and in relation to school-related activities related to the anti-violence agenda.

2. The assessment process has identified that the Fund has been allocated fairly evenly across the three priority areas with reducing violence and reducing reoffending tipping the balance [1]. However, 14 boroughs included activities without clearly demonstrating how they fit the agreed priorities, which has resulted in queries and follow up action on approximately £270k of funding, which will be pursued by the link Engagement and Partnership Officers (EPOs) with BCU lead officers. The particular issues in this category that appear across several boroughs are:

1. Antisocial behaviour
2. Burglary/neighbourhood watch
3. Communications
4. Community grants in various forms – allocated to SNTs or community groups for unspecified activities.

3. While these activities may not initially appear to fit with the agreed priorities in the way that they have currently been expressed, there may be a valid argument for including them in the spend plan and it will be for the Link EPOs to establish what is intended. E.g. we know that some boroughs have particular challenges in relation to burglary and the MPA fund may be able to positively contribute to crime reduction work in this area, which could also address the reducing reoffending agenda.

4. The MPA Fund is usually allocated as £50 000 per BCU, but in line with the agreed terms for 2011/12, boroughs were invited to submit over-programmed bids (which could be considered should sufficient funds be available). However, five boroughs [2] have bid for in excess of £50k and all others have bid for the maximum available. So as things currently stand the budget will not tolerate any over-programming, although this could change later in the year as the quarterly budget monitoring identifies under spends. The quarterly review process will include financial forecasting to the end of the financial year and the September review point will be pivotal in the process for identifying under spends that could potentially be reallocated through a further bidding process.

5. As part of the assessment process, officers sought to identify interesting activities and good practice amongst the planned activities. 16 boroughs have been identified as having interesting/good practice activities, but very few plans have specifically focused on innovation or joint service provision – notably Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, which are jointly commissioning domestic and sexual violence advocacy services, and Croydon and Hackney, which both have separate plans for joint service family intervention programmes. As part of the terms of the partnership fund BCUs were advised to allocate their funds to activities that could contribute to the development of the Greater London Authority’s Oracle database of good practice. This is already being progressed within the Territorial Policing (TP) Command as part of a wider piece of work on reducing violence and identifying effective interventions, which will result in a wide range of BCU activities being submitted to the Oracle assessment process.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. All submissions were required to address the equality and diversity implications of the proposed activity. There were a small number of BCUs, which did not initially complete this section and they were asked to provide more information. Of those that did complete this section some clearly had more expertise in this area than others and this suggests a training need at BCU level, which should be addressed. Early discussions between MPA and MPS officers have indicated that there is likely to be an opportunity to address this as part of activities to provide advice and support on other partnership-related matters at some point during this financial year.

2. The information provided indicated that the funds will be predominantly focused on women and girls and young people. This is to be expected given the identified priorities and is in line with the disproportionate levels of offending and victimisation amongst these groups. There were also a number of projects targeting vulnerable communities who are also disproportionately affected by crime, including people with disabilities and those from specific faith communities.

Consideration of Met Forward

3. The MPA Partnership Fund specifically supports the Met Partners strand of Met Forward. In the current financial climate in which many partner agencies have reduced their budget allocations to partnership working and in which the Borough Command Unit Fund (Home Office) has been discontinued, this funding has taken on an even greater significance and is even more greatly valued as an MPA contribution to local activity.

Financial Implications

3. The Partnership fund is £1.6m in total and the full sum has been allocated at a rate of £50 000 per BCU. BCUs were advised that consideration would be given to bids in excess of £50 000, but it has not been possible to support any of those bids at this time. As is usual practice, Link members will have been engaged in the process and will have provided feedback as appropriate and a summary report has been provided to the Chair of the Authority before being fully signed off by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Spending against the partnership fund budget will be monitored on a quarterly basis and payments made quarterly in arrears. In previous years some boroughs have under spent against this fund and this being the case, further consideration will be given as to the rate of spending against the fund in October 2011, which might identify funds that may be reallocated to meet the over-programmed activity.

Legal Implications

4. There are no legal implications arising from this report.

Environmental Implications

5. There are no environmental implications arising from this report.

Risk Implications

6. There are no environmental implications arising from this report.

D. Background papers

None

E. Contact details

Report author: Natasha Plummer, Engagement and Partnerships Manager, MPA

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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