This is the archived version of Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner. To view the new website click here
Banner Image of Northumbria PCC logo

2019 – 2020

This page tells you all about the grants and awards I have made in 2019-20 to help deliver priorities in my Police and Crime Plan.

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  means a grant of £1,673,208.

Grants and Awards 2019/20

In addition to the MoJ funding where the allocation is specifically for victims of crime, I also mad 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 made in 2019-20 including the Supporting Victims Fund and Commissioners Community Fund can be found by accessing the following link 2019-20 PCC List of Funded Groups

Victims First Northumbria

In 2019-20 £777,391 was awarded to the charity Victims First, which has completely revitalised the victim referral process and service for victims of crime in Northumbria. Victims First enable 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 2019-20

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 2019-20 year built on our understanding of services, demand and need since 2015 and was 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 for 2019-20 were:

  • 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 were made as part of the PCCs Supporting Victims Fund, which was an extremely competitive process and the list of supported groups and organisations are included within the list of funded groups located in the 2019-20 Grants and Awards section of this page.

You can view the terms and conditions of the Supporting Victims Fund grants by clicking on the following link Terms and Conditions 2019-20 

Commissioners Community Fund 2019-20

The main focus of my Commissioners Community Fund this year is to tackle hate crime, reduce anti-social behaviour and build community confidence.  I want local groups to come up with local solutions to tackle the local issues in their communities.

Grants of up to £2,000 were available to charities, voluntary groups, community groups and social enterprises throughout Sunderland, South Tyneside, Gateshead, North Tyneside, Newcastle or Northumberland.

A list of supported groups and organisations are included within the list of funded groups located in the 2019-20 Grants and Awards section of this page.

To read more about the terms and conditions of the fund please access the following link Terms and Conditions

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 2020-21.

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 £15,000 has each been awarded to Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside Councils with Sunderland Council being awarded £5,000 to carry on this work in 2019-20. Northumberland County Council were unfortunately not able to facilitate the network.

Accessibility