Decisions

The reasons for the decision are:

This event is aimed to provide an open platform to engage with our commissioned victim support providers and deliver an update on the GM support offer to victims of crime which has recently gone through a process of review, investment and transformation.

It’s intended to facilitate open and honest conversations around current and upcoming challenges in the sector, and collectively identify and agree next steps. The second part in the afternoon will include a table-top group work exercise which will provide an opportunity for the sector to directly inform and feed into some current key work that is underway in relation to victims of crime support services.

Provider Catch22 is now fully mobilised as the Greater Manchester Victim Service (GMVS) delivering the contract for around 5 months. This provides an opportune moment to engage with the rest of the support sector to improve awareness of the service offer and establish/enhance linkage with providers. Building these relationships will assist in developing a more seamless offer to our victims of crime.
GMVS Dashboard

We are seeking sector feedback as we develop the victim’s dashboard which will be the tool used to update partners on the quantitative victims of crime data and trends across Greater Manchester.
Victims of Crime Survey Work

£1,666.67 be allocated from 3011 the Victims budget to fund the GM Victims Services Partnership event – ‘Improving the Victims Journey, Every Step of the Way’ taking place 13.03.24 at the Alan Manchester, Room: Situ, 18 Princess Street, Manchester, England, M1 4LG

Cost includes
• Room Hire with ICT setup and equipment hire for multiple screens
• Refreshments (Tea and Coffee) for 50 people
• Lunch for 50 people

TOTAL £ 1,666.67

‘Your Choice’ is the only current provider of bespoke, cohort-relevant training in CBT techniques that equips (at scale via train the trainer model) existing practitioners who are supporting children at risk of youth violence in the field of youth justice, youth work and complex safeguarding to enhance their practice with practical CBT tools, whilst working within a local authority’s practice framework. CBT is recognised as an effective intervention for a range of emotional and behavioural conditions associated with the use of violence. The programme enables existing youth practitioners to use CBT techniques available with children most affected by violence, through enhancing their skills in building therapeutic relationships with them, so that increased pro social behaviours and safety for these children can be achieved.

Whilst traditional CBT has sometimes been seen by some to negate systemic, relational and trauma-based approaches, this programme alternatively seeks to work with these wider understandings of the child’s personal / familial history and context and the systems of which they are a part.

The VRU wishes to award an allocation of £12,000 from the VRU Criminal Justice Delivery Group 23/24 budget to fund a contract enabling the scoping, feasibility assessment, and mobilisation of the ‘Your Choice’ Programme Pilot in Wigan with a view to then implementing in 24/25 and the potential for this to become a GM wide programme offer post Wigan evaluation.

‘Your Choice’ is a project aimed at reducing youth violence and helping young people to achieve their goals. The project works with children between 11 and 18 at risk of contextual harm, using psychologically informed, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) tools and techniques. It aims to empower young people by taking a public health approach to help break the cycle of violence and harm. It is currently delivered across 30 of the London Boroughs and has received funding from the London VRU, Home Office and Youth Endowment Fund to support implementation since 2021. This has included the YEF-funded evaluation Pilot Trial of ‘Your Choice’ from April 2022 to March 2023 (published October 2023). Following this YEF gave the go ahead for full-scale efficacy trial in May 2023 and this will run until Dec 2024. CBT is recognised within the YEF toolkit (An overview of existing research on approaches to preventing serious youth violence) as having a high impact on preventing violent crime.

The training of Wigan practitioners to deliver the pilot Your Choice Project in GM would be delivered via a Train the Trainer model, at local authority level. The identified trainers will have two days of introductory training, led by the pan-London Your Choice Programme Practice Lead. The Your Choice LA Trainers will then be equipped to deliver the four-day training programme to the youth practitioners who work within Wigan’s safeguarding adolescent service (which includes youth justice and complex safeguarding teams) in order to cascade best practice to practitioners within the system.

GMP has seen an increase in the use of Surron and other electric motorcycles over the last twelve months. The electric motorcycles feature heavily in complaints regarding anti social behaviour (Riding off road / footpaths / Inappropriate Speed / manner of riding) and their use to assist in criminal activity ( Theft from persons / theft from vehicles / drug transportation ).

The majority of the electric motorcycles are being ridden on the road illegally as the riders do not hold a licence or insurance which is required by law and are being ridden in a manner that is causing danger to both themselves and other road users.

GMP will see the relaunch of a dedicated Motorcycle Unit in April 2024. Officers will deploy on a mixed fleet of bikes with road and off road capability.

The two Surron Ultra Bee Motorcycles being purchased would be used to tackle both criminality and road safety and would feature at the various road safety events that GMP attend, promoting the legal use and safe riding.

Funding of £18,139 is approved to be spent by GMP to purchase and maintain two Surron Electric Motorcycles.

The Safe Drive Stay Alive (SDSA) programme has been run across Greater Manchester for the last ten years. This is an emotionally engaging performance delivered in collaboration between Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Northwest Ambulance Service (NWAS), and Salford Royal Foundation Trust (SRFT).

The performance uses case studies of road accidents and collisions told through the experiences of first responders, accompanied by video clips from families who have lost loved ones through road traffic accidents. The performances are very thought provoking and are aimed at educating the young people present of the risks and consequences of driving irresponsibly.

The scheme is currently being independently evaluated to offer critique and advise on the effectiveness of the programme and how it should be run moving forward. This role will design and implement the recommendations of that evaluation due in Spring 2024. In addition, the role will continue to develop an engagement programme utilising the Virtual Reality kit/software acquired by GMFRS in 2023. The VR programme provides a unique opportunity to experience the impact of decisions made whilst driving.

The post will ensure this engagement activity continues whilst the new Vision Zero Strategy and delivery plan is developed and implemented across Greater Manchester, expected in late 2024 – at which point, there will be a greater understanding of the requirements and resources required to drive the work moving forward.

The role will also support consultation in relation to a revised road safety approach to support the 2025-29 Fire Plan and associated Prevention Strategy.

Funding of £25,000 is made available to GMFRS in support of the Road Safety Development Officer role to drive a programme of engagement and awareness over the next 12 months. The payment will be match funded by the Greater Manchester Safer Roads Partnership.

The reasons for the decision are:
The National Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service has been commissioned nationally on behalf of the police service. It is being supported by the National Police Chief’s Council and will be implemented by Greater Manchester Police upon go-live in early 2024.

The reporting service gives members of the public a way to report information about a police officer or a member of police staff who they believe are taking advantage of their role or abusing their position of trust.

The service is run by the charity Crimestoppers, providing an anonymous and confidential reporting option, independent of the police service. When people contact the service, they can choose to remain 100% anonymous, or can opt to leave their details if they are willing for the force investigation team to contact them directly.

To provide funding of £8,223.71 in 2024/25 in support of a new national Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service, operated by Crimestoppers. This represents 50% match funding with GMP.

In addition, to agree in principle, to the provision of funding of £7,122.65 in 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28, matched funded by GMP.
Total funding £29,591.66

The reasons for the decision are:

Greater Manchester is one of the few areas in the country who provide immediate accommodation for potential victims of modern slavery at point of identification. This allows individuals to be placed into the place of safety where they can have their immediate needs met and be allowed the time to be empowered and decide what is the next best course of action for them.

The funding covers the cost of providing utilities to the accommodation, as well as toiletries, clothes and food for all victims who use the accommodation for a 12-month period.

It enables immediate hygiene and nutrition needs to be met, and provides a safe, warm and comfortable environment for what may be the first time in years. Clean clothes are provided, and each victim is able to leave with a bag of possessions, which again they may not have had for a number of years.

In 2022/23, safe and immediate accommodation was provided to 18 victims, and from 1st April 2023 to 12th March 2024, by 27 victims.

£5,000 will be provided to GMP to cover the costs of providing the Greater Manchester place of safety for victims of modern slavery from April 2023 to March 2024.

Hope Hack brings together young people from across a region to share their views, thoughts, and ideas on how to make their region a safer and fairer place. This event will bring together young people aged 13-21 and from a range of backgrounds.

The views collected from young people at Hope Hack events across the country, will go on to form the basis of a new report, ‘Reimagined’, produced by the Hope Collective. It will be presented to political parties for consideration as they produce their manifestoes ahead of the next General Election. This ground-breaking report will outline what young people would like to see happen to make the UK a better place to live and grow up in.

The YMCA event aligns with several commitments made within the Greater Than Violence strategy and consultation arising from the implementation plan that will sit under the strategy. The VRU is keen to facilitate partnership work that support effective transitions from custody and/or education into further training/employment and the victims lead is attending to bring eLearning back from the YMCA event to GM.

The Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit are seeking to make the following payment covering travel & accommodation for the following Hope Hack & YMCA Events on Wednesday 27th and Thurs 28th March 2024:

Click Travel
A payment to be made of £346.78 to cover travel (train from Manchester to Milton Keynes, standard return fare for 1 person). The attendee is the VRU Victims Lead.

27th March - Attend Milton Keynes Hope Hack with specific themes around mental wellbeing (to consider similar here in GM for the future)

28th March - Half day with YMCA and introduction to their ‘transitions’ programme supporting those exiting custody or from alternative education provision into training / employment / housing.

The Bluelight Commercial (BLC) have tendered the contract by running a mini competition from the CCS framework ref; RM6186 Fuel Cards and Associated Services VI. The contract has been awarded to the highest scoring bidder.

The aggregated spend on the BLC call-off offers greater chance of savings versus recompeting this as an individual force.

The Deputy Mayor approves the award of a 2 year contract for Fuel Cards, to Allstar, with the option to extend for a further 3 years. The likely value of 5 years spend would be circa £5m.

Procurement legislation requires GMP to tender for these goods and services. The recommended route provides the most effective route to market.

Approval is given to tender, and subsequently award, a 3 year contract for the supply of Network Managed Services with the option to extend for a further 2 years. The tender will use a further competition via the Crown Commercial Service Framework Network Services 3. The likely value of 5 years spend would be circa £7 million.

Both suppliers have been awarded a place on the Bluelight Commercial national framework.

The Deputy Mayor approves the award of a 2 year contract for PSU Clothing & Equipment, to Dimensions T/A MWUK and Michael Lupton Associates, with the option to extend for a further 4 years. The likely value of 6 years spend would be circa £3,150,000.

The main national community initiative for PCOSOs is ‘Circles of Support of Accountability’. In discussions with the sector, it was identified that there was a lack of desire to deliver the circles model as the accreditation process was considered an unnecessary burden; use of volunteers was not ideal and the small number of interventions that could be delivered. In addition, previously the volunteer model was built on ex or current CJS professionals not strictly community volunteers as such.
Therefore, organisations (Back on Track and We Are Survivors) were identified with the skills and expertise to be able to work with this cohort and they were consulted on a potential model which has been co-designed to provide a more robust and holistic approach.

Greater Manchester has the highest proportion of PCOSOs in the community outside of London. There are over 3,500 PCOSOs in Greater Manchester, which amounts to approximately 75% of people who are being managed through GM MAPPAs. These numbers have increased year on year, particularly for sexual offending, which has seen a 20% increase since Covid-19. The GM SOMU team has expanded too but can still only operate to caseloads of over 100 people. PCOSOs are often excluded from other support and/or resettlement services and face significant additional barriers to accessing mental health provision and finding progression opportunities.

People convicted of sexual offences managed through Greater Manchester’s Multi Agency Public Protection Units are known to report disproportionately high rates of neurodiversity; high rates of childhood trauma, victimisation, and child sexual abuse; to typically be generalist offenders; and to be at enhanced risk of re-offending when subject to increased stress and social isolation.
The PhD candidate is sought to work under the supervision of Professors David Gadd and Emma Barret in the Department of Criminology. The candidate will also be advised and accountable to the project advisory group, comprising Mr Duncan Craig OBE (Honorary Research Fellow and CEO of We Are Survivors), Kath Self (Senior Policy & Partnership Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority), Dr Polly Turner, Clinical Senior Lecturer, Dr Neil Gredecki, Lecturer in Psychology and Mental Health and Siobhan Pollitt, Chief Executive, Back on Track.
It is a core requirement of the PhD that the candidate work alongside the funder, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to develop an evaluation framework that will ultimately assess the effectiveness of a new model of intervention. The new intervention – delivered by Back on Track and We Are Survivors - seeks to ensure a subpopulation of sex offenders desist from offending by providing additional support to help those who are also victims to process their own trauma and by providing an intervention that enables the development of core life skills a more pro-social sense of self. All those subject to the intervention will also be under the supervision of Greater Manchester Probation Service.
The PhD is scheduled to start in March 2024, with fees and stipend funded for 3.5 years. The University reserves the right to defer the start date to September 2024.

The PhD candidate will be based in the Department of Criminology, in the School of Social Sciences. Fieldwork for the project is expected to conclude after 2.5 years of full-time study. An annual (pro-rata) Research Training Support budget of £1000 to cover fieldwork and dissemination costs will be made available to the candidate. The candidate will be expected to comply with the University of Manchester’s doctoral training requirements. The full range of training and support provided to PhD students in the Dept of Criminology, School of Social Sciences and North West ESRC Doctoral training Partnership will be made accessible to the successful candidate. This will include training in research ethics, data management and security, research methods, research leadership, dissemination and impact.

As lead commissioner, to award a grant to undertake a pilot sex offender programme with experienced providers We are Survivors and Back on Track. The evaluation from the pilot, led by a PhD graduate, will be used to commission a longer-term contract for a service in Greater Manchester.

The cost of the pilot programme is set out below:

Total for Year 1 to 3 for delivery

GMCA (51%) £219,354.06
HMPPS (49%) £210,751.94

Total cost £430,106

This will be given to the lead provider, Back on Track, who will divide between Back on Track and We are Survivors.
Costings for the PhD student

Total for Year 1 to 4 for evaluation (this is a 3.5 year evaluation)

Start date

March 2024 £97,874.00
September 2024 £100,337.00

The Greater Manchester Sex Offender Programme pilot project is developed as an alternative model to supporting people convicted of sexual offences (PCOSOs) in Greater Manchester.

This is to contribute to the prevention of sexual re-offending by PCOSOS, who are facing multiple disadvantages, by supporting individuals to process their own trauma and develop a more pro-social sense of self. The project is solely for people who have convictions for sexual offences (online and contact) and who are still under the supervision of a probation practitioner and police liaison officer.

Agencies involved:
• Greater Manchester Probation Service
• Greater Manchester Police - Sex Offender Management Unit
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – Justice and Rehabilitation
• Back on Track (BoT)
• We Are Survivors
• Community Services: GMIRS, VCSE

A PhD candidate will provide essential evaluation information which will be used to inform future commissioning on a longer term basis. Focussing on an ‘Appraisal of the Value of Therapeutic Community Resettlement for People with Convictions for Sexual Offences in Greater Manchester’. The PhD It will be hosted in the Department of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester. The academic research question the studentship will address is:
What should be done to reduce the risks of reoffending among convicted sex offenders whose offending is foregrounded in multiple disadvantage, previous victimisation and/or substance use and poor mental health?

Agencies involved:
• Greater Manchester Probation Service
• University of Manchester
• Greater Manchester Police - Sex Offender Management Unit
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – Justice and Rehabilitation
• Back on Track (BoT)
• We Are Survivors
• Community Services: GMIRS, VCSE

The competitive procedure shows value for money and ability of Business Stream to meet the requirements of GMCA and GMFRS sites.

Following a competitive exercise, using the CCS Framework Water, Wastewater and Ancillary Services (2), Lot 3, the award of the GMCA 835 Water, Wastewater and Ancillary Services contract is to Business Stream.

Contract is for 2 years, starting 01/04/2024, with the option to extend a further 2 years until 31/03/2026.

In late 2023, the Home Office announced a new Community Insights Fund for research proposals to understand more about the impact of Grip visible hotspot policing on individuals and communities outside of the impact on crime. This fund sits as a companion to the main quantitative evaluation of the impact of Grip funds on levels of violent crime, which has been conducted by the Home Office and in February 2024 published their first results finding an average 7% reduction in violence and robbery offences in hotspot areas.

The fund invited bids for research pieces to understand how increased visible policing in hotspots is perceived by individuals and communities living in, working in, or conducting other day-to-day activities in hotspot areas, including:

• Whether there is an impact on public confidence in policing
• Whether Grip visible presence has been noticed by the public
• How it has impacted their feelings of safety (whether positively or negatively)
• Any other that would develop a better understanding about how hotspot operations affect the communities they are designed to serve.
• The bidding process opened for a short window from the end of September 2023 to mid-October 2023. The GMCA and GMP submitted a joint bit in this window based on two streams of work:
• Supplementing the existing Policing and Community Safety Survey with 3,000 new surveys in hotspot areas conducted by DJS, and additional geographical analysis of the 55,250 survey responses to date. This was intended to build on an existing rich and unique dataset in Greater Manchester and enable us to mobilise the research quickly.
• A series of interviews and focus groups with marginalised communities in hotspot areas conducted by MMU’s Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, allowing for richer qualitative insights and empowerment of community voices in line with the VRU’s commitment to community led approaches.

Following a bid submitted by GMCA with support from GMP, in February 2024, the Home Office notified us that we were successful in this bid, for a total of £73,500 to be spent in 2023/24 and £140,000 in 2024/25. The remainder of the funding will be awarded to DJS to fulfil the other asks of the Home Office grant agreement with GMCA, and a separate Decision and Exemption for that funding has also been submitted.

A professor at MMU has a specialism in Participatory Youth Practices and has written a Participatory Youth Practice Framework previously. This professor leads the MMU’s Manchester Centre for Youth studies and is well placed to conduct interviews and focus groups within marginalised communities across GM’s hotspot areas at pace. A project plan has been agreed between MMU and GMCA

The GMCA is seeking to award Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) the following funding amounts via a new contract following a successful bid to the Home Office for funding to understand more about the impact of GRIP visible hotspot policing on individuals and communities outside of the impact on crime:

• £20,000 for financial year 23/24
• £70,000 for financial year 24/25

In late 2023, the Home Office announced a new Community Insights Fund for research proposals to understand more about the impact of Grip visible hotspot policing on individuals and communities outside of the impact on crime. This fund sits as a companion to the main quantitative evaluation of the impact of Grip funds on levels of violent crime, which has been conducted by the Home Office and in February 2024 published their first results finding an average 7% reduction in violence and robbery offences in hotspot areas.

The fund invited bids for research pieces to understand how increased visible policing in hotspots is perceived by individuals and communities living in, working in, or conducting other day-to-day activities in hotspot areas, including:

• Whether there is an impact on public confidence in policing
• Whether Grip visible presence has been noticed by the public
• How it has impacted their feelings of safety (whether positively or negatively)
• Any other that would develop a better understanding about how hotspot operations affect the communities they are designed to serve.
• The bidding process opened for a short window from the end of September 2023 to mid-October 2023. The GMCA and GMP submitted a joint bit in this window based on two streams of work:
• Supplementing the existing Policing and Community Safety Survey with 3,000 new surveys in hotspot areas conducted by DJS, and additional geographical analysis of the 55,250 survey responses to date. This was intended to build on an existing rich and unique dataset in Greater Manchester and enable us to mobilise the research quickly.
• A series of interviews and focus groups with marginalised communities in hotspot areas conducted by MMU’s Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, allowing for richer qualitative insights and empowerment of community voices in line with the VRU’s commitment to community led approaches.

Following a bid submitted by GMCA with support from GMP, in February 2024, the Home Office notified us that we were successful in this bid, for a total of £73,500 to be spent in 2023/24 and £140,000 in 2024/25. The remainder of the funding will be awarded to Manchester Metropolitan University to fulfil the other asks of the Home Office grant agreement with GMCA, and a separate Decision and Exemption for that funding has also been submitted.

DJS Research Ltd deliver and report on the results of the Policing and Community Safety survey under contract “GMCA 589 Resident and Victim Perceptions of Policing and Community Safety”, and so are well placed to urgently mobilise and deliver immediately in 23/24 and onwards into 24/25 against all aspects of the Home Office grant agreement relating to Community Insights funding. This contract has been varied once previously, however as the GMCA won this new tranche of Home Office grant funding in February 2024, GMCA Commercial Services have agreed to a further variation in order to urgently deliver against the grant agreement relating to this new funding award, particularly as the proposed activity arising from the new grant funding is a direct read across from DJS’ existing contract with GMCA.

The GMCA is seeking to award DJS Research Ltd the following funding amounts via a variation of its existing contract following a successful bid to the Home Office for funding to understand more about the impact of GRIP visible hotspot policing on individuals and communities outside of the impact on crime:

• £53,500 for financial year 23/24
• £70,000 for financial year 24/25

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 makes provisions for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to take on additional duties in respect of the oversight of police complaints. As a minimum, PCCs have responsibility for being the relevant review body for certain police complaints. This process includes undertaking a review of how GMP managed the original complaint to ensure the complainant received an appropriate and proportionate outcome.

This is a function that GMCA has carried out since the statutory commencement in February 2020 with a dedicated resource within the GMCA Police, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire team.

The Strategic Police Complaints and Review Manager is newly appointed and is currently learning the role. Therefore, there will be a requirement to seek additional, external support to ensure the team may continue to service the requests being received from the public. Given the specialist knowledge and skill set required, it is proposed to carry on seeking support from Sancus, an agency external to GMCA that specialises in conducting such reviews for other Police and Crime Commissioners across the country.

There has historically been a backlog in 2023 due to staffing capacity and Sancus have assisted the GMCA in reducing that backlog and we are now in a favourable position and are providing an excellent service to the public. We are now able to process review requests in a timely manner, which will provide public confidence that the GMCA is carrying out its statutory responsibility effectively.

Sancus will help maintain this position and will provide additional support and specialist advice as this is an area with limited alternative sources. They will also cover any period of staff absence and ensure requests from the public can continue to be processed accordingly.

To provide funding up to £12,000 to seek resilience cover and ongoing support for the continuation of the Police Complaint Reviews function. The Strategic Police Complaints and Review Manager is newly appointed and is currently learning the role and will require ongoing support and advice and this will also build in some resilience for unforeseen absences within the team.

The contract will operate on a call on call off basis.

APACE membership brings together collective skills, knowledge and experience of Chief Executives from around the country to develop advice and guidance on a wide range of issues.

To subscribe to the annual APACE membership subscription for 2023/2024 to the value of £1000

A compliant procurement process was undertaken to engage a provider to deliver a review of Greater Manchester’s partnership approach to MSHT. As part of this review, GMCA and its partners in Programme Challenger want Lived Experience to be a central point of the review. As such, we are seeking quotes to provide such expertise from known suppliers in the field.

£4,179 will be allocated to Align Ltd to engage and support lived experience consultant(s) in delivery of a Greater Manchester wide review of our partnership approach to modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT).

MATAC is a whole system approach to intervening with perpetrators of domestic abuse who are classed as being serial/or high risk, high harm. The objective is for Police and partners to work together so that risk, harm and revictimization are reduced.
The key elements of the model are:
• Identification of the most harmful perpetrators
• Assessment of the risk they pose to victims, children, other family members.
• Referral into regular multi-agency MATAC meeting.
• Implementation of a combination of disruption, enforcement, challenge and behaviour change provision.
• Frequent review of risk to victim and provision of integrated victim support offer.
• Continued review of risk and harm posed by perpetrator as interventions take place.
The MATAC model has been successfully in place across the Northumbria force area since 2015 and embraces all the Local Authorities that fall within that area.
Locally, the MATAC model has been piloted over recent months in Wigan and Tameside and has shown solid signs of progress and achievement. GMCA will commission an evaluation of the MATAC model in Wigan to date, this will ensure delivery of key lessons for improvement of the programme across GM. A further decision notice will be produced for the evaluation.

The Deputy Mayor agrees to award each Greater Manchester Community Safety Partnerships (CSP’s) the below funding to support the development and rollout of a MATAC model approach. The funding will be used from the Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Fund.

2023/24
Manchester £30,000.00
Salford £12,500.00
Rochdale £12,500.00
Oldham £12,500.00
Bolton £12,500.00
Wigan £12,500.00
Trafford £12,500.00
Bury £12,500.00
Stockport £12,500.00

2023/24 Total funding amount to be devolved to CSPs: £127,500.00

Community Safety Partnerships have agreed to develop and roll out a MATAC model approach to high-risk high harm perpetrators of Domestic Abuse in each GM district.

The funding will be granted on the condition that the individual CSP plans are aligned to the wider strategic priorities of their organisation and partners.

The Home Office announced a VAWG Specialist By-and-For services fund in December 2022. Organisations were eligible to bid in which provided specialist services to victims and survivors of Violence against Women and Girls – so those which provide and deliver by specialist services working within their communities and whose services are designed to meet their specific needs.

The Consortium is led by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) with partners that are delivery providers of by and for services across Greater Manchester. The funding will be awarded to 6 organisations to deliver the Consortium Hub model.

The partners are:

• Safety4Sisters – Black led organisation established in 2009 to address the exclusion of migrant women (particularly those with no recourse to public funds NRPF) from the most basic rights of safety and protection.
• NESTAC - Based in and works with Black and minoritized communities, particularly refugees and asylum seekers. A specialist provider of services around FGM, honour-based abuse and domestic servitude.
• Olive Pathway – Black survivor led organisation working with Black and minoritized communities to combat GBV and VAWG.
• Saheli – Specialist refuge providing support to women from Black, Asian, and other minoritized communities.
• Rochdale Women’s Welfare Association – Community organisation that supports Black African/Caribbean & Global Majority people of colour who are marginalised from accessing resources.
• GMIAU – Voluntary organisation that supports people subject to immigration control, offering free legal advice, representation and support services seeking asylum, refugees, children and vulnerable adults.

GMCA acted as the lead bidder on behalf of Consortium partners to provide the capacity and capability to lead and manage the bid. The Consortium partners developed the proposal outline. They are all organisations who have extensive expertise in supporting victims and survivors from black and minoritised communities and are leading organisations across Greater Manchester working within their communities. GMCA are working in partnership with them and supporting the bid as support for black and minoritised communities across Greater Manchester is both an identified priority within the GBV Strategy and a recognised gap in terms of service provision.

The HUB will be operated by the 6 organisations, and will provide services for Black, Asian, and other minoritized women and girls across Greater Manchester, including migrant women with no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Some of these women will have been subjected to domestic abuse, gender-based violence, forced marriage, immigration abuse, FGM, honour-based violence and modern slavery. This is a priority within the GM Gender Based Violence Strategy and this project will enable more victims and survivors across Greater Manchester to access appropriate services and the support that they need.

The HUB will deliver; culturally sensitive, trauma Informed counselling; culturally Sensitive, trauma informed psychosexual support; specialist help Line; specialist advocacy & support; interpretation; immigration advice; housing support/emergency accommodation, including specialist refuges; support to access police and the criminal justice system; peer support; group therapy; specialist groups for wellbeing, recovery; crisis intervention;

safeguarding referrals, risk assessments and referrals into MARAC and training and support to other professionals. The Home Office have agreed to the proposed delivery model.

Funding is confirmed until 31st March 2025

The GMCA is seeking to award £682,600 over 2 years to 6 organisations to deliver the Consortium HUB model. This will provide services for Black, Asian and other minoritised women and girls across Greater Manchester, including migrant women with no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

• £325,800 will be awarded to 6 organisations in financial year 2023/24

• £356,800 will be awarded to 6 organisations in financial year 2024/25

These funding amounts will themselves be funded via a grant agreement between the Home Office & GMCA specifically intended to deliver the Consortium HUB model to support Black, Asian and other minoritised women and girls across Greater Manchester, including migrant women with no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

Recognising and honouring acts of bravery by police officers is an important part of establishing public confidence in the police service.

The Police Public Bravery Awards provide a key forum for this and police and crime commissioners across the country contribute to ensure that the event and awards are appropriate for the recipients.

£500 is paid to the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire as a contribution towards the national cost of the bravery awards.

The reason for the decision are:

The GMIRS Accommodation contract was awarded to Ingeus in November 2021 following a formal open tender process.

Since the beginning of the contract, referrals into the GM Accommodation Service have been significantly more than those forecast as part of the tender process. The tender advertised a monthly referral of 170. This led to oversized keyworker caseloads meaning that cases are not being satisfactorily managed. The staff morale is low with significant periods of absence due to work stress placing further pressure on the service

The GMCA and HMPPS agreed that the budget for 23/24 would be increased to take account of the demand for the service. (See attached decision notice) The extra capacity allowed greater integration with Probation with keyworkers in Probation Offices with at least weekly outreach at Wellbeing Hubs and Women’s Centres.

Moreover, a specialist was recruited to support the CAS-3 move on and the most complex cases i.e. arson and sex offenders. It has also been recognised a need for more strategic capacity and the extra funding will support a local partnerships manager to contribute to regional discussions with GMPS Homeless Prevention Team, GMCA, Prison and LAs in the whole system response to homelessness. These additional have been well received by colleagues in Prison and GM Probation.

The demand of the service has continued above the tendered levels into 2023/24. We have seen an uptick in the last quarter. We propose maintaining the increased level of staffing in order to ensure individuals are provided housing advice and guidance upon release. The housing environment is increasingly challenging with the lack of affordable homes and caseloads need to allow staff time to work flexibly. The extra funding brings 12 frontline workers and the manager. The total frontline service is 23 for an active caseload of 1400 (as of November 23).

Moreover, it has been identified that the unsentenced cohort was missing from the original scope of the service. Therefore, HMPPS has awarded GMCA and GMPS funding to deliver the accommodation support service but for the unsentenced including those on remand.

The number of people on remand has significantly increased in 23/24 and there is currently no provision for the cohort. This is considered a priority to ensure that housing issues do not escalate if they are not resolved on reception not custody. As an example ensuring arrears don’t build up preventing homelessness in the future.

Ingeus will deliver the same accommodation service to this extended cohort of individuals including women.

The funding envelope for 2023/24 has been agreed up to £100,315

For 2024/25 the funding will be broken down as follows:

Base rate: £794,524
Additionality for increased demand: £460,808
Remand (male estate): £248,177
Remand (women’s estate): £87,042
Total 2024/25: £796,027

To increase the Greater Manchester Integrated Rehabilitation Support (GMIRS) budget for 23/24 by £100,315 to provide mobilisation for additional
accommodation support for the unsentenced cohort including those on
remand and on reception into custody.

To increase the 24/25 budget for the GMIRS Accommodation contract by £796,027 to a total of £1,590,551.18 to increase the capacity of the service based on the ongoing demand and to include support for the unsentenced cohort including those on remand and on reception into custody.


Total Variation: £896,342

The Greater Manchester Integrated Rehabilitation Service contract for Women’s Services was awarded to Greater Manchester Women’s Support Alliance (GMWSA) in October 2021 following a formal open tender process.

HMPPS have since identified that the unsentenced cohort was not included in the original scope of the Integrated Rehabilitation service. Therefore, HMPPS has awarded GMCA and GMPS funding to deliver accommodation support service for the unsentenced including those on remand and on reception into custody.

To increase the 23/24 budget to the Greater Manchester Women’s Support Alliance (GMWSA) by £7,352 to mobilise accommodation support for the unsentenced including those on remand and on reception into custody.

To increase the 24/25 budget to GMWSA by £38,122 to provide accommo-dation support for the unsentenced including those on remand and on recep-tion into custody.

Total variation is £45,474

Following two successful events in 2023, the Deputy Mayor renewed her commitment to host these events on a bi-annual basis to act as a forum to summarise the work of the past six months, and to look forward and plan for future challenges.

A funding envelope of £1500 be agreed to logistical costs associated with the Deputy Mayor’s Community Safety Event being held in March 2024

London Violence Reduction Unit: Inclusive Education For All Young Londoners – Hosted by London VRU, this is a shared learning opportunity to discuss views and visions about how inclusive education can be championed and continue to support young people to thrive. A panel and speakers are lined up of London leaders, local authorities, young people, teachers and education specialists. This partnership approach has been built on the voice of young people and informed by parents and carers, schools, education specialists and local authorities. An inclusive, quality education is at the heart of London's Inclusion Charter and helps to keep young people safe. Tackling exclusions, suspensions, and the high level of absenteeism in our schools is at the heart of the GM VRU’s prevention work and is central to the Greater Than Violence strategy, therefore the GM VRU Programme Principal will bring back shared learning arising from the day and discuss with the GM VRU partnership.

Youth Endowment Fund conference- Engaging with Parents of Children at Risk of Violence- This is an opportunity to hear from experts and political leaders on promising parenting interventions for children at risk of violence, and how to effectively engage parents/carers with these interventions, including via interactive workshops exploring evidence-based parenting interventions and best practice for engaging parents, working with parents as partners for exploited children. Keynote speeches will be delivered by the Children’s Commissioner for England (Dame Rachel De Souza) and the Shadow Minister for Children & Early Years (Helen Hayes MP). One of the GM VRU’s flagship interventions is a support service for parents & carers of adolescents involved in or at risk of serious violence, therefore the Programme Principal’s attendance to this event is vital to understand the emerging national evidence based for this intervention and take away shared learning.

The Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit are seeking to make the following payments covering travel & accommodation for the Violence Reduction Unit’s Programme Principal on 5th/6th Feb 2024 & 20th/21st March 2024:

Click Travel
Two payments to be made of:

• £384.19- 5th/6th Feb- London Violence Reduction Unit: Inclusive Education For All Young Londoners event
• £398.29- 20th/21st March 2024: Youth Endowment Fund conference- Engaging with Parents of Children at Risk of Violence

Both payments are to cover the same travel & accommodation arrangements on each occurrence (train from Manchester to London, standard return fare for 1 person, hotel room for one night in standard rate chain hotel, and Zone 1 Tube travelcard valid for one day). The attendee is the VRU Programme Principal.

The GMCA Complex Safeguarding hub wishes to upskill frontline staff around understanding how grooming affects young people’s lives, as well as what techniques perpetrators use to make a child feel trapped. This is also aligned with the GM Complex Safeguarding strategy’s objective to embed lived experience within professional development input.

GMCA Complex Safeguarding wishes to pay £600 from the Complex Safeguarding Budget (Deputy Mayor Investment Fund) to pay for The Reign Collective to deliver a workshop on “Grooming and Entrapment” on March 4th as part of GM’s Week of Action professional development offer.

The current 3D Custody Improvement Programme has highlighted a gap in support for young people in police custody at risk of violence (perpetrator or victim). The VRU / Police and current L & D service have been collaborating to find a solution, and the intention is additional provision of up to 3 youth Navigators to service a pilot at Central Park custody facility (identified via demand profile). This collaboration will see funding from the existing 3D Custody project £36K, VRU CJ £36K and NHS (L&D) £40K.
The pilot will review the current referral process for young people into services, provide appropriate support either on site or away from custody, and contribute towards the review of child attendance / voluntary attendance for interviews. An allocation of funding will provide benchmarking and staged evaluation.

The programme director agrees a 2023/24 budget allocation of £36,000 from the VRU Criminal Justice 2023/24 budget to extend the current Navigator service to include Police custody for a 12-month pilot.

Eventbrite have now changed their terms and conditions, which means that we can no longer promote events and monitor attendance via Eventbrite for free. This function enables us to monitor attendance and report on impact. The events we are hosting are seeking to improve professionals’ knowledge on exploitation and associated themes. This allocation will allow us to create 4 events.

Up to £100 be allocated to creating events on Eventbrite to support staff in promoting learning and development events during the upcoming WOA in March 2024.

The Brake National Road Victim Service (NRVS) provides national support to victims and families following road traffic incidents. Often this includes bereavement support for family members and as such is considered a bespoke service to those currently provided by the GM Victims Services offer. Nationally, the Department for Transport contribute financially to the running of the NRVS, with Police and Crime Commissioners asked to contribute also.
The NRVS includes the following aspects:
• An accredited national helpline staffed by professionals and providing one to one, needs-led support planning for victims, safeguarding those who are high risk and vulnerable and providing specialist information and advocacy through the recovery process, including enabling victims to access a pathway to local services in local areas.
• Comprehensive Bereavement Support Information Packs (prepared and regularly reviewed in consultation with statutory agencies including the police). The packs (including translations) provide information and help dealing with emotions, practical issues (including information about the police investigation and the role of police with family liaison duties) and procedural issues such as going to court and many more.
Following consultation with Greater Manchester Police, this NRVS is a critical support mechanism used by the Family Liaison Officers. At present, there is no other such specialist service within Greater Manchester. The NRVS services support around 150 road victims a year in Greater Manchester.
The grant is to be provided to cover works for 2023/2024. Work is underway to understand future commissioning options for such support as part of a national roads policing review being undertaken by the Department for Transport and the GM Victim Services review.

Approval be given for a grant of £14,125 to be provided to Brake for the delivery of the National Road Victims Service in 2023/24

As agreed by the Deputy Mayor at the November 2023 Violence Reduction Governance Board, the GM VRU wishes to host a series of workshops intended as a forum for colleagues from across the GM system, including all 10 CSPs, GMP, Fire, Health, Probation, Education & VCSE to convene and workshop thoughts and ideas to underpin the implementation plan that will govern delivery of the Greater Than Violence strategy. This is intended as the final workshop to finalise the implementation plan.

The Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit are seeking to make the following payment for the following VRU hosted events:

Chambers of Commerce
A payment to be made of £702.00 to book a room for a full day at Chambers of Commerce in Manchester to host a VRU Delivery Plan Workshop for a maximum of 25 people on 18th March 2024. This will include provision of refreshments (tea, coffee and water unlimited for all attendees which is standard provision by the Chambers of Commerce for any booking for meeting space), AV and flipcharts, free Wi-Fi, and lunch (standard lunch platters) for up to 25 people.

The VRU has been working in partnership with StreetDoctors to develop an app (now in use) for wider engagement with young people. The next ambition is to develop face to face programmes with young people in custody settings and alternative provision settings – teaching not only first aid, but social skills and delivering prevention education. StreetDoctors is the only current provider to offer these courses in the NW region. This work complements the requirements of the Serious Violence Duty responsibilities (prisons / education).

The programme director agrees a 2023/24 budget allocation of £10,000 from the VRU Education 23/24 budget to commission StreetDoctors charity to deliver two 9-week programmes at Hindley Prison and Springboard alternative provision programme (Oldham)

GMCA have received funding from the Home Office and Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) to pilot YEF’s Focused Deterrence programme in the city of Manchester and Trafford. This work will run alongside four other similar projects across the UK.

The impact of the programme will be monitored via a randomised control trial. Lessons learned will provide new insight into how Focused Deterrence programmes can be adapted and adopted to reduce violent crime in the UK.

We are keen to ensure that materials are suitable for our audience and content is clear so that uptake of the programme is more likely. A printed welcome pack will be produced as well as a web page and animation/video.

The programme will be advertised through a series of targeted ads on social media.

Following an Expression of Interest procurement process, the GMCA are seeking to award £15,000 to EY3 Media to fund a contract for the development of the Another Chance programme welcome pack and development of social media content and paid advertisements.

The reasons for the decision are:

Manchester and Salford collectively account for 26% of all mapped Serious and Organised Crime threats in Greater Manchester. Many of the organised crime groups in Manchester are very well established, are involved in very serious criminality involving illegal drugs, weapons, extortion and exploitation and many have the capability of committing extremely high levels of violence against other people.

The multi-agency Challenger team in Manchester have very strong and clear governance arrangements in place and each has a comprehensive serious and organised crime 4P plan (prepare, Prevent, Pursue, Protect) as part of their local community safety partnership arrangements.

This funding is available to contribute with the delivery of their serious and organised crime 4P plan, on the following conditions agreed with Manchester City Council:
- It is at least match funded by a contribution from the community safety partnership.
- It adds value to existing services rather than replacing funding that has been withdrawn.
- There is a clear spending plan with a focus on performance in relation to outputs and outcomes.
- Their serious and organised crime governance arrangements oversee the spending to ensure it achieves its stated goals.
- They have undertaken appropriate procurement of commissioning processes

By targeted this spending to Manchester’s hot spot locations for serious and organised crime, the impact of this spending on organised crime and serious violence will be greater than if the total funding was spread across ten districts. The strong leadership and governance in relation to serious and organised crime in those two districts of GM provide confidence that that there will be clear accountability and oversight of this spending locally, with a commitment to ensuring performance measures are recorded and reported appropriately.

For 2023/24, Manchester City Council has allocated the funding to contribute to the delivery of commissioned services to provide 1-1 mentoring for children at risk of serious violence, child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation, which is often driven by serious and organised crime.

£7,500 will be allocated to Manchester City Council to contribute to targeted activity in response to serious and organised crime (SOC) for 2023/24.

A compliant procurement process was undertaken to engage a provider to deliver a review of Greater Manchester’s partnership approach to MSHT. As part of this review, GMCA and its partners in Programme Challenger want Lived Experience to be a central point of the review. As such, we are seeking quotes to provide such expertise from known suppliers in the field.

Up to £4,999 will be allocated to a provider to engage and support lived experience consultant(s) in delivery of a Greater Manchester wide review of our partnership approach to modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT).

Justice and Care is an international Non-Governmental Organisation operating in the UK, Europe, United States, Bangladesh, Thailand and India. They provide a network of in country and international services to support victims and survivors to reintegrate, reduce risk of re-exploitation, and support prosecutions to prevent further offending from their exploiters. The service provides a dedicated Victim Navigator embedded with the Greater Manchester Challenger team, specifically the Modern Slavery Coordination and Investigation Unit.
Since the Navigator role was introduced in December 2019 they have:
• Triaged over 5,000 cases/intelligence with potential modern slavery elements
• Provided strategic advice to 88 cases
• Supported 44 victims with care plans
• Supported seven prosecutions of which three have resulted in convictions totalling over 22 years in custodial sentences collectively (not all prosecution processes have been completed)
• Contributed to the arrests of 25 potential offenders
• Trained 198 police officers and other stakeholders

Considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the criminal justice system, securing three convictions in the last 12 months of this work is a significant achievement. Of the four prosecutions that have not yet gone to trial, one involves an individual charged with 60+ offences, including modern slavery offences.

Overall, only 5% of individuals the navigator has worked and is working with have not supported a prosecution by engaging with the police. 57% have actively been engaged in the process by supporting a prosecution or providing ABE (Achieving Best Evidence) interviews.

A total of £191,484 is provided via a grant agreement to Justice and Care to provide modern slavery and human trafficking Victim Navigator service provision for Greater Manchester for 36 months, embedded with the Modern Slavery Unit in Greater Manchester Police.

Year 1: January 2024 – December 2024, 70% contribution to total costs (£59,630)
Year 2: January 2025 – December 2025, 70% contribution to total costs (£60,659)
Year 3: January 2026 – December 2026, 80% contribution to total costs (£71,195)

The Criminal Justice delivery group workstream identified, through the multi-agency processes and structures in place, the key areas of focus and priority to deliver on the Serious Violence action plan, namely the 14-25 cohort, and specifically those who are experiencing transitions or significant impacts from experiences such adverse childhood experiences and/or societal experiences of being part of an ethnic minority community or subjected to gender based violence. Talk, Listen, Change have been selected based on their ability to deliver against these priorities.

The aim of this programme will continue to be to help:

• Provide practical and emotional support and, where needed, advocacy
• Rebuild or establish their role as father, brother, son
• The Young Adult on Probation and their family to move forward and positively out of the Criminal Justice System
• Understand the needs and barriers for this cohort of individuals

Following an Expression of Interest procurement process, in 2023 the GM VRU within GMCA commissioned Talk, Listen, Change to deliver a programme to provide a one-to-one specialist support service for Young Adults on Probation (age 20-25) who are a parent or live with/have contact with children or siblings (under the age of 18years old).

Following successful delivery since the original mobilisation period, it was identified that priority cohorts particular to the KPI’s of the contract were present in other districts of GM not originally specified within the contract. Therefore, the VRU are seeking authorisation to execute a deed of variation to extend the length of the contract to May 2024. The specification will also be altered to reduce caseload capacity, with the objective of broadening the geographical reach of the project to cover additional GM districts not included in the existing contract- Wigan and Bury, given that priority cohorts pertaining to the contract have been identified as most prevalent in these districts. The VRU are not seeking to add any financial value to this contract- the value will remain the same at £49,999.

The round table event is to present to Domestic Abuse Leads from the 10 Local Authorities, GMP, Probation and service providers:

• The findings of the evaluation of Perpetrator programmes in GM funded by the Home Office Perpetrator Fund with Q&A’s
• The development of the GM DAPO pilot in GM
• The implementation of the GM CARA Programme.

The event will give opportunity to develop thinking and learning and to start conversations to develop a GM commissioning framework to help build consistency and support local authorities with business cases in the future.

That £1300.00 be allocated from the Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrator fund to host a round table event on 15th January 2024 at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester.

• Room Hire
• Lunch Buffet
• Refreshments (Tea and Coffee)
• Equipment Hire

TOTAL £1300.00

To increase the effectiveness of the meetings that the GMCA Police, Crime, Criminal Justice & Fire team lead or are involved in

Sattva is paid £2,100 plus travel and subsistence costs to deliver the training set out below, including offering advice and support to team members during the practice sessions and training materials.

The training will consist of one full day and one half-day follow up session covering the following topics:

- Learning to observe the dynamics of a meeting
- Essential facilitation skills
- Designing a meeting
- How to influence when you’re not chairing the meeting

The Rochdale CSE report is the third of four reports into non-recent CSE and safeguarding practices across Greater Manchester.

The report is high profile and is relevant to several key partners. Given this fact and the significant media interest it is appropriate that key partners and individuals receive a hard copy of the report, and that this is to a professional standard.

£7017 is made available to cover costs associated with the publication of the Rochdale CSE Report

• £3177 is paid to Browns Print for the printing and production of 100 copies of the Rochdale CSE Report.

• £2340 is paid to Vicky Burnam Communications for the proof-reading of the Rochdale CSE Report.

• £1500 is paid to Peter Wilson for the design of the Rochdale CSE Report

Greater Manchester’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) have received funding from the Home Office and Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) to pilot YEF’s Focused Deterrence programme in the city of Manchester and Trafford. This work will run alongside four other similar projects across the UK.

The impact of the programme will be monitored via a randomised control trial. Lessons learned from Greater Manchester VRU’s work (and other areas) will provide new insight into how Focused Deterrence programmes can be adapted and adopted to reduce violent crime in the UK.

The animated case studies will be used to demonstrate the impact of the programme on young people and their families. The case studies will be shared with YEF for evaluation purposes, but also used to encourage other young people who are approached to be part of the programme.

We are seeking to award a contract to Carbon Creative to the value of £4,850 funded from the PCC’s YEF delivery phase funding. This funding will be used to produce animated case studies to show the impact of the Another Chance programme. The case studies will also be used as a way of encouraging young people to be part of the programme.