Issue details

Since its establishment in 2019, the GM VRU have devolved a large proportion of the Home Office Serious Violence Funding to the 10 GM CSPs, to utilise their existing partnerships and community knowledge to address SV within their local areas.

In the 2021/22, the CSP funded activities resulted in interventions being delivered to over 33,000 Young People across GM. The GM VRU intends to continue funding the positive work being delivered by the CSPs by providing funding for a further year.

In May 2022, the GM VRU wrote to the 10GM CSPs to announce that £150,000 would funding be made available (£200,000 for MCC) from the Serious Violence funding, under the condition that a spending plan be completed and submitted, with the endorsement of their respective Directors of Children Services and Public Health, for the approval of the GM VRU.

It was an expectation of the GM VRU that outcomes and activities commissioned by the CSPs should be monitored locally and reported back to the GM VRU. Furthermore, the CSPs were asked to ensure that the programmes and services commissioned for 2022/2023 are in line with the following areas of need which continue to feature within the VRU Strategic Needs Assessment:
Child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing.
Children and young people in Alternative Provision, at risk of exclusion or not accessing education, particularly where violence has been identified as a cause for concern.
Adverse childhood experiences and trauma-responsive activity.
Adolescent early help services, including drugs and alcohol services.
Youth engagement and provision, including community sports.
Support for parents who are concerned about their child becoming a victim or perpetrator of violent crime.
Transition for children and young people between primary schools, secondary schools and further education

As well as the above areas, the GM VRU also expected districts to apply following:
• Be data led by making full use of the GMCA VRU Violence Dashboard and Strategic Needs Assessment.
• Ensure that a minimum of 20% of funding is spent on ‘high impact’ interventions as defined by the Youth Endowment Fund Toolkit.
• Employ the principles of community-led approaches where opportunity presents, including co-designing and planning. Where community-led programmes exist within your area, we would encourage you to consider investing in successful initiatives which are being delivered by grass root organisations.
• Maintain positive and aspirational language in young person campaigns and avoid deterrent-based approaches (such as ‘scared straight’)
• Monitoring reports must be submitted to the VRU by Mid-October 2022 and April 2023 using the proforma requested by the VRU.
• Staff training to support delivery is allowed.
• Whilst funding of posts for violence reduction managers or front-line delivery workers is appropriate, administrative or analytical work should be absorbed within existing structures.

In addition to the CSP spending plan, the CSPs were required to provide a Summer Violence Prevention Action Plan following an announcement of a further £25,000 to be devolved to each area, to target prevention plans at areas, and young people of highest need, who are at risk of being involved in violence related incidents during the summer holiday period.