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Commissioning Services and Grants

Have you been a victim of crime?



From the 1st April 2015 as Police and Crime Commissioner I became responsible for providing key emotional and practical support services for victims of crime in Northumbria.  Crime can leave victims feeling upset, scared and intimidated and it was felt by the Government that PCCs with their local knowledge are best placed to target funding where it is most needed in their local communities.

Funding is provided on an annual basis by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to me to support work with victims of crime and their families which I have used to commission services through my Supporting Victims Fund.  I receive this allocation based on a population formula, which in Northumbria for the 2021-22 year means a grant of £1,702,736. I also received extra funding of £33,657 from the MOJ for an LGBT+ Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA).

If you are a victim of crime or have been in the past and require support please take time to read the document below which includes a list of organisations I have funded and the support they can offer you.

Please note, if you are a victim of crime during the Coronavirus Pandemic, our services continue to offer support but may have had to adapt their ways of working at this time. 

PCC Victim Services 2021 – 2022

Grants and Awards 2021/22



In addition to the MoJ funding where the allocation is specifically for victims of crime, I can also make grants as outlined in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2012 to contribute to securing crime and disorder reduction in the area.

A full list of every grant I have made in 2021-22 can be found by accessing the following link

2021-22 PCC List of Funded Groups

Victims First Northumbria

In 2021-22 £800,000 has been awarded to Northumbria Police to deliver the core victim service – Victims First Northumbria, which will completely revitalise the victim referral process and service for victims of crime in Northumbria. Victims First Northumbria enables victims of crime and their family to cope and recover from the impact of crime.

The support provided to all victims, both who report to the police and those who do not falls generally into four broad categories;

  • Initial emotional and practical support including signposting
  • More detailed/longer term emotional and practical support including restorative justice and support through-out a court process
  • Support and referral to specialist services that can help a victim cope and recover

You can find out more about the Victims First service by visiting their website www.victimsfirstnorthumbria.org.uk

Supporting Victims Fund 2021-22

The PCCs Supporting Victims Fund was first launched in 2015 to strengthen the overall offer of support to victims in Northumbria and improves and widens the specialist services available to our most vulnerable and priority victims.  Priority victims are those that are entitled to an enhanced support service under the Victims Code of Practice, Victims Charter and the EU Directive for Victims of Crime.

My assessment for the 2021-22 year builds on our understanding of services, demand and need since 2015 and is based upon Northumbria wide and local strategic assessments identifying levels of crime, new and emerging crimes, issues facing our area where victim needs may arise and also local research and consultation with victims groups, community safety partnerships and service providers.

The key themes within the Supporting Victims Fund this year are:

  • Domestic abuse
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Young people and child victims
  • Victims of hate crime
  • Victims with mental health needs
  • Victims with other vulnerabilities

 

A range of grant awards have been made as part of the PCCs Supporting Victims Fund and the list of supported groups and organisations is included within the list of funded groups at the top of this page.

You can view the terms and conditions document of the Supporting Victims Fund grants by clicking on the following links

Terms and Conditions 2021 -2022

Monitoring and evaluation

All grants have been awarded with the agreement that output and outcome monitoring information will be provided either quarterly or every six months with regular grant surgeries to discuss performance and practical delivery to ensure the work delivered through the grant meets expectations.  A summary impact of the OPCC grants programme will be reported in my Annual Report 2021-22.

Anti-Social Behaviour Volunteer Network

In 2014-15 North Tyneside Council was financially supported to launch their ‘volunteer victim support group’ to support victims of anti-social behaviour to cope and recover following an incident or sustained attacks.  The project proved successful with a high demand for the service and 16 ASB Volunteers fully trained to support those in need.  In 2015-16 all areas were supported to introduce similar schemes to strengthen the support available for victims of ASB. To ensure that this support continues at a local level, a grant of £5,000 has each been awarded to Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland Council. We are currently working with Northumberland County Council to identify how they could use the grant to support victims of ASB in their area.

Specialist Domestic Abuse Advisors: Risk Management Desk (RMD) Control Room Project: July 2021 – March 2022

The Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) wishes to pilot a new intervention to help improve responses to domestic abuse victims at the point of crisis when they call the police for assistance.

The PCC wishes to enter into a partnership grant agreement with experienced domestic abuse services from Northumbria. One service will act as a lead provider for the North of Tyne, and one service will act as a lead provider South of Tyne. They will deliver the pilot alongside Northumbria Police.   There are 2 police control rooms; one is in Ponteland for the North of Tyne, and the other is in South Shields for the South of Tyne. Each control room has a risk management desk staffed by police officers.  The pilot will involve specialist domestic abuse services releasing experienced staff to work on a rota system alongside police officers on the police’s risk management desk.

There will need to be 2 specialist domestic abuse advisors (SDAAs) working on each 5 hour shift in each control room on Friday and Saturday evenings (i.e. 2 staff North and 2 staff South each shift

Timescales:

  • Expressions of interest, will need to be submitted by noon on Friday 25th June 2021.
  • Assessments will be made in the following 7 working days and successful applicants will be informed as soon as possible after this date.
  • We are aiming for scheme to begin in early July 2021.

Providers:

We will require:

  • One specialist domestic abuse service, or a consortium of specialist domestic abuse services, to work with the North risk management desk. If there is a consortium there must be a lead provider.
  • One specialist domestic abuse service, or a consortium of specialist domestic abuse services, to work with the South risk management desk. If there is a consortium there must be a lead provider.

Expressions of interest in delivering this pilot scheme must come from the lead providers (North and South)

  1. Any participating organisations must be specialist domestic abuse services whose core business is supporting adult victims/survivors of domestic abuse.
  2. Expressions of interest must come from the lead provider setting out how they will fulfil the specifications and expectations of this project. The lead provider can either deliver this scheme alone or in partnership with other interested specialist domestic abuse services.
  3. The lead providers (North of Tyne and South of Tyne) will agree to be responsible for the scheme co-ordination as set out in the specification; and ensuring the scheme is always staffed by suitably experiences workers on a rota basis.  They can staff the scheme using their own specialist DA workers or by working in partnership with other DA services.

 

Funding:

  • The total funding available to deliver the scheme are set out in the specification but in summary this is:
    • £21,000 to pilot the scheme in the North control room pilot: (8 months budget July 2021-March 2022)
    • £21,000 to pilot the scheme in the South control room pilot: (8 months budget July 2021-March 2022)

 

How to Respond:

  • An EOI Form, a specification and a funding guidance document are available below.
  • If you have any problems downloading the form or have any questions about the fund please contact enquiries@northumbria-pcc.gov.uk quoting ‘Specialist Domestic Abuse Advisors: Risk Management Desk (RMD) Control Room Project: 2021-2022”
  • Once completed, the EOI form should be submitted to julie.smith@northumbria-pcc.gov.uk by noon on 25th June 2021.

 

Documents

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