On 2 May 2020 the Government announced a package of £76m extra funding to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, vulnerable children and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of £20m was to be administered by the Ministry of Justice through Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales.
This funding was for the additional costs local domestic abuse and sexual violence services have incurred, or will incur, whilst adapting their services during the pandemic and address increased demand.
Round 1 funding:
Local organisations applied through the PCCs Application Page and, of the funding available, Suffolk has secured over £200,000 which was distributed to thirteen organisations. This funding was to cover the period 24 March 2020 and up to 31 October 2021.
PCC Decision 15-2020 – COVID-19 Extraordinary Funding for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Support Services in Suffolk (PDF, 225KB)
Read the full press releases here:
Press Release – 1 June 2020 Press Release – 24 June 2020
Round 2 funding:
In September 2020, the OPCC submitted a report of ‘anticipated funding needs’ from providers of domestic abuse and sexual violence support services in Suffolk to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). On the basis of this the MOJ were able to provide additional funding of £148,600 for the period 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021.
PCC Decision 28 – 2020 – COVID-19 Extraordinary Funding for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Support Services in Suffolk – Round 2 (PDF, 186KB)
The table below illustrates grant distribution in Round 1 & 2:
In June 2021 the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) notified Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) of the Critical Support Fund, to be distributed to PCCs through a bidding process. The total fund available was £1.5m for community-based domestic abuse (DA) and sexual violence (SV) support for the financial year until March 2022.
The funding is for DA and SV organisations focused on community-based support excluding ISVA and IDVA services. Funding must be used to meet increased demand and not for development or transformational purposes. This can include, core staffing costs that cannot be met by any other current funding stream and known future funding streams, additional staff costs, service costs, and digital equipment to support better home-working and remote services.
Local providers were invited by the PCC to apply for inclusion in the Suffolk application based on assessment of data against the criteria. This included data on recent trends and forecast demand for services as well as numbers and length of waiting lists. Four of the service providers approached requested funding through this process. The application for Critical Support funding submitted to the MOJ by the Suffolk PCC was for a total of £69,815. The MOJ confirmed on 30 July 2021 that the fund had been significantly over-subscribed and as such the minimum funding amounts being requested had been considered as well as geographic coverage in each area to ensure funding could be spread in a fair and transparent manner. The proposed funding for Suffolk was £38,298.
See PCC Decision Paper 28-2021 for more information
In December 2021 the Ministry of Justice requested further applications for funding reflecting that a number of victim services nationally were reporting increased demand and that the pandemic was still having an impact on the services provided. The Suffolk PCC submitted a request based on input from local service providers and subsequently received a further £17,797 of grant funding through the Critical Support Fund.
See PCC Decision Paper 8 – 2022 for more information
The following table sets out the funding requested by the PCC in both rounds on behalf of the providers in Suffolk and the amount awarded following the MOJ assessment.
In 2018, Suffolk successfully bid for a share of the Home Office’s £22m Early Intervention Youth Fund.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Suffolk worked with partners involved in tackling Urban Gangs and County Lines in Suffolk to apply for £56,997 to fund the Thinking Skills Programme. The programme was developed locally and delivered intensive small group and individual work with young people aged 10-18 involved in offending through violence or gangs, and known to Suffolk Youth Justice Service.
Read the full press release
Following completion of the programme a final evaluation report was published
In 2019, Suffolk successfully bid for £1,500 of grant funding through the Modern Slavery Police Transformation Fund with funding being matched by Suffolk Constabulary and Suffolk County Council.
Working with the national Modern Slavery Charity Unseen, six multi-agency workshops to raise awareness of Modern Slavery & Trafficking were delivered. By the end of the training participants are better able to identify the signs of Modern Slavery and have the confidence to deal with the situation effectively and support victims.
In 2021, Suffolk successfully bid for £3,000 of grant funding through the Modern Slavery Organised Immigration Crime Programme (MSOICP) ‘Small grants fund for Police and Crime Commissioners to tackle modern slavery’ with funding being matched by the Suffolk PCC and Suffolk County Council.
The application was submitted with multi-agency support, requesting funding to create short films to support Modern Slavery practitioner training, and awareness raising across Suffolk. See PCC decision paper 11-2021 for full details (PDF, 215KB)
It was hoped to the deliver the project in Spring 2021 but this has been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. These delays mean that the £1.5k grant from the PCC might not be fully utilised until early in the 2021/22 financial year.
In 2017, supported with £100,000 worth of funding from Stay Safe Online Fund, Suffolk’s Stay Safe Online campaign was launched. Aimed at keeping our young people safe from digital threats, grants of up to £10,000 were applied for through the Stay Safe Online Fund by charities and community groups who work with young people in the county.
Thirteen organisations have successfully secured a share of the fund, a summary of grant recipients and projects can be found below.
Read the full report of the impact of grants
In 2019, the Youth Intervention Fund was launched with an initial match-fund pledge of £50,000 from the PCC’s commissioning budget.
With the support of Suffolk Community Foundation, a further £100,000 was raised from key private and business supporters in Suffolk meaning that the fund itself has been launched with a total of £150,000 of support on offer to local charities.
Due to the level of high quality and range of applications received, the PCC provided an additional contribution of £30,000 of funding to the Youth Intervention Fund which inspired a further £70,000 of philanthropic giving.
Applications for funding were made between £2,500 and £20,000 per application to organisations delivering services to support young people. This new funding will specifically support work with young people in Suffolk to address the challenges they face in today’s society – providing opportunities for positive activities, increasing life chances and reducing crime and disorder.
Eighteen organisations received a share of the fund, a summary of grant recipients and projects can be found below:
