Safer London Foundation – grant application

Report: 12
Date: 7 December 2006
By: Chief Executive and Clerk

Summary

The Safer London foundation has applied for a grant of £250,000 a year for three years commencing 2006/7 to cover their core costs, so that all other money raised by them can be directed to fund or provide support for community projects. This report provides a commentary on the application and makes recommendations for grant aid, subject to conditions.

A. Recommendation

1. That for 2006/7 the sum of £236,000 be awarded in grant aid, with an indicative allocation of £175,000 for 2007/8 and £100,000 for 2008/9, and in expectation that in 2009/10 the foundation will be self-financing.
2. That this award should be subject to the Foundation
   • submitting twice yearly reports to the MPA on its work programme and progress in fund raising, to enable the MPA to monitor the movement towards self financing status and the general pace and effectiveness of the SLF Work Programme.
   • demonstrating in its programme for 2007/8 how it will work with the MPA and MPS to build community capacity at Safer Neighbourhood Panel level
   • submitting audited accounts for 2005/6

B. Supporting information

1. In March 2004 the authority agreed to set up a new charitable body, the Safer London Foundation, to take forward community focussed initiatives for crime reduction, and to fund community projects, with the intention that the charity would raise money from business and other sources that would not be available to the MPS or MPA.

2. In July 2004, the Authority agreed to contribute £125,000 to cover the setting up costs of the Foundation and towards the operating costs of the Foundation for a period of two years. A matching contribution of £125,000 was made by the MPS.

3. The foundation was set up as a charitable company limited by guarantee. It started operating in February 2005. It is governed by a Board of Trustees which includes representatives of the MPA (Lord Harris), MPS (the Deputy Commissioner), the Mayor’s Office, GOL, Tfl, and corporate business interests, and Ian Barlow of KPMG is the chair of the Board.

4. Although legally independent of the MPA and MPS, the Foundation was intended to operate as a charitable vehicle to support the MPS strategy for policing in London and to enhance community capacity for self help in relation to crime reduction. The foundation states its aim as “to strengthen and assist small community organisations and charities to build capacity, become self-financing and build closer partnerships with their local Safer Neighbourhood Teams by providing grants and interest free loans, by harnessing volunteers, by networking and other means”.

5. In addition to the initial £250,000 funding from the MPA and MPS, the foundation attracted additional funding of £250,000 from Rentokil and Atos Origin, and KPMG provided extensive support in kind.

6. It was the expectation, when the initial MPA/MPS funding was awarded, that the Foundation would build a fundraising programme that would replace and indeed supplement the MPA/S pump priming, and provide the Foundation with a secure long term source of funds. However, fundraising has proved more challenging than was originally conceived when the MPA and MPS together planned to create the new body. In order to secure it’s immediate future operations, the foundation now seeks core funding from the MPA of £250,000 a year for the next three years, This will cover the core operating costs of the Charity while it continues to build its base of sponsors/donors to become financially independent at the end of that period.

7. The grant application submitted by the Foundation is attached as Appendix 1. The Foundation’s business plan for 2006/7 is at Appendix 2.

8. In its eighteen months of operation, the Foundation has initiated a grant programme that has disbursed £250,000 to other organisations; it has mobilised over 1400 hours of volunteer support and 1800 hours of pro-bono advice for local projects. It has developed a programme of mentoring for Safer Neighbourhood Sergeants, and it has supported innovative resettlement projects for prisoners.

9. The emphasis that the foundation has placed on working alongside the Safer Neighbourhoods Programme is understandable and welcomed. There is potential for the Foundation to expand its focus at Safer Neighbourhood level, to work with the emerging Safer Neighbourhood Panels to build their capacity to shape and influence the delivery of local policing and to negotiate priorities with the police. The MPA’s recent Conference on Local Community Engagement demonstrated the need for further support for Safer Neighbourhood Panels, thorough mentoring and other pro-bono advice, and the Foundation appears well placed to help address this need. The Foundation’s Chief Executive has indicated enthusiasm to shift the focus of SLF effort in this direction in the period ahead.

10. For the financial year ended May 2007, the Foundation plans a total expenditure of £463,000. Of that total, 64% will be direct charitable expenditure and 36% will be management and administration. It would be desirable to see a lower proportion of total expenditure directed to management and administration, but it has to be borne in mind that this was is only the second year of operation, and that fundraising to support direct charitable expenditure has been slower than hoped. In the medium term, given an increase in funding, the management costs ratio should improve.

11. The SLF started the year 2006/7 with income funds of £366,000, and assuming that core costs of £250,000 are covered by MPA, their end of year projection for May 2007 is that they will retain a balance of c£390,000. That level of balance is generous but it does represent, in the main, funds provided by donors for charitable work and thus in effect represents the Foundation’s capital resources. The MPA agreed in October 2006 to allocate £500,000 of POCA money to SLF for funding for local projects and that allocation is not yet counted in the SLF figures.

12. The MPS supports this grant application, and will answer any questions at the meeting.

13. The case for continuing to support the Foundation is strong. It has now established itself and is structuring its key operations to align with the Safer Neighbourhoods programme. It now has an additional £500,000 of POCA money to utilise to support local community led crime reduction projects. It has a high potential to attract corporate sponsorship to sustain the charitable activity for the longer term.

14. However, given that the Charity was expected to become self-financing sooner rather than later, Members may feel that guaranteeing core funding for three years may remove some of the incentive for the Foundation to step up their fund raising. In 2006/7 the Foundation expects to spend £236,000 on Management and Administration. A sloping profile of funding over the year term may better reflect the MPA’s original intentions on the setting up of the Charity, while giving the Foundation reasonable security of operation. On that basis I suggest that for 2006/7 the sum of £236,000 be awarded in grant aid, with an indicative allocation of £175,000 for 2007/8 and £100,000 for 2008/9, and in expectation that in 2009/10 the foundation will be self-financing. I also suggest that this award should be subject to the Foundation:

1. submitting twice yearly reports to the MPA on its work programme and progress in fund raising, to enable the MPA to monitor the movement towards self financing status and the effectiveness of the SLF Programme.
2. demonstrating in its programme for 2007/8 how it will work with the MPA and MPS to build community capacity at Safer Neighbourhood Panel level.
3. submitting audited accounts for 2005/6.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The foundation has an Equality and Diversity Policy Statement. Grant availability to is advertised on their website which provides access from all audiences including minority communities. They also have an SLF stand at exhibitions/conferences where minority audiences are present such as Gay Pride, Damilola Taylor Trust conferences and Asian Business Association annual dinner.

2, Decisions on grants are made by the Grants Committee. This is Chaired by Lord Harris with other members representing Race on the Agenda (ROTA) and London Development Agency (LDA), and diversity and inclusion are taken into account as criteria. Grants made within the first year of operation reflect this commitment and include grants to a Kurdish Women's project, homophobic crime reporting project, project worker to support sex workers, diversion project for young black men at risk of offending, the Damilola Taylor Trust Anti Knife Poster Campaign, and a domestic violence project.

D. Financial implications

1. The initial funding for the foundation was provided from the Police Property Act Fund. At the time of writing this report confirmation is awaited whether there are adequate resources in that fund to meet the recommended grant. The Treasurer will advise at the meeting on sources for funding a grant.

2. The Foundation submitted audited accounts for the year to 31 May 2005 but has not yet submitted audited accounts for the year to 31 May 2006. These accounts should be submitted before any grant is paid.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: David Riddle, MPA.

For information contact:

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

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