Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Festus Akinbusoye, believes securing additional funding for victims of Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence will be instrumental in tackling these crimes across the county.
The Home Office have confirmed that £147m of funding will be committed, until the end of 2024/25 for victim services.
The money will fund emotional, practical, and therapeutic support for victims of crime such as women and girls affected by domestic abuse.
Funding allocation from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is broken down as follows:
- 27m ring-fenced funding to maintain the Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) funded in 2021/22 until the end of 2024/25
- £3.75m per annum to recruit an additional 300 ISVA/IDVA posts by 2024/25 with the aim of recruiting an additional 100 ISVA/IDVAs in 2022/23, taking the total from 700 to 1000
- £15.7m ringfenced funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence support services.
PCCs have not yet received their final allocation and have been asked to complete a local needs assessment.
The Commissioner said: “One of my key priorities is supporting victims of abuse and ultimately how we tackle domestic abuse and sexual violence. I am proud to say I have already provided record funding to support victims as part of my responsibility to fund local services.
“I welcome this additional funding from the MoJ and I continue to help to provide the most wide-reaching support services for victims. The increase in ISVAs and IDVAs will offer the tailored support victims deserve at what could be the most traumatic and devastating time in their lives”.
The additional funding from the MoJ means organisations can provide additional services to the ones already provided.
The money is split into two pots:
- Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Support
- The National ISVA and IDVA fund
The MoJ state that DA and SV support services could include, but are not limited to:
- Family court support
- Court support
- Face to face or remote counselling for induvial and/or their families
- Support for the groups such as BME/Disabled/LGBT/male victims
The MoJ have confirmed that funding will increase the number of ISVAs and IDVAs, to over 1,000 nationally.
The PCC is inviting services that can provide more tailored support:
- To children and young persons
- To disabled persons
- To underrepresented survivors and those with protected characteristics.
- To adopt hybrid models supporting both DA and SV victims, as well as violence against
- women and girls (VAWG) advocates and advisers.
Originally, the MOJ provided £27m in 2021/22 to recruit and retain 700 ISVA and IDVA posts. It was initially confirmed this funding would extend to 2022/23; as part of the multi-year funding update, this has now been extended to the end of 2024/25.
Simon Powell, Head of Commissioning in the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), said: “We’re delighted to receive this additional funding and we will work with our partners to ensure they have the information they need to bid into the funds. Any partners that require more information or support are welcome to contact the office”.
The OPCC will publish the application form on their website for partners to complete if they wish to bid into this fund. The application form will be published on or around the 21st April 2022 for submission by 2nd May 2022.
We’re aware that this is a very quick turnaround, however these are the timescales given to us by the MoJ.
If you’re a partner and would like more information, please contact PCC-Commissioning@beds.police.uk.
To contact the office about any other queries, please email pcc@beds.police.uk