Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Clive Loader has today published new guidelines to protect public spending and ensure every penny of his budget is channelled into reducing crime.
As part of his commitment to provide value for money policing services for Leicestershire, Sir Clive has put in place a host of arrangements to maximise the success of any crime intervention work he commissions and ensure crucial resources are not wasted.
Police and Crime Commissioners receive an annual budget from the Government to enable them to commission external services to help them achieve the goals set out in their Police and Crime Plan. Sir Clive is working closely with criminal justice partners in the county including Children and Young Peoples Boards, Drug and Alcohol Commissioning Boards and local Community Safety Partnerships to promote a more integrated approach to driving down crime and widening the support available to help break the offending cycle.
In 2013-14, the total commissioning budget is expected to be around £2.9m which includes any funding already allocated. In addition, the PCC is proposing to contribute a further £1m to the commissioning budget over the next three years to further invest in services which will help to disrupt criminal behaviour patterns.
Sir Clive has now published his commissioning intentions to help partnership agencies prepare for the funding application process and explain what financial help is available. He has also created an ‘innovation fund’ to test new ideas and original approaches. This is part of his aim to protect taxpayers’ money and only spend on services which have a high chance of delivering results.
Summing up his approach succinctly, the Commissioner said: “I’m not commissioning services, I’m commissioning outcomes. On behalf of taxpayers everywhere, I want to see consistently improving results and value for money.”
His commissioning decisions will be targeted towards four themed areas:
Reducing offending and re-offending - targeting high-risk entrants into the criminal justice system (8-16-year-olds) and the most prolific reoffenders.
Making communities and neighbourhoods safer – investing in activities which deliver long-term, positive changes to community safety and promote swift solutions to neighbourhood anti-social behaviour issues.
Protecting the vulnerable – protecting vulnerable children, especially those repeatedly missing from home, and vulnerable adults including those who have become a victim of crime or anti-social behaviour.
Supporting victims and witnesses – Addressing the needs of victims of crime including those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault and hate crime.
Sir Clive said: “In simple terms, setting out a clear framework for how I will commission services is one of the ways I can bring accountability and transparency to policing.
“Openness is at the heart of everything I seek to achieve and I want our communities to see the integrity behind all of my decisions, but particularly those which involve spending their hard-earned money. It is also important to me that the public can judge for themselves whether our efforts to make their streets safer are working which is why I have developed a robust system for tracking and measuring success.”
Sir Clive added: “During these austere times, the public needs to have trust and confidence in our ability to find solutions which are worth their weight in gold. This is only possible by implementing strict standards of performance which will really assure improvements.”
For more information please go to the Commissioning Page.
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Posted on Monday 9th May 2016