Decision details

Decision 1
We have received notification from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner that the Safer Stronger Doncaster Partnership (a Partnership comprising of members of the police, Council, NHS and a range of other public sector and voluntary agencies) will receive a
Community Safety Grant of £129,391, which is allocated every year to fund initiatives and projects agreed by the Partnership and linked to Partnership priorities.

The Community Safety Service within Doncaster Council administers the grant funding on behalf of the Partnership, gaining approval from the OPCC, submitting bi-annual financial returns and monitoring information.

The use of underspends from the grant requires approval from the OPCC and any unspent funds have to be returned in line with the terms of the grant from Central Government.

At this stage the SSDP have identified a number of projects, linked to our community safety priorities, which will be funded going forward, as detailed below:

• the continuation of the Workforce Development Officer post (£36,500);
• the continuation of the OCG Co-ordinator post (£25k);
• Further support to the Youth Council in their wider programme of education and engagement across a range of other crime and community safety matters (£10k);
• Support to each of the Community Safety Partnership Strategic Theme Groups (Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour; Domestic and Sexual Abuse; Serious Organised Crime; Substance Misuse and Crime/Re-offending) to assist them in the delivery of their core priorities, particularly enabling a response to any key issues in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. (£10k per group, £50k total)
• In addition to this, the partnership has retained an initiatives fund to enable us to respond to priorities as they arise during the rest of the year (£7,891)

To approve the receipt of grant funding from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (“OPCC”), which will enable the Council’s Community Safety Service to administer this fund on behalf of the Safer Stronger Doncaster Partnership (“SSDP”).

Present a business case to the Senior Management Team seeking approval to use grant funding from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in a specified way.

Option 1: Do Nothing
This is not viewed as a viable option, as without the required approval to use grant funding in this way; we may risk non-compliance with financial regulations. Should we not take up the option to utilise this funding, it would also place at risk a number of important roles, projects and existing
services, identified by both Doncaster Council and the SSDP as being significant and vital for service delivery.

Option 2: Seek approval to use the grant funding received from the OPCC for the purpose specified in this report.

Recommended option - utilising this additional funding in the ways identified would enable the SSDP to continue to tackle the key priorities identified within the Community Safety strategy, as below:

• Protecting Vulnerable People;
• Reducing Anti-Social Behaviour;
• Reducing Crime and Re-offending;
• Tackling Serious and Organised Crime;
• Reducing Substance and Alcohol Misuse.