Hampshire Police Authority - Crime Prevention Panel Item 5

29 May, 2003

The Review of Annual Grants Made to Voluntary Organisations

Report of the Consultant to the Crime Prevention Panel

Contact: Barrie Saunders (01962 871595)

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 For many years the Police Authority has made a number of annual grants to various charitable organisations operating within the two counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who are primarily concerned with the prevention or reduction of crime and the mitigation of its effects upon victims. Since January 2001 it has been the responsibility of the Crime Prevention Panel to monitor and evaluate the work of these organisations and where appropriate to make recommendations to the full Authority for any increase in grant.

1.2 The following represents a brief résumé of grants currently allocated by the Authority to nine organisations one of whom have sought an increase in their annual grant for the financial year 2003/2004.

(i) The Hampshire Bobby Trust - £7,500
(This grant was originally made in the year 2000/2001 and to last for four years.
Current grant under consideration is the last in that programme of grants)

(ii) The Rock Challenge (the Be Your Best Foundation) - £25,000

(iii) The Hampshire Federation of Victim Support Schemes - £22,000 - increase
sought for 2003-4.

(iv) The Isle of Wight Victim Support Scheme - £3,000

(v) The Southampton Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service - £2,000

(vi) The Winchester Area Community Action Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling
Service - £2,500

(vii) The Basingstoke Rape and Sexual Abuse Crisis Centre - £2,000

(viii) The Portsmouth Area Rape Crisis Service - £6,000

(ix) The Hampton Trust - £25,000

1.3 In the financial year 2002/2003 the Winchester Area Community Action Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service sought an increase in its grant from £2,000 to £2,500 and this was approved subsequently by the full Authority. The cost of these grants in 2002-3 was £95,000. If approved the cost of the recommendations within this report amount of £98,000.

1.4 The remainder of this report comprises a brief monitoring and evaluation of the work of the various organisations and a recommendation as to their financial grants for the year 2003/2004.

2 THE HAMPSHIRE BOBBY TRUST - £7,500 PER ANNUM (LAST YEAR)

2.1 The Bobby Trust was registered by the Charity Commission in September 1999 and has a broad remit to protect the public and their property but its particular objective is to provide home security for vulnerable or needy elderly people. It is a practical service providing improved home security measures for victims of burglary and other crimes speedily and free of charge. It provide a similar service for other groups of individuals who are identified as at risk. The benefits of the scheme are not only in providing practical protection against further burglary, etc., but also in helping to alleviate the long term effects of such crime which often lead to victims feeling confused and unable to continue living independently in a community. The first bobby van in Hampshire was inaugurated in November 1998 and in October 1999 the second van was generously donated with the scheme now covering the whole county of Hampshire, but excluding the Isle of Wight.

2.2 During the year ended August 2002 fitters employed by the scheme made 506 visits as the result of referrals by the Police, Victim Support and other agencies. This is a decrease of 40% over the last year which was mainly attributable to

(a) the reduction in burglaries within the county
(b) the lack of one fitter due to retirement for a third of the year and
(c) a fall in the take up rate from referred cases.

2.3 As part of the ongoing Best Practice operated by the Trust stock is now purchased in partnership with the Wiltshire Bobby Trust offering a considerable saving to the charity and no company has exclusivity in providing equipment to the organisation maintaining the competition element.

2.4 Amongst the statistics provided for the information of the Panel are the following:

(i) The average age of a client was 73 years.
(ii) Over 70% of clients were living alone.
(iii) Nearly 50% of clients were disabled.
(iv) Over 70% of clients were female.
(v) Over 70% of clients were owner/occupiers of their homes.

2.5 The Bobby Scheme has been a tremendous success and provides very real practical help to perhaps the most vulnerable group in our society. The Authority's original contribution of £7,500 a year was agreed by the full Authority in 2000 to run for four years to meet an unexpected VAT bill. It is forecast that in the financial year 2002/2003 income to the Trust will amount to approximately £22,000 with expenditure of £66,000. The shortfall will be met from the Trust's funds which at the end of August 2002 stood at approximately £187,000.

2.6 By the time of this meeting I will hopefully be able to update the Panel as to the likely impact on the charity of the cessation of the grant made by the Police Authority which is now in its final year.

3 THE ROCK CHALLENGE (THE BE YOUR BEST FOUNDATION) - £25,000 PER ANNUM

3.1 The Members of the Panel would be familiar with the concept of the Rock Challenge which is an international drugs and crime prevention vehicle in the form of a performing arts competition for secondary schools. It focuses on young people leading healthy lifestyles and being their best without the need for tobacco, alcohol and drugs. The Rock Challenge was introduced to the UK by the Hampshire Constabulary and is now maintained by a charitable trust the Be You Best Foundation.

3.2 Each year the number of participants both in terms of young people and schools increases both at local and national level. By the time of this meeting a whole host of new schools will have joined the competition both in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and in Hampshire alone nearly 60 schools will have participated in the 2003 programme an increase of nearly 25% on the 2002 figure.

3.3 Both the Hampshire Constabulary and the Police Authority have made an enormous effort over many years, both in terms of finance, staff and support in order to deliver this programme both in Hampshire and elsewhere and it is viewed nationally as a flagship project designed to harness the talent and enthusiasm of young people in delivering a very important message.

4 VICTIM SUPPORT HAMPSHIRE - £22,000 PER ANNUM - INCREASE SOUGHT FOR 2003-4

4.1 Victim Support Hampshire is the umbrella organisation that provides training, guidance and support for the various local services throughout the County of Hampshire. As well as providing a comprehensive general victim support service it provides specialist services in dealing with the victims of sexual assault, road deaths, domestic violence, loss and bereavement as well as dealing with the families of murder victims.

4.2 On the 6^th January this year the 10 victim support schemes, 3 Crown Court and 6 Magistrates Court witness schemes in Hampshire amalgamated under its new title Victim Support Hampshire. This was a requirement laid down by the National Association of Victim Support Schemes (the NAVSS) and the Home Office. Victim Support Hampshire which is now located in its headquarters at Eastleigh has 43 paid members of staff (many of whom are part-time) and over 400 volunteers. A further current major requirement and one that will continue in the foreseeable future is that of training not only to meet the requirements and policy set by the National Association and the Home Office but in meeting the needs and expectations of the public who are unfortunate enough to become the victims of crime. Victims rights legislation will probably go through Parliament during the course of this year which may place additional requirements and accountability on those providing victim support services.

4.3 Victim Support Hampshire is particularly keen to provide serious crime training throughout Hampshire and the cost of a specialist training officer to carry out this function is anticipated to be over £18,000 per annum.

4.4 The current grant made by the Police Authority to Victim Support Hampshire is £22,000 per annum and had not increased for a number of years. I would therefore recommend that in view of its new responsibilities and the extra work being undertaken to provide a modern and up-to-date service the grant from the Police Authority be increased to £25,000 per annum to be met in this year at least from the crime prevention panel's discretionary grants fund.

5 THE ISLE OF WIGHT VICTIM SUPPORT SCHEME (KNOWN NOW AS VICTIM SUPPORT ISLE OF WIGHT) - £3,000 PER ANNUM

5.1 This scheme which has been operating for over 25 years provides similar help, support and facilities for victims of crime on the Isle of Wight and also has a fully developed court witness service both at Crown and Magistrates Court which operates alongside the existing scheme under the same management umbrella.

5.2 As reported last year there continue to be problems with accommodation for the Isle of Wight Scheme and it is hoped that alternative facilities will shortly be provided by the Isle of Wight Council as their contribution to the scheme. During 2002 the Isle of Wight Scheme achieved area status from the National Association which will enable them to apply for their own block funding to cover running costs and fill key managerial posts. 2001/2002 saw a reduction in the number of referrals to Victim Support due to changes in the referral scheme but in parallel the support provided by the Court Witness Service increased considerably on the previous year's figures.

6 RAPE CRISIS AND SEXUAL ABUSE COUNSELLING SERVICES

6.1 Whilst the next four sections of this report detail the services available in Hampshire the following additional facts are provided for the information of the Panel.

6.2 Across the whole country there is no universal service provided for victims. During 2002 on a national basis there was a considerable reduction on the number of services available although Hampshire remains reasonably well served. In addition to their own fund raising and sponsorship the majority of Hampshire groups, in addition to grants from this Authority, received grants from Hampshire County Council. The County Council are currently reviewing the grant to each organisation with the intention in the long term of establishing service level agreements and perhaps an equality of service. Many of the organisations serving Hampshire grew from different historical routes quite naturally providing different levels of service and specialised expertise. All the organisations play a key role in not only providing support, counselling and practical assistance for victims but in increasing the confidence of victims in the criminal justice system.

7 SOUTHAMPTON RAPE CRISIS AND SEXUAL ABUSE COUNSELLING SERVICE - £2,000 PER ANNUM

7.1 The Southampton Service which covers the Southampton area provides free confidential counselling both on the telephone and face to face for women and girls who have been raped and sexually abused. In addition it provides services for males up to the age of 24 years but are funding a pilot service for older males which will be extended subject to funding. In 2002 it received over 500 direct calls with over 200 additional calls coming from third parties. The Centre operates it Star Project as an education and outreach initiative aimed at 20 to 24 year olds with a specific focus on reaching particularly vulnerable groups of young people. This service is delivered in a wide range of schools and youth facilities. In common with many other services there is a waiting list for face to face counselling.

8 THE WINCHESTER COMMUNITY ACTION RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE COUNSELLING SERVICE - £2,500 PER ANNUM

8.1 Rape and sexual abuse counselling services for the greater Winchester area is provided under the umbrella of the Winchester Area Community Action project which is a co-ordinating body in a voluntary community sector. Historically its grant from the Police Authority has been used to help pay for its general operating costs and enabled it to continue to deal with a large increase in telephone calls to its help lines and face to face counselling. It provides services for men, women and children and it too has experienced demand outstripping supply with a considerable waiting time for one to one counselling.

9 BASINGSTOKE RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS SERVICE - £2,000 PER ANNUM

9.1 The Basingstoke Rape and Sexual Abuse Crisis Service provides a crisis line, direct counselling and support for victims right upto and including court proceedings. The majority of money allocated by the Authority last year was used towards the training of new volunteers and in particular the training of nine volunteers which started in January of this year. In common with the other services in the county there remain considerable waiting times for face to face counselling and this group is considering setting up a support group for clients awaiting that service. The service reports a significant rise in its core figures throughout the year with 100% rise in the number of clients counselled on a face to face basis.

10 THE PORTSMOUTH AREA RAPE CRISIS SERVICE - £6,000 PER ANNUM

10.1 The Portsmouth Area Rape Crisis Service is the largest of the services within Hampshire and covers the City of Portsmouth as well as part of the Portsmouth greater area. As with the other services it is still hugely over subscribed in terms of the demand upon its expertise and its ability to provide them. Since 1993 when figures were first available the number of counselling hours has increased by 400% and the client base tripled. Strenuous efforts have been made to reduce the waiting list which is now 50% lower than the figures experienced at the end of 2001.

11 THE HAMPTON TRUST - £25,000 PER ANNUM

11.1 For over six years Hampshire Police Authority have supported the Hampton Trust by providing for some of its infrastructure costs with an annual grant of £25,000 per annum (last increased in 2001). Amongst its programmes are family group conferencing, the bail supervision and support scheme, the domestic violence programme which includes work with perpetrators and the interact mentoring scheme. Amongst its other activities are the making of small grants to individuals in need who are clients of the Probation Service who may be in need in the short term of food, clothing and the opportunities to improve employment prospects. The Trust provides administrative support for the Change Course Project in Southampton designed to reduce kerb crawling and is funded by the Home Office to train recruits and volunteers to support the integration of serious offenders into the community.

12 RECOMMENDATIONS

12.1 All the organisations listed above make a substantial contribution to crime prevention within the two counties and just as importantly the mitigation of the effects of crime upon victims. In many cases their core work is carried out by trained but unpaid volunteers who make a tremendous contribution to the organisation to which they are allied and the wider community. The recommendations are that financial assistance in the year 2003/4 be awarded to the following organisations be maintained at the level indicated.

The Hampshire Bobby Trust - £7,500
The Rock Challenge (Be Your Best Foundation) - £25,000
Victim Support Isle of Wight - £3,000
The Southampton Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service - £2,000
The Winchester Area Community Action Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service - £2,500
The Basingstoke Rape and Sexual Abuse Service - £2,000
The Portsmouth Area Rape Crisis Service - £6,000
The Hampton Trust - £25,000

12.2 It is further recommended that the grant to Victim Support Hampshire be increased to £25,000 per annum to be met in this year from the Crime Prevention Panel's discretionary grants fund.

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