On 25 February 2014, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) announced a Competed Fund of up to £12m for Police and Crime Commissioners.
The fund is for victims services commissioning in 2014/15. The MOJ gave all PCCs the opportunity to bid for further funding to support priority categories of victims of crime (as defined in the victims code.)
Services should help victims cope with the immediate impacts of crime. As far as possible, services should help victims recover from the harm caused.
Any additional funding secured through this bidding process is a significant boost to the PCCs budget.
The deadline for submitting applications is 16 May 2014. The maximum amount of additional funding for any PCC will equal their allocated budget for victims services for 2014/15. For Cleveland, this means the maximum amount available is £236,906.
The MOJ will only consider bids, which are supported and signed off by the PCC. The PCC is, therefore, asked to support the following bids:
Improving Victim experience of the Criminal Justice System (£107,700)
- Provision of body worn video to enable effective evidence gathering for ‘unsupported prosecutions’
- Video links from neutral locations to court reducing pressure on victims
- Development of an area-wide Pre-Trial therapy protocol to be rolled out and deliverers trained to ensure evidential integrity.
Increasing safety/reducing intimidation (£63,200)
- Emergency Phone Alert – will ensure repeat victims can easily summon assistance and capture critical evidence
- DV Prevention Notices – To enable the Police and Magistrates to provide protection in the immediate aftermath of a DV incident
- Follow-up joint visits by Police and IDVA Support Worker to victims providing reassurance, exit pathways and practical help.
Supporting young victims (£29,000)
- Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub / Fast Track support for young people that have witnessed DV – Information Sharing initiative involving the interests of children who have witnessed DV by the Police sharing information with schools involved with the child by 9am on the next working day
- Registered Intermediaries – to explore the benefits of using intermediaries to assist young people to understand the CJ process and allow their voices to be heard.
Awareness/confidence raising (£37,000)
- Production of a Cleveland-wide directory and supporting promotional materials and events to raise awareness/confidence amongst the BME victims available to address honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
Decision 37-2014. Ministry of Justice Competed Fund bids for 2014/15 (application, 137kB)