- Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner

Report reference number:: 122-23
Classification:: Not protectively marked
Title of report:: Return of un-spent 2022-3 MoJ IDVA funding
Area of county / stakeholders affected:: Countywide
Report by:: Greg Myddelton (Strategic Head of Partnerships and Delivery)
Date of report:: 13/07/2023
Enquiries to:: [email protected]

1. Purpose of Report

1.1. This report seeks approval for the return of £40,470 grant funding to Ministry of Justice. This is funding that was allocated to Essex via the additional IDVA/ISVA fund but was unable to be utilised due to a role that was not recruited to.

2. Recommendations

2.1. The PFCC approves the return of £40,470 grant funding from the commissioning reserve to Ministry of Justice.

3. Background to the Proposal

3.1. The PFCC successfully applied for additional IDVA funding in 2021, which included 2 roles provided by Victim Support. This decision was formalised in DR77-21.
3.2. In 2022/3, Victim Support was allocated £81,093 to fund 2 x DA Caseworkers. This was the second year of funding, separate to Victim Support’s core PFCC victim service contract. The roles were recruited to, but following a staff member resignation VS was unable to re-recruit to one of the posts for 12 months, resulting in an underspend of £40,470.
3.3. In 2022-3, the

PFCC received £4.67m Ministry of Justice funding. This underspend represents 0.867% of our victim funding allocation.

4. Proposal and Associated Benefits

4.1. In order to comply with the terms of the Ministry of Justice grant agreement, the PFCC is obliged to return unspent funding to MoJ. The PFCC has received a credit note from Victim Support for the value of this decision report.

5. Options Analysis

5.1. The PFCC has no option but to return this funding to MoJ.

6. Consultation and Analysis

6.1. No consultation or engagement undertaken.

7. Strategic Links

7.1. The PFCC seeks to utilise additional national funding to supplement specialist support for victims. This supports the delivery of the SETDAB partnership domestic abuse strategy as well as the PFCC’s Police & Crime Plan.

8.Police Operational Implications

8.1. No operational implications on Essex Police

9. Financial implications

9.1. The PFCC will make a one-off payment of £40,470 from the commissioning reserve.
9.2. The PFCC has received a credit note from Victim Support for the equivalent value.

10. Legal implications

0.1. The PFCC is obliged to return unspent monies to the MoJ under sec 6.22 of the MoJ grant agreement, which states; “If at the end of the relevant Financial Year there are Unspent Monies or a proportion remains unspent as a result of termination or breach, all or a proportion of the Unspent Monies, as calculated by the Authority, must be repaid to the Authority”.
10.2. Under section 6.6.4 of the MoJ grant agreement, the PFCC would only be eligible for further grant funding “where there are unspent monies from previous grant agreements they have been repaid to the Authority”

11. Staffing Implications

11.1. Monitoring of this grant funding is undertaken by the PFCC’s Commissioning Officer. The PFCC is currently recruiting to fill this vacant position.

12. Equality and Diversity implications

12.1 No EDI implications

13. Risks and Mitigations

Without sufficient resources to manage grants, there is a risk that underspends will occur and the PFCC will not benefit from all available funding. This risk is mitigated by the PFCC recruiting to the vacant
Commissioning Officer role.